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Sydney-based cyber security consultancy CSO Group is set to join forces with Canberra-headquartered automation systems and artificial intelligence (AI) integrator xAmplify, in a merger that will create Australia's largest locally-owned agency of its kind with annual turnover of more than $110 million.
The new entity will be based in Sydney and have a significant national presence with operations across every state and territory, and a combined headcount of more than 160 staff servicing more than 110 enterprise and government organisations.
"The merger of CSO Group and xAmplify will create Australia’s largest home-grown cyber security, AI and automation consulting business, with a gross turnover exceeding $100 million annually," says CSO founder and CEO Michael Simkovic.
"We see an enormous market and growth opportunity to disrupt and challenge the traditional large global service provider models."
Simkovic describes the arrangement as a true merger of equals.
"The integration of the two businesses will create an amplifier effect, enabling us to deliver a new generation of innovative and integrated business solutions with the convergence of cyber security, automation and AI technologies," he says.
"Ultimately this will bring more intelligence, optimisation and value to our clients, while also building greater Australian sovereign capability and expertise."
The two companies claim their merged expertise will bring a renewed cyber security lens to provision high performance IT service and sovereign-secure AI technologies, as well as capabilities spanning strategy, governance, risk and compliance, managed security, AI and both technology and business automation services.
"This merger will create a fully integrated national business that will work across every state and territory, enabling clients to leverage AI, automation and cyber security to deliver greater innovation, efficiency, assurance, and business value," says xAmplify co-founder and CEO Wayne Gowland.
"The business and technology worlds are changing rapidly, and our customers are wanting to transform and adopt the next generation of groundbreaking technologies in a safe and secure way.
"Together, we aspire to create a digitally advanced and protected Australia by helping clients to identify, solve and manage their real-world problems of today, while safeguarding them for tomorrow."
With the number of cyber attacks increasing exponentially, analyst group Gartner forecasts that Australian organisations will spend more than $7.3 billion on information security and risk management products and services in 2024, an increase of 11.5 per cent from 2023.
National spending on AI systems is expected grow to more than $3.6 billion by 2025, according to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
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