Elisity is a leap forward in network segmentation architecture and is leading the enterprise effort to achieve Zero Trust maturity, proactively prevent security risks, and reduce network complexity. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Elisity CTO Piotr Kupisiewicz to learn more about the company.
Piotr Kupisiewicz’s Background
What is Piotr Kupisiewicz’s background? Kupisiewicz said:
“My entrepreneurial journey started 33 years ago when I was a little 4-year-old boy who received a Commodore 64 from my father. This sparked a rabid interest in technology that led me to voraciously learn software development and networking fundamentals. I practically applied those skills by launching an internet service provider (ISP) in my hometown as a teenager, scaling systems to provide connectivity to individuals and businesses, managing all aspects of the business along the way.”
“At this point in my career, my background is a mixture of cybersecurity experience and software development. I used to be a security consultant and a security architect while working at Cisco. Before that, I was a software developer and software manager working on traceability systems in the automotive industry. This has given me a unique blend of experience in both software engineering and cybersecurity.”
Inspiration Working For The Company
What is it that inspired you to want to work at Elisity? Kupisiewicz shared:
“The compelling story about joining Elisity was really the team. I knew James, the CEO, from our previous interactions at Cisco. I respected him and was impressed by the rest of the leadership team, including Pete Doolittle (Head of CX), Brian Thompson (COO), and Charlie Treadwell (CMO). The quality and potential of the team, combined with the innovative product they were developing, made it an irresistible opportunity. I saw the potential for the product to revolutionize the cybersecurity micro-segmentation market.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Kupisiewicz shared:
“My favorite memory was when GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) started their production deployments. It was a significant milestone that summarized a lot of hard work from the engineering and CX teams. The success of this deployment, especially seeing our platform being production-grade, was an amazing feeling.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Kupisiewicz explained:
“Our main product is the Elisity platform, which focuses on microsegmentation. The core capabilities include:
- Visibility and Analytics: Provides insights into customers’ users, workloads and devices, and their network communication, helping the platform to identify profiles and segments.
- Identity Graph: The Elisity IdentityGraph™ Discovers and correlates users, workloads, and devices while intelligently combining data from identity providers, asset databases, and CMBD platforms to identify users, workloads, and devices within the customers’ network.
- Policy Enforcement: Implements and automates microsegmentation policies based on analytics and identity graph data.
These features create a robust triangle of functionality that enhances network security.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Kupisiewicz and the team face in building the company? Kupisiewicz acknowledged:
“A significant challenge in the cybersecurity sector is the prevalence of ransomware. Despite the awareness of this problem, implementing controls to address it has been complex and time-consuming, often taking years. Elisity addresses this challenge uniquely by enabling companies to minimize risks within the first few weeks of deployment, making it a faster and more efficient solution.”
Evolution Of Elisity’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Kupisiewicz noted:
“Since launching, our technology has evolved significantly, especially in terms of scaling and automation. Initially, we were focused on finding product-market fit. After achieving that, we concentrated on automating processes to support an increasing number of customers without significantly increasing headcount. This automation has been crucial in maintaining high service levels and managing the growing complexity of supporting multiple production systems.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Kupisiewicz cited:
“Significant milestones include signing the first purchase order, onboarding the first enterprise customer, and expanding our customer base. Each new customer has been a valuable lesson, and achieving these milestones has been crucial in our journey.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Kupisiewicz about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“One notable success story is with GSK. The deployment of our platform in their production environment was a significant milestone and demonstrated the robustness and effectiveness of our solution.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Kupisiewicz assessed:
“Elisity is addressing a multi-billion dollar market in cybersecurity microsegmentation. Our platform’s ability to work across various vendors’ networks gives us a unique advantage, making our solution applicable to a vast and diverse market.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Kupisiewicz affirmed:
“Our key differentiator is that we are not tied to any specific network vendor. This allows us to work with networks built from components of various vendors. Additionally, our cloud-native solution can be implemented quickly, often within a day, and starts providing value immediately. This agility and vendor-agnostic approach set us apart from competitors.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Kupisiewicz pointed out:
“Our ambitious goal is to become the leading platform for network segmentation, potentially making traditional microsegmentation platforms and configuration management platforms obsolete. We aim to provide a multi-vendor platform that orchestrates and implements segmentation policies across diverse networks.”
Additional Thought
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Kupisiewicz concluded:
“A unique aspect of Elisity is the diversity of our engineering team. We have experts from various industries and backgrounds, which provides us with a wide range of perspectives and ideas. This diversity helps us challenge traditional solutions and innovate effectively. Additionally, the team’s energy and cohesion are remarkable, making it a pleasure to work here.”
