Vincent Berg - Humans over technology

Dec 21, 2021

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In this episode we had the CTO of Anvil Secure, Vincent Berg at our microphones. Anvil Secure is a boutique information security firm that helps the largest technology companies in the world. In the podcast we talked about his early beginnings in the security field, angry German developers, the kitchen table idea in Mexico and why humans are more important than technology.

Show Notes & Links:

(01:17) - What you need to know about me: In this segment we introduce Vincent with our special quick questions.

(03:52) - The beginnings: At the age of 12 Vincent started to indulge in the world of computers which was the beginnings of an impressive career so far. After his first steps in the security field, he studied computer science in Twente. During his masters degree he received a life changing phone call that got him his first job at Microsoft and from there his career took off with his first job in the US.

(15:54) - Humans over technology: From his first job alone with a big German client to his early realisations, that as a consultant you need to take care of the humans first and only then working on fixing the technology. This chapter is all about his work philosophy.

(22:10) - This is Anvil Secure: Vincent describes how his co-founder and himself created the idea of Anvil Secure at a kitchen table in Mexico and how it became an open and transparent company where all employees get shares in the companies' success. We also talked how Anvil Secure started, the unique selling points - especially on the human level and why Elon Musk from Tesla would be his absolute dream client.

(38:12) - Talent over certifications: In an industry where certifications are an important indication of skill, Vincent takes a different approach and hires people with the right skill-set regardless of their certifications, except it is specially required from some of his clients.

(40:49) - My greatest hack: While working with a client, Vincent created a proof of concept for a client that produced smart meters. In this process he used google maps to create an exciting proof of concept, to determine what people looked on google maps as part of a traffic analysis, which he was later invited to speak about at a conference in Australia.