When Guillaume (Gui) Noé, General Manager of Pirean Australia based at innovation hub Stone & Chalk, tells a story his whole face lights up. Perhaps it’s the French accent. Perhaps it’s his self-professed geek love for cybersecurity and privacy. Needless to say, it’s an interesting occasion listening to the enthusiastic naturalised French-Australian, even when he’s describing a disappointing experience with online banking.
“When I immigrated to Australia in 2002, I spent four years prior living in Portugal, where my online banking experience was top notch. Then I came to Australia and was disappointed,” he laughingly explains.
“The Portuguese government had just implemented a series of digital transformation strategies that enabled a richer digital experience, which permeated into the private sector. It was government-led innovation. Australia, in my humble opinion, was the opposite. The private sector led, and government followed.”
The experience left him with the conclusion that Australia’s online banking, at least in 2002, “did not feel right”.
“I was confronted by a feeling, not just from a security point of view, but from an overall digital experience: how things looked, how things were organised, how things flowed from one state to another.”
“Australian online banking presented a heavy friction of registration and identification. It was not user-friendly, refined or customer-centric. It also did not look as nice!”
Now GM of Pirean, creator of Identity Access Management (IAM) platform Access: One, Gui believes that digital experiences are underpinned by how consumers interact with services.
Gui speaks highly of Pirean being based at Australasia’s leading innovation hub, Stone & Chalk.
“Personally, I have found Stone & Chalk a place of inspiration and energy. I enjoy being here. Our team enjoys being here,” says Gui. “The hub has facilitated significant partnerships and opportunities which have led to extremely valuable relationships.”
“We’ve built further visibility for our brand and even won business with a well-known financial organisation during a speed-business dating event organised by Stone & Chalk. Perhaps, one of my most memorable moments at S&C includes ringing the ceremonial bell in front of fellow Chalkers after our first big win.”
Gui continues, “Our focus at Pirean is towards connecting people with technology.”
A big win for Pirean was being acquired by Exostar in September 2018, with the US based company recognising the problem-solving capabilities the platform offers in digital identity and access management.
“Our job is to provide a secure connection that is safe, compliant and fosters a good user experience,” says Gui.
“IAM has multiple sub categories,” states Gui. “We don’t do everything, but Pirean specialises in two key ones.”
The first is Consumer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) which is all about marrying security with customer experience, and accommodating preferences.
“More often than not, our clients seek to provide their clients with secure and convenient access to their system, and this access can come in many forms. Maybe you prefer to reset a password, choose no password or use face identification.”
The second is Enterprise Identity and Access Management (EIAM), which is applied to larger organisations as a means of administering user access across an entire enterprise, or to ensure compliance with corporate policies and government regulations.
“We provide functions that help verify, provision and enforce access control policies,” explains Gui.
“So, it’s a means for which to control who can do what,” he continues. “What level of privilege do you have on IT resources? Is that the right level? Is that compliant with regulation, security policies and the expectations of your management? It’s really about what staff can do with business applications.”
The acquisition allows Pirean access to industries that are highly regulated yet market rich, with the opportunity to widen its industry penetration within Exostar’s existing client base.
With hopes of once again hearing the bell chime in 2019, Gui will be gearing up to take Access: One global, with new offices opening in the USA alongside their headquarters in London, UK and their residency at Stone & Chalk, in Sydney, Australia.
To find out more about how Pirean can help streamline the process of authentication and authorisation for your business, click here.
To support the growth of the cybersecurity industry, Stone & Chalk is launching a first-class cybersecurity program. If you have a cybersecurity startup or idea, or would like to find out more, register your interest or contact Program Manager, Felipe Rios.
14 May 2019
