One accountable leader for cyber and AI.
vCAIO · vCISO · DPO — fractional, credentialed, accountable.
Readiness isn’t a one-time project — it needs an owner. CyberAI Leadership is that owner on a fractional basis: a credentialed executive who spans AI governance and information security, reports to your leadership, and keeps you continuously compliant.
The disciplines converged. Most leadership didn’t.
ISO 42001 runs on the same management-system logic as ISO 27001, and the EU AI Act and DPDP both turn on data protection, logging, and traceability. Hiring a security leader who can’t govern AI — or an AI advisor who isn’t a credentialed security practitioner — means paying twice and still owning the gap between them.
CyberAI Leadership puts one credentialed, accountable executive across both — the cyber program and the AI program, one owner, zero seams.
Three seats, one practice.
vCAIO — virtual Chief AI Officer
Owns your AI governance: inventory, risk, EU AI Act and ISO 42001 conformity, and oversight of how AI is deployed across the business.
vCISO — virtual Chief Information Security Officer
Owns your security posture: the ISMS, ISO 27001 readiness and maintenance, and audit preparation. Scope is program and readiness ownership — defined upfront.
DPO — Data Protection Officer
India-resident DPO for DPDP Act 2025: grievance contact, board interface, consent management oversight, data mapping, data subject rights governance, breach notification, and the Significant Data Fiduciary obligation set.
Why fractional works: these roles are expensive to hire, hard to find in the AI-and-security combination, and most mid-market firms only need a fraction of one.
Discuss fractional coverage →What the DPO owns under DPDP Act 2025.
The DPDP Act 2025 (deadline: 13 May 2027) creates specific obligations for organisations that handle personal data. A named, India-resident DPO must own each area below — not just advise on it.
Data Mapping & Inventory
Oversees the data flow mapping exercise — customer KYC, loan files, transactions, employee records, third-party sharing — and maintains the data inventory and processing purpose register.
Consent Management Oversight
Ensures purpose-specific consent notices are in plain language, consent is recorded with timestamp and purpose, and withdrawal mechanisms exist. Reviews consent audit trails for regulatory inspection.
Data Subject Rights Governance
Owns the grievance and request intake workflow. Ensures responses are delivered within the 30-day window. Maintains the request log for Data Protection Board inspection.
Breach Notification
Leads the 72-hour breach notification process to the Data Protection Board. Ensures affected customers are notified promptly. Owns the breach log and post-incident review.
Data Processing Agreements
Reviews and signs off data processing agreements with all vendors who handle personal data — CBS vendors, cloud hosts, payment processors, credit bureaus.
DPDP Staff Training Oversight
Commissions and monitors completion of DPDP awareness training for all staff handling personal data. Maintains completion records for regulatory inspection.
Board Interface
Attends Board-level privacy reviews, presents DPDP compliance status, and fields Data Protection Board queries as the named point of contact for the organisation.
DPIA Oversight
Conducts and reviews Data Protection Impact Assessments for new processing activities, new system deployments, and vendor onboarding involving personal data.
India-resident requirement
DPDP requires the DPO to be reachable by the Data Protection Board and accessible to data principals. Golonex DPO-as-a-Service provides India-resident coverage — the DPO is a named, credentialed individual, not a shared offshore resource.
Frequently asked questions
What is CyberAI Leadership? +
Our fractional executive practice spanning vCAIO, vCISO, and DPO-as-a-Service — delivered by a team credentialed across both cybersecurity and AI governance. The discipline has converged: ISO 42001 runs on the same management-system logic as ISO 27001, and DPDP and the EU AI Act both turn on data protection, logging, and traceability. One accountable leader covers both programs — no gap between the cyber team and the AI team.
Why fractional instead of hiring a full-time vCISO or DPO? +
A CISO or DPO with genuine AI governance credentials is expensive to hire, takes months to find, and most mid-market firms need 10–15 hours per month — not a full-time headcount. Fractional gives you the same calibre of accountability at a fraction of the cost, with a defined scope so you know exactly what is covered and what is not.
What industries do you serve? +
Banks, NBFCs, urban co-operative banks, healthcare providers, SaaS and AI product companies, HR-tech platforms, and professional services firms. The regulatory context differs — RBI for banks, IRDAI for insurers, EU AI Act for AI product companies — but the underlying compliance program structure is the same. We map each client's specific obligations before scoping the engagement.
What is the vCISO accountable for, specifically? +
Program and readiness ownership, scoped upfront — the ISMS, ISO 27001 gap assessment and remediation roadmap, audit preparation, and board reporting. Accountability is real and bounded: it is defined before work begins, never implied as unlimited liability. You get a named individual, not a shared service desk.
Is the DPO India-resident? +
Yes. DPDP requires the DPO to be reachable by the Data Protection Board and accessible to data principals in India. Our DPO-as-a-Service provides a named, India-resident Data Protection Officer — not a shared offshore resource. The DPO owns the grievance intake workflow, breach notification, board interface, and DPDP compliance reporting.
Can you work alongside our existing IT or legal team? +
That's the most common model. The fractional executive integrates with whoever owns IT, legal, and risk internally — attending the relevant committee meetings, reviewing vendor contracts, and advising the team rather than replacing them. The scope is defined so internal and external responsibilities do not overlap.