The role of cyber advisors is evolving quickly. Today’s leading advisors and vCISOs are stepping into boardrooms, turning technical risks into practical business strategies, ensuring compliance, and building resilience to drive sustainable growth.
To celebrate the launch of the Cyber Advisory Excellence Awards and the induction of our Founding Cohort of Transformational Cyber Leaders, we sat down with three of our winners: Chad Fullerton, Jim Ambrosini, and Donald Monistere.
Chad Fullerton
VP of Information Security at ECI
Jim Ambrosini
Director of Cyber Advisory Services at CompassMSP
Donald Monistere
President & CEO of General Informatics
We asked them to share their real-world experiences on the topics that matter most to service providers today. Here’s what these leaders had to say about the state of cyber advisory excellence.
Translating Technical Risk for the Board
One of the biggest hurdles for any service provider is communication. How do you explain complex threats to a board of directors focused on revenue and growth? The consensus among our winners is clear: stop talking about packets and start talking about business impact.
Jim Ambrosini emphasizes the need to anchor every conversation in outcomes.
“I anchor every risk discussion in business impact—revenue, operations, client trust, and regulatory exposure. Executives don’t need packet-level detail. They need clarity on how a control gap affects strategic outcomes. By framing cyber risk as a measurable business decision, not a technical problem, leadership can prioritize with confidence and accountability.”
Donald Monistere agrees, noting that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication when dealing with executive leadership.
“I believe in simplifying complex ‘tech speak’ into relatable concepts. I focus on the business impact of technical risks, framing them in terms of potential financial losses, reputational damage, and operational disruptions. It’s all about vision. Half the battle is having vision into the actual risk, not the 70-page action plan. No board wants to see that. They want the dashboard and someone who can connect the dots.”
Real-World Impact: Transforming Client Outcomes
The true measure of a cyber advisor’s success is helping their clients build a secure network that drives their business success. When security is aligned with business goals, it becomes a competitive advantage.
Chad Fullerton shared a powerful example of how strategic advisory directly influenced a client’s financial future.
“Our clients often have us join their board meetings, but recently a client had me join their investor due diligence call where we walked through our client’s security and compliance posture. The investor openly stated that it was some of the best representation of security and compliance they had seen amongst the client’s peers. Our client ended up securing the business.”
For Fullerton, the value lies in making the complex actionable.
“Our clients value our ability to translate complex technical and compliance factors into human-readable and actionable statements. My team and I focus on driving value where it matters most: focusing on AI, compliance, and operational resilience.”
Tackling the Third-Party Risk Challenge
Third-party risk management remains a critical blind spot for many organizations. As companies rely more on external vendors and AI tools, the attack surface expands.
Fullerton outlines a structured approach to taming this complexity, starting with a Business Impact Analysis.
“Clients struggle with knowing where to even start. We kickoff every engagement by understanding what their third parties are and what they do. How do our clients make money, and how do they rely on third parties to do that? We then focus on evaluating controls—like MFA, SSO, and SLAs—before conducting due diligence via open-source intelligence and tailored questionnaires.”
The Future of Cyber Advisory
The industry is at an inflection point. As technology evolves, so too must the advisor. The winners predict a shift away from policy writing toward dynamic risk ownership.
Fullerton sees a future defined by complexity and communication.
“It will only get more complex and demanding. There will be a shift away from being really good at writing policies, towards being really good at communicating risk in relevant terms and taking ownership of problems. Advisors will be forced into the forefront of being subject matter experts on topics that are so new nobody is even an expert yet. It will be a scary but exciting time to be in the industry.”
Monistere highlights the necessity of continuous vigilance and adaptability.
“Stay curious and never stop learning. The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing, and it’s crucial to keep up with the latest trends, threats, and technologies. Cultivating a mindset of continuous improvement will set you apart.”
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
What does it take to achieve excellence in this field? Our winners offer advice for practitioners striving to elevate their services.
Ambrosini advises focusing on clarity over complexity.
“Master the art of simplification without losing rigor. Clients don’t remember the technical deep-dives—they remember the advisor who made the complex understandable and the path forward actionable. If you can consistently bring structure, calm, and clarity to chaotic situations, you’ll become indispensable.”
Monistere reminds us that true partnership sometimes means challenging the client.
“Real talk is having the confidence to guide and sometimes disagree when your customer doesn’t properly prioritize the risk. That is when they need us most to say, ‘I know you feel the chances of this risk being exploited is low, but I can introduce you to 30 or 40 that wish they would have taken greater heed.'”
Fullerton sums it up by urging security teams to step out of the shadows.
“Advisors can no longer be background technical folks. It becomes more and more relevant for security teams to get out of the shadows, step into the boardroom, and learn to make security and compliance a business driver instead of a cost center.”
The common thread here is a shift from technical execution to strategic leadership. These experts show that the future of MSPs and MSSPs lies in advisory services that connect security directly to business outcomes, building client trust and unlocking new growth opportunities.
To learn more about the winners and the program, visit the Cyber Advisory Excellence Awards page.