March 23, 2026 – Acertitude has assisted in the recruitment of Tal Hornstein as chief information security officer of Cast & Crew, an EQT Group portfolio company. The search was led by partner, Tim Cook and principal, Connor Gebhardt, with support from Finty Hunter and Jeremy Atwater. “Cast & Crew is thrilled to welcome Tal Hornstein to the crew as we work together to shape the solutions of the future for the entertainment industry,” the company said in a LinkedIn post. Mr. Hornstein is an experienced CISO dedicated to de-risking the business roadmap while maintaining operational speed.
Distinguished by an ability to translate complex cyber threats into actionable financial risk management strategies for boards and executive stakeholders, Mr. Hornstein has experience in scaling security infrastructure for global expansion, securing critical IPO transitions, and rebuilding high-performing engineering teams.
Most recently, Mr. Hornstein served as chief information and chief information security officer of Hippo Insurance. Before that, he was CISO of Globality, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Hornstein served as director, North America customer support at Skybox Security.
For 50 years, Cast & Crew has been the entertainment industry’s most trusted partner in film, television, streaming, digital media, and live events, powering productions with the expertise, technology, and support they need to work smarter, move faster, and stay focused on creating unforgettable stories
Acertitude is a global executive search firm and leadership consultancy committed to unleashing human potential. The firm works alongside ambitious private equity and portfolio companies to build leadership teams that drive impact, strengthening businesses at every stage of the deal lifecycle. With deep expertise across business services, consumer, healthcare, industrials, infrastructure, private equity, and technology, the firm’s consultants operate in North America and EMEA. Acertitude delivers executive search, assessment, and pre-deal solutions that help investors and executives make critical leadership decisions.
Experienced Search Consultants
Mr. Cook is a partner and leader of the firm’s cyber practice. He leads executive search assignments across multiple sectors. Mr. Cook is highly specialized in IT and cyber security leadership, having recently completed CIO, CTO, CISO, and CSO searches as well as cyber assessments in different geographies and jurisdictions including the U.S. and Europe. He created a maturity model for cyber security leadership called the CIRO Maturity Model to help organizations and individuals understand what good looks like in IT and cyber leadership that has been widely used internationally in search and assessment assignments. Mr. Cook combines this with psychometric data to help clients, and individuals, benchmark their cyber teams for succession planning and development purposes.
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Mr. Gebhardt works in Acertitude’s technology practice, where he leads executive searches for private equity firms and their portfolio companies, with a focus on placing technology officers across industries. He specializes in recruiting CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs – critical leaders who drive innovation and value creation throughout the investment lifecycle. Additionally, Mr. Gebhardt works across industries to place transformational talent, from functional technology leaders to CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and GTM executives within high-growth tech and software businesses. He is experienced in placing value creation professionals, including operating partners, portfolio optimization leads, and carveout specialists, into private equity firms and portfolio teams.
2026 Report Finds Executive-Level CISO Titles More Prevalent than Ever
The cybersecurity function continues to rise in prominence, expand in scope and gain visibility. Consequently, chief information security officers (CISOs) are increasingly expected to serve not just as technical leaders, but as enterprise-wide strategists. Their rise to the executive ranks brings greater influence but also greater demands, including wider accountability, more cross-functional engagement, and intensified expectations and oversight from senior leadership and boards, according to IANS and Artico Search’s 2026 State of the CISO Benchmark Report.
An executive-level title is widely viewed by CISOs as essential for influencing the business and driving meaningful impact, according to the IANS and Artico report. “It gives them access to strategic discussions, enables them to communicate security risks to top leadership and helps align security priorities with broader business objectives,” the study said. “A CISO’s place in the organizational hierarchy and their reporting line also shapes their visibility and influence. Those with executive-level titles and a reporting line to senior business leaders—formal or informal—are more likely to be involved in strategic decision-making than their director-level peers embedded within the IT function.”
Ms. Hunter is a senior associate within Acertitude’s global private equity practice, supporting executive searches across Europe and the U.S., with particular strength in CFO and CISO mandates. Since joining the firm in 2021 as an analyst, she has steadily expanded her scope and impact, earning recognition as a standout force within the London office. Ms. Hunter has been instrumental in building the firm’s functional private equity hiring practice across Europe, bringing diligence, tenacity, and a sharp eye for quality to every mandate she supports.
Mr. Atwater serves as an associate in the technology practice at Acertitude, where he supports executive searches across the C-level: completing targeted research, curating candidate pools, and conducting market mapping. His insights bring value to private equity firms, PE-backed portfolio companies, and corporates, helping find leaders needed to define and power their organizations forward.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
