CSO 30 Awards 2025: Celebrating Excellence, Innovation and Leadership in Cybersecurity

UK CSO 30 2025 winner Greg Emmerson (right) with judge Andrew Barber (left)

CSO UK / FoundryGreg Emmerson stood out for transforming both the culture and capability of Applegreen’s security organization. Emmerson established regional Centres of Excellence to strengthen collaboration and skill development across global teams, modernizing operations through Continuous Threat Exposure Management and enterprise-wide canary tooling. By unifying identities and embedding advanced backup and recovery practices, he has positioned security as a true business enabler. His approach balances innovation with wellbeing, promoting focused priorities, adaptive working, and micro-learning initiatives that have elevated awareness and resilience across the enterprise.  Rising Star in Cybersecurity : Winner: Chris Bardell, Royal Papworth Hospital The Rising Star Award recognizes early-career professionals whose dedication and innovation are already reshaping security within their organizations. While completing a demanding Level 4 Cyber Security Apprenticeship, Bardell led major improvements across incident response, automation, AI governance, and endpoint resilience. His work on ransomware preparedness, simulations, phishing exercises, and awareness campaigns has significantly strengthened operational readiness at Royal Papworth Hospital. Combining technical capability with empathy and collaboration, Bardell exemplifies the next generation of cyber leadership.  Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact in Security : Winner: Amy Lemberger This award honours leaders who advance equity, inclusion, and societal benefit through their security programs.

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