James Hadley is the founder and CEO of Immersive Labs, a cybersecurity training platform used by organisations to teach practical IT security skills.
The Bristol-based company has raised $123m (£92.5m) in funding, with £53m of that coming in a Series C round last June.
Prior to founding Immersive Labs in 2017, Hadley worked as an analyst and security consultant for British intelligence agency GCHQ.
In the latest Founder in Five Q&A, Hadley reveals his most important early hire, shares why the Immersive Labs hiring process focuses on passion over academia, and explains why AI is “exacerbating” the cybersecurity skills shortage.
1. What was the most important early hire you made?
James Hadley: When I first founded Immersive Labs I hired Greg Craft, my VP of people and talent. When starting a company, it is important to get the culture right from the outset and he helped us understand how we did that – and how we could ensure inclusivity and agility in everything we do....