Two former CISOs are betting that the next major enterprise consulting opportunity isn't securing AI after it's deployed: It's helping organizations govern AI before it goes into production.
Former CISOs Kayla Williams and Olivia Rose have officially launched Williams Rose AI Cyber Advisory, a consulting firm focused on AI governance, executive strategy and secure enterprise AI adoption after quietly working with Fortune 1000 customers for several months.
The firm positions itself as an executive advisory practice designed to help organizations build governance into AI initiatives from the outset rather than attempting to retrofit controls after projects are underway. According to the company, its methodology combines proprietary assessment techniques with established frameworks including the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001.
The launch reflects a broader shift occurring across enterprise security. As organizations race to deploy generative AI and autonomous agents, CISOs are increasingly being asked to participate in strategic business decisions that extend well beyond traditional cybersecurity. Questions surrounding governance, ownership, regulatory compliance and operational risk are becoming board-level issues rather than purely technical ones.
Williams and Rose said their experience leading security organizations exposed a recurring pattern: AI initiatives often receive executive approval before governance structures are fully defined.
"We've both sat in the room during the moment every company dreads: an AI rollout that looks great on paper and falls apart the second it hits reality," the founders wrote in announcing the company.
Rather than focusing solely on security controls, Williams Rose works with executive leadership teams to establish governance frameworks, identify AI use cases that align with business priorities and deploy AI systems with security and risk management integrated from the beginning.
The firm's messaging also reflects a growing sentiment among enterprise security leaders that AI governance should be treated as a business enablement function rather than a compliance exercise. On its website, the company argues that organizations should ask how AI can accelerate existing business strategies rather than treating AI itself as the strategy.
Executive backgrounds
Kayla Williams is an award-winning cybersecurity executive who has built her career around executive cybersecurity leadership, serving in chief information security officer and strategic advisory roles across large enterprises. Throughout that work, she has focused on enterprise risk management, security program development and executive engagement, experience that now informs Williams Rose's emphasis on integrating AI governance into business strategy rather than treating it as a standalone security function. Her awards include the SANS DMA CISO of the year in 2024.
Olivia Rose is also an award-winning cybersecurity executive whose career has centered on security leadership, governance and organizational transformation. In addition to serving as a CISO, she has become a well-known voice within the cybersecurity community through executive leadership, mentoring and public speaking. Her work has increasingly focused on helping organizations navigate the intersection of AI adoption, cybersecurity and business risk, themes that now form the foundation of Williams Rose AI Cyber Advisory.
As enterprise AI adoption continues to accelerate, and regulatory scrutiny grows, advisory firms specializing in AI governance are expected to become an increasingly competitive segment of the cybersecurity consulting market. Williams and Rose are positioning their new venture squarely at that intersection, aiming to help organizations avoid costly governance mistakes before AI deployments reach production.
