Barney de Villiers is a hands-on technical security leader with a career spanning electronic engineering, software development, DevOps infrastructure and cyber security. As Director of Security at a fast-growing fintech, he leads the security, InfoSec GRC and IT teams, helping build the secure foundations that power digital financial innovation across Africa. In previous roles, Barney played a key role in unifying DevOps and security to deliver resilient, compliant and scalable systems. He has successfully guided companies through ISO 27001 and PCI-DSS certifications from the ground up and is known for building small, high-impact teams that excel under real-world pressure. His background in electronics, OT, cloud platforms and software engineering provides him with an end-to-end understanding of how systems fail - and how to secure them. He is also actively shaping how AI intersects with cyber security, both in applying AI to streamline defensive operations and in developing practical AI governance frameworks.