Rob Berends works at the intersection of strategy and uncertainty, helping organisations make sense of risks that don’t come with easy answers. When advising boards he pushes organisations to look beyond compliance and confront the threats that don’t fit neatly into a matrix.
His background spans technical and strategic roles across the financial industry, including security and risk management positions at NN Group and as CISO at Coolblue, giving him firsthand experience of cybersecurity from operational reality to boardroom responsibility.
As Head of Expertise Business Security at Northwave Cybersecurity, Rob supports organisations at the strategic level, specialising in cyber risk management, AI security, and digital legislation. His focus lies on risks that resist easy quantification: complex, scenario-based threats that demand more than a checklist. His personal touch? Treating “good enough” as a starting point, not a finish line. Because in a threat landscape that never stands still, settling is the greatest risk of all.
