
About Derek
Derek Galvin is a seasoned Senior Executive Advisor and Digital Transformation Leader with over 25 years of experience at the intersection of IT strategy and cybersecurity. Having held C-suite roles including CIO, CDO, and CISO, he specialises in navigating complex digital landscapes for global organisations.
Derek is a recognised expert in scaling high-performance teams, driving large-scale cloud migrations, and serving as a Trusted Advisor to Boards. His focus remains on aligning emerging technologies with core business objectives to drive operational efficiency and sustainable growth.
Major Achievements in the Digital Transformation space:
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Strategic lead for complex digital transformations, delivering a 33% efficiency gain and 30% reduction in "technology debt", while establishing Cloud Security Centres of Excellence, Zero-Trust frameworks, across €250M portfolios.
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Spearheaded a €150M "Digital First" program for World Vision, achieving global system scalability through cloud migration and IAM integration while ensuring compliance with PCI-DSS, ISO 2001, and NIST standards via a new global SOC.
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Engineered a €45M technical modernisation roadmap for Axpo, accelerating MVP development by 35% through a hybrid cloud migration, centralised IT governance, and the establishment of a strategic offshore competency centre.
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Accelerated the growth of 14 FinTech startups within the Tenity ecosystem, successfully guiding 4 ventures from initial seed to Pre-exit.
Areas of Extertise
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Strategic Thinking: Visionary leadership and long-term IT roadmap development.
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Digital Transformation & Innovation: Leveraging disruptive tech for business evolution.
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Organisation Effectiveness & Design: Building scalable, high-output global teams.
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Cybersecurity & Risk Management: Governance, Zero-Trust architecture, and compliance.
Industry and Sector Expereince:
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Financial Services (Banking, Insurance and FinTech),
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Life Sciences (Pharma & Consumer Health),
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Manufacturing (Chemicals, Industrial and Electronic),
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Retail (FMCG, Automotive and e-commerce ),
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Travel and Hospitality (Airline and Maritime Travel)
Executive and Advisory Expereince:
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Galvin Advisory, Senior Executive Advisor
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Orange Business, European Practice Leader, Executive Advisory
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Gartner Executive, Partner, CIO Research and Advisory
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IBM, Senior Managing Consultant, Strategy and Transformation
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Al-Khabeer Capital, Chief Information Officer (CIO) & Managing Director, Corporate Services Division (CAO)
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Alghanim Industries, Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
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Gate Gourmet International, Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
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SITEL Corporation, Chief Information Officer (CIO) – Germany & Eastern Europe
Education
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Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Executive Certificate: Cyber Security for Business Leaders
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Harvard Business School, Diploma in Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age
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University of St. Gallen (IWI-HSG), Certificate of Advanced Studies: Digital Innovation and Business Transformation
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University of Johannesburg, National Higher Diploma: Electrical Engineering


