Your startup in one sentence?
CyberDesk helps automate control over who can access sensitive data and how—across human and non-human identities.

How did your business idea come about?
Just two years ago, CyberDesk founders Dr. Tobias Lieberum and Prabhakar Mishra were struggling with the lack of security in data access control in their daily work in finance and consulting, and couldn't find a satisfactory solution on the market. That's why we're solving this problem ourselves now. Prabhakar Mishra, originally from India, had previously worked as a computer scientist at major banks (Morgan Stanley, HSBC, etc.) and had the courage to give up his secure job to start a new company in a “foreign” country. After working as a management consultant at McKinsey, where he worked on IT transformations, among other things, Tobias Lieberum examined large data sets for behavioral patterns during his dissertation at the Technical University of Munich—a toolset that fits very well with cybersecurity. As a result, the founders complement each other very well in their skills.

How big is your team, who is in it, and how did you find each other?
At the heart of CyberDesk is a constantly growing team of experienced software developers and cybersecurity enthusiasts. We are supported and advised by a broad network of industry leaders (e.g., Benjamin Bachmann (Director of Group Information Security & Enterprise Architecture at Bilfinger), Jimmy Heschl (Global Head of Digital Security at Red Bull), Max Imbiel (CISO at Bitpanda), Martin Jetter (retired SVP & Chairman Europe, Middle East & Africa at IBM), Ümit Kuşdoğan (CISO at ADAC), Uli Mittermaier (former Head of Strategic Sales at Zscaler), Matthias Muhlert (CISO at the Oetker Group), Andreas Reisenauer (Head of Infrastructure, Datacom & Security at the Elia Group), Michael v. Roeder (CDO & CIO at the Elia Group), Christian Taube (Head of Cyber Services International at Beazley), and Alexander Zhitenev (CISO & Director IT Corporate Systems at IFCO)).

Who benefits from your product/solution and why?
Our approach has already won over organizations of all sizes: we work just as successfully with companies with a few dozen employees as we do with global corporations with tens of thousands of employees. Identity-based vulnerabilities remain the most common cause of data breaches—whether it's human users falling for sophisticated phishing attacks or compromised non-human identities granting unauthorized access. The best defense is to minimize potential data access for every identity at all times without disrupting business operations. But today, organizations lack a critical element to minimize data exposure: visibility at the data access level. That's why we developed CyberDesk. Our access graph minimizes the risk of data loss while helping to ensure that the right identities get the right access at the right time. This enables us to help our customers reduce the risk of a cyberattack by up to 80%.

What are your next steps?
Our vision is to develop a semi-autonomous, AI-based coworker for data access. In the future, this could relieve the burden on IAM departments while improving the security of our most sensitive data.

Why are you convinced that you will be successful?
We have all three ingredients for success:

1. Great customers who push the boundaries of what is possible with us.
2. Inspiring advisors who support us with advice and assistance.
3. A wonderful team to build the European champion for identity-centric data security.

What have been your biggest successes and hurdles/low points so far?
Building a startup is an emotional rollercoaster for everyone involved—founders, team members, families, and supporters—but we want to prove that Europe can innovate in cyber software. One hurdle is that we don't yet have as developed an ecosystem for cybersecurity startups here in Europe as they do in the US and Israel. That means we often have to do pioneering work. But it's worth it: the greatest success for us as a team is the enthusiasm of our customers when we have been able to solve a real problem for them. That motivates us and makes it worth getting up in the morning.

Why did you apply for the ATHENE Startup Award UP24@it-sa?
Participating in it-sa and being nominated for the award are a great honor and a tremendous incentive for us: Only through constant communication with users can we ensure that we develop solutions that are perfectly tailored to customer needs—this is one of the major advantages for users of working with us as a company “next door.” The it-sa is, of course, a great stage for meeting old companions again and getting to know new faces—thank you very much!

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