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Erwin AM Geirnaert
Co-founder | Entrepreneur | Chief Hacking Officer | Certified Professional Penetration Tester (eCPPT) | Web Application Penetration Tester (eWPT) | Ethical Hacker | Cloud Security Specialist | Shift Left Security
Professional Background
Erwin AM Geirnaert is a distinguished professional in the field of application security, leveraging over 20 years of experience to protect organizations from cyber threats. As the co-founder and chief hacking officer of Shift Left Security, Erwin specializes in helping start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative companies safeguard their applications and digital infrastructures. His comprehensive expertise encompasses a wide range of domains, including web security, mobile security, API security, and cloud security, enabling clients to navigate the complex landscape of digital vulnerabilities.
During his tenure at Shift Left Security, Erwin has significantly contributed to enhancing security maturity within organizations by equipping them with actionable insights to identify weaknesses and combat potential attacks. His approach not only involves addressing vulnerabilities but also fostering an environment of continuous learning and awareness through customized training programs and security assessments.
Education and Achievements
Erwin's academic journey began at Ghent University, where he pursued a Master's degree in Computer Science. This strong foundation in technology has been instrumental in shaping his career and his understanding of the complex security challenges faced by organizations today. He further honed his business acumen by attending an intense program at Vlerick Business School, where he developed skills essential for guiding companies towards effective cyber defense strategies.
In addition to his formal education, Erwin has also achieved various certifications that underscore his expertise. He is a certified professional penetration tester (eCPPT) and a web application penetration tester (eWPT), qualifications that speak to his deep knowledge of identifying security flaws in applications and systems.
Notable Roles and Contributions
Throughout his career, Erwin has held significant positions in multiple organizations, illustrating his leadership and expertise in the field of cybersecurity. Notably, he served as the Chief Hacking Officer at ZIONSECURED and ZIONSECURITY, where he led initiatives to enhance information security for various clients. His role as a senior IT security consultant at Electrabel involved critical assessments and strategies to mitigate risks in energy systems, showcasing his versatility across different sectors.
Erwin has also played a pivotal role in education and knowledge dissemination. His experience as a Web Application Security Instructor at Udemy allowed him to share his insights with a global audience, enabling budding cybersecurity enthusiasts and professionals to develop their skills. Moreover, his involvement with OWASP Belux Chapter and LSEC - Leaders In Security reflects his commitment to fostering a collaborative environment in the cybersecurity community, where knowledge sharing is encouraged.
Apart from teaching and consulting, Erwin has been a sought-after speaker at international security events, where he passionately discusses trends and strategies in application security, sharing invaluable knowledge to empower professionals in the industry. His dedication to guiding others in cyber defense is evident in his numerous speaking engagements and writing contributions.
Achievements
Erwin AM Geirnaert has numerous accomplishments that highlight his commitment to advancing the field of cybersecurity. His co-founding of Shift Left Security marked a significant milestone in his career, as he continues to drive innovation in application security. His previous partnership at iziz.be and co-founding e-noteca.be illustrate Erwin’s entrepreneurial spirit and his knack for identifying opportunities within the security landscape.
Under Erwin's leadership, the organizations he has worked with have not only improved their security posture but also built resilience against cyber threats, enabling them to continue operating efficiently in an increasingly hostile digital environment.
With a professional journey that demonstrates remarkable versatility, leadership, and commitment to education in cybersecurity, Erwin AM Geirnaert remains a formidable ally for organizations striving to secure their digital assets in today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.