The only CSO who defended the Bank of the Innovation Economy for 15 years — through 2008, SolarWinds, and the rise of every modern cyber category.
Strategic advisory for cybersecurity product companies, PE/VC firms, and boards, from the only advisor who's lived both sides — defending the world's most innovative companies and shaping the products that protect them.
Why Security Is Personal
At five years old, I learned our apartment in Moscow had been bugged by the KGB. My family developed hand signals to move to the bathroom where we'd run the faucet as white noise to mask sensitive conversations. When my father was taken by agents for publishing information the Soviets didn't want shared, I understood something fundamental: security isn't abstract, it's personal.
That childhood forged my approach to cybersecurity. For 15 years as Chief Security Officer at Silicon Valley Bank, I defended the bank of the innovation economy, protecting the firms that fund and build the future. Today, I bring that same vigilance to helping cybersecurity product companies win, and helping investors and boards navigate an increasingly hostile digital landscape.
Core Service Overview
Our core services are built on executive experience and practical frameworks that scale with the complexity of modern enterprises.
Executive CSO leadership for growth-stage companies.
- Board reporting + program oversight
- Incident readiness + response leadership
- Faster posture review via Theodolite, our diagnostic engine
GTM and positioning for cybersecurity product companies.
- Design partner to Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, FireEye, and Eclypsium
- Product-market fit + roadmap validation
- Go-to-market + partnership strategy
Security and risk assessment for private equity and acquirers.
- Pre-acquisition cyber posture review
- Portfolio readiness assessments
- Transaction risk quantification
The Platform
Products that turn CSO judgment into tools your team can rerun.
Every advisory engagement runs on vCSO.ai's own proprietary stack. Two products, built by operators.
Theodolite
The analytical spine of every vCSO.ai engagement.
Theodolite is a FAIR-based cyber risk quantification platform. It translates board-level cyber risk into dollarized terms in hours, not weeks — work that historically took consultant teams months. Every vCSO.ai engagement runs on it.
- Annualized Loss Expectancy + VaR expressed in dollars
- Prioritized remediation with owner, effort, and ROI
- Competitive intelligence pulled from the CSO network
vTC Calculator
Price security like a line item.
The vTC Calculator shows what your security program actually costs per year — people, tooling, incidents, compliance, board overhead — benchmarked against the fractional-advisory alternative. Give the board a number, not a vibe.
- Full-stack cost model across people, tools, incidents, and overhead
- Benchmarks against fractional + in-house baselines
- Outputs in board-ready, PDF-exportable format
Leadership You Can Trust
Expertise You Can Measure
vCSO.ai was founded by Nick Shevelyov — 15-year CSO of Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the innovation economy. He defended the firms that fund and build the future through 2008, SolarWinds, and the rise of every modern cyber category.
Today he advises Fortune 500 boards, PE/VC sponsors, and the cybersecurity product companies shaping the next stack. Author of Cyber War…and Peace. Board member, Bay Area CSO Council.
Achievements
- Defended Silicon Valley Bank’s cyber posture for 15 years (2007-2021), through every major crisis from the 2008 financial collapse to SolarWinds.
- Design partner and advisor to category-defining cybersecurity companies including Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, FireEye, and Eclypsium.
- Forbes Technology Council member, NASDAQ board director (AuthID), author of Cyber War…and Peace.
- Founder of the CISO Supper Club, convening Bay Area cybersecurity executives twice a year.
Media & Insights
In the Media
I regularly share insights on cybersecurity, leadership, and resilience through podcasts, interviews, and articles.
Cybersecurity in the Age of AI
CISOWISE
History’s Battle Plans for Cyber Defense
Cybersecurity with Nick Shevelyov
Nick Shevelyov on Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity in the Age of AI
Community
The Supper Club
For cybersecurity leaders who shape the future.
Twice a year, we gather CSOs, founders, product builders, and investors for a half-day workshop and private dinner focused on the most important trends in cybersecurity and AI.
Testimonials
What Our Clients Say
Nick has been an invaluable partner in elevating Audubon's cybersecurity strategy. His ability to provide clear, level-headed advice has been instrumental during tough moments, and his executive-level communication skills have been particularly effective for the org to plan for right-sized investments in cybersecurity.
Marco Carbone
CTO, National Audubon Society
The Book
Cyber War…and Peace
“Ancient lessons of resilience and warfare, applied to the modern digital battlefield.”
Part memoir, part leadership guide — an invitation to think differently about how we defend, lead, and grow in an age of constant change.
