“Cybersecurity is too important to be left to technical experts alone”
From international relations to cybersecurity
After studying international relations and gaining her first professional experience in the field, De Decker found herself wanting a more dynamic environment. “The world of diplomacy was bureaucratic and hierarchical. Cybersecurity offered the exact opposite: speed, uncertainty, responsibility and the opportunity to help build something,” she says. “When I met my future co-founders, they were looking for someone to help develop the non-technical side of the company. So, I decided to take the leap.”
Making room for non-technical profiles
At first, the lack of a technical background made her doubt herself. It is a reflex she still sees in others today. People who have not followed the classic path of developer or cybersecurity specialist often wonder whether there is a place for them in the sector. For De Decker, however, these profiles are not only welcome, but necessary. “Many companies are lacking people who are curious enough to understand the concepts and strong enough to translate them to a higher level,” she says.
And that translation work matters. In conversations between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders, they often end up talking past each other. One side wants to go deep into the technical details while the other seeks answers about value, integration, reporting or risk. “You don’t have to be able to build every technical nuance yourself in order to frame it properly, as long as you can translate the concept correctly and relevantly into a business context,” De Decker explains. “Regulations such as NIS2 and DORA are bringing cybersecurity to many more tables, making that skill increasingly important.”
Making security validation more accessible
Nemesis is built on the same philosophy. The company has developed a platform for breach and attack simulation and security validation. By simulating attack techniques on their own infrastructure, organisations can gain a clearer understanding of their vulnerabilities and improve their detection rules. “Our broader ambition is to make security validation accessible to organisations that do not have the capacity of large enterprises,” she explains. Nemesis therefore aims to deliver value quickly, with its licensing model, pricing and design all built around accessibility. “Our short implementation time, in particular, sets us apart from our competitors.”
Preparing for future European growth
The startup now has 10 employees spread across several European countries. So far, finding and retaining talent has not been a major obstacle. The next steps are further international growth within Europe and a stronger offer for larger enterprises. Within that context, the company is also exploring local AI models and ways to offer technology that is secure, usable and scalable. Yet the core goal remains unchanged: to make cybersecurity less complex, more accessible and faster to deploy.
Building a more connected Belgian ecosystem
De Decker stresses the importance of ecosystems in making that ambition a reality, while highlighting that there is significant room for improvement. “Belgium’s cyber landscape is strongly connected, especially compared with some other European countries. But in my view, it is still too regionally organised. Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels, federal entities, sector organisations, accelerators and non-profits are doing valuable work, but they are not always well coordinated,” she explains. “As a result, initiatives overlap, events are organised around the same topics, and opportunities get lost between regional structures.”
Connecting technical depth with diversity
Because the Coalition successfully works across those boundaries without losing depth, De Decker sees it as a key player. “The focus groups go deep enough to be relevant for specialists, while the network remains broad enough to speak to many different profiles. The Coalition recognises that cyber brings together a wide range of people. That diversity is essential for the future. Cybersecurity is too important to be left to technical experts alone, but it is also too complex to discuss without technical depth. Real progress happens between those two worlds,” she concludes.
