Strengthen the Bench: Three Specialists Join SITG-Consulting
Published 8 September 2026 | Author: Brian Couzens, Founder and CEO, SITG-Consulting | Reading time: 5 min
Appoint three specialists to close three distinct gaps in delivery capability. That is what SITG-Consulting has done with the addition of Jake Macdonald, Chris Basener and Adrian Salas to its assurance and advisory bench. Each brings credentials and track record that the firm did not previously have in-house, and each was selected precisely because their discipline fills a gap rather than duplicating what already existed.
SITG-Consulting is a vendor-independent post-quantum cryptography advisory firm operating at board and C-suite level across financial services, government, energy, healthcare, telecoms and critical infrastructure. The firm's forensic assurance model requires that every finding is evidence-based, reconstructable and defensible under scrutiny. These three appointments extend that standard into dedicated architecture testing, governance-risk-compliance advisory and CISO-level strategic counsel.
Jake Macdonald, Assurance and Architecture Associate
Bring in a practitioner whose full-time discipline is putting architecture claims to the test. That is what Jake Macdonald delivers as SITG-Consulting's Assurance and Architecture Associate.
Jake functions as an independent systems architecture and validation specialist. His approach is boundary-first technical inspection: he examines what a system actually does under direct scrutiny, not what its documentation or vendor asserts. His findings are reconstructable and stay within the evidence, supporting validation, technical assurance and research in emerging technology and governance.
That standard of rigour is what SITG-Consulting's forensic model has always demanded. Jake is the first dedicated specialist the firm has had to carry it full-time. Architecture claims, system transitions, provenance chains and failure modes now get tested by someone whose entire discipline is testing them.
Discipline: Systems architecture validation, boundary-first technical inspection, emerging technology assurance.
Chris Basener, GRC Special Advisor
Add serious enterprise governance depth. Chris Basener joins as GRC Special Advisor, holding AAISM, PMP and CISM credentials and advising on enterprise cybersecurity and governance, risk and compliance.
Chris brings a specific focus on post-quantum cryptography agility, AI risk governance and regulatory compliance. His background includes advisory work with Tier One banks, global investment firms and Fortune 150 companies on risk mitigation and digital trust. He assists executive teams in addressing emerging cyber threats, streamlining governance and connecting security investments to strategic business objectives.
Based in New York, his combination of PQC-specific knowledge and GRC discipline is uncommon in the field. It materially raises what the firm can offer on every governance mandate, sharpening the compliance lens on client engagements across financial services, critical infrastructure and regulated industries.
Discipline: Enterprise cybersecurity GRC, post-quantum cryptography agility, AI risk governance, regulatory compliance
Adrian Salas, CISO and Cybersecurity Special Advisor
Secure a second CISO-level voice with genuine operational range. Adrian Salas joins as CISO and Cybersecurity Special Advisor, carrying more than twenty years of cybersecurity leadership across healthcare, fintech, SaaS, telecoms and crypto.
Adrian is CEO and Fractional CISO of Salas Elite Group, where he advises boards on translating technical risk into actionable business decisions. His experience includes building security programmes from inception at HHAeXchange and serving as CISO at Principles and ShiftKey. He holds dual Master's degrees in Cybersecurity and Homeland Security from Penn State, and is known in the field as "The Fast CISO."
His advisory practice for SITG-Consulting encompasses strategic security leadership, AI governance, M&A due diligence and regulatory compliance at the executive level. Clients working at board and C-suite level now have boardroom-grade counsel backed by decades of hands-on operational authority.
Discipline: Strategic CISO advisory, AI governance, M&A security due diligence, regulatory compliance
Why these appointments matter for SITG-Consulting clients
Recognise three disciplines that were being stretched across one person: boundary-first architecture testing, GRC advisory grounded in PQC agility, and CISO-level strategic counsel. Carrying all three through a single practitioner was a compromise SITG-Consulting made for years by necessity. It is not one the firm is making any longer.
Delivery stays forensic and vendor-independent. Editorial and technical judgement on client engagements is unchanged. What changes is depth and calibre:
Architecture claims get tested by a specialist whose full-time discipline is testing them, producing findings that are evidence-based and defensible under scrutiny.
Governance frameworks get reviewed against a PQC-specific compliance lens by an advisor with Tier One banking experience, CISM credentials and a regulatory compliance track record across Fortune 150 enterprises.
Boardroom conversations get a second CISO-level voice with twenty years of operational authority across five sectors, dual Master's degrees and a track record of building security programmes from inception to maturity.
What does not change
SITG-Consulting remains a pure boutique advisory firm. The firm does not resell vendor products, does not take commissions on technology recommendations and does not produce findings that cannot be reconstructed from the evidence. That forensic, vendor-independent standard applies equally to Jake, Chris and Adrian's work. The bench is stronger. The standard is the same.
Working with the expanded team
Jake, Chris and Adrian are each introduced individually to clients over the coming weeks. Engagements involving architecture validation, GRC advisory or CISO-level counsel can now draw on dedicated specialist capacity rather than a single practitioner covering all three.
Questions on scope, availability or how the expanded team applies to a specific engagement can be directed to Brian Couzens, Founder and CEO, at brian.couzens@sitg-consulting.com.
Read more about SITG-Consulting's assurance and advisory team and the firm's approach to post-quantum cryptography governance.
SITG-Consulting is a UK-headquartered, globally delivered advisory firm specialising in post-quantum cryptography transformation, cryptographic governance and quantum risk management. Founded in 1999, the firm operates independently of vendor influence across financial services, government, energy, healthcare, telecoms and critical infrastructure.
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