People first
Security is a human discipline. I start with people, building trust and empowering engineers through education rather than gatekeeping.
Available for strategic engagements
Strategic Cybersecurity & Technical Leadership
I'm Laurens Baardman. I turn complex security challenges into business value. I combine offensive-security expertise and cloud-native depth with a risk-based approach, so engineering teams can move fast and stay secure.
Trusted by teams at
- ASML
- Exact
- Mollie
- NS
- Xebia
- RIPE NCC
- Computest
- De Brauw
- PME Pensioenfonds
About me
From aerospace engineering to the front line of cybersecurity.
I hold an MSc in Aerospace Engineering from Delft University of Technology, where I learned to take complex systems apart, understand exactly how they fail, and solve hard puzzles with a goal-oriented approach. That curiosity pulled me into technology, and security has been at the core of my work from the very beginning.
Around that core I've worn many hats: software engineer, cloud engineer, strategist and builder of teams. I've built software and cloud-native platforms with my own hands, and I've built, managed and scaled the security teams that protect them. Today I focus on strategic programmes such as NIS2 and European digital sovereignty, backed by the hands-on depth that makes sure strategy survives contact with reality.
My philosophy is simple: security should enable the business, not block it. Being technically adept and verbally strong lets me translate business goals into pragmatic, risk-based solutions, and explain them just as clearly to engineers as to the boardroom.
What drives me
Sharing knowledge
I leave teams stronger than I found them by transferring skills and training developers in threat modelling, never creating dependence.
Customer intimacy
I get close to your business to translate complex risks and frameworks like NIS2 into clear, actionable value, solving the right problems rather than generic ones.
Quality without compromise
Technically sound architectures, delivered properly the first time, without sacrificing a fast time-to-market.
Services
Strategic leadership, backed by hands-on depth.
Engage me for a single track or an end-to-end security uplift, from the boardroom to the build pipeline.
Strategy & governance
Current focus
European Sovereign Tech Stacks
Outside the scope of the U.S. CLOUD Act, documented per component.
Sovereign digital workplaces built exclusively on European services, with no U.S.-headquartered entity in the hosting, software or support chain. From mapping your non-EU dependencies to an architecture you can evidence to auditors and regulators, I turn directives like NIS2 into a head-start rather than a burden.
NIS2 & Security Governance
From directive to working programme.
Gap analysis, risk management, supply-chain security, incident-reporting readiness for the 24-hour and 72-hour deadlines, and clear accountability at board level. I turn NIS2 into concrete controls and governance, grounded in hands-on experience as an Implementation Lead.
Building Security Organisations
The team and culture to defend it.
Standing up technical security teams, stepping into CISO and leadership roles, and leading SOC/SIEM and vendor selections, building a culture where secure software and a fast time-to-market coexist.
Hands-on security engineering
Cloud & Kubernetes Security
Cloud-native defence across GCP, AWS & Azure.
Secure cloud architectures built on Infrastructure-as-Code, clear security configuration standards, and hardened containerised applications and Kubernetes clusters.
Google Cloud Certified · Professional Cloud Security Engineer
Software Security
Secure code, by design.
Secure coding practices, in-depth code reviews and penetration testing, with SAST/DAST scanning wired into your CI/CD pipeline so developers get direct, actionable feedback where they already work.
Awareness & Training
Security starts with mindset.
Engaging awareness training that actually sticks, including hands-on threat-modelling and risk-assessment workshops for engineering teams. The strongest control is a team that thinks securely by default.
Professional experience
A track record across security, cloud and leadership.
Hands-on engineering, architecture and leadership in high-stakes environments where getting it right is non-negotiable.
Current & recent engagements · freelance
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Exact
NIS2 Implementation Lead
Turning the directive into governance, concrete controls and clear accountability.
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PME Pensioenfonds
IT Security Engineer
Strengthening the security posture of a major Dutch pension fund.
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De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
IT Security Leader
Security leadership at a leading Dutch law firm, where client confidentiality is everything.
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RIPE NCC
Kubernetes Security Consultant
Securing containerised workloads for one of the world's five Regional Internet Registries.
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GGD-GHOR
Security Product Manager
Driving security initiatives for the Dutch public health services.
Leadership
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Xebia
Senior Engineering Manager & Director of Technology (Cloud & Data)
Led cloud and data engineering for the North American business. Previously Engineering & Product Manager for the Cloud & Security teams in the Netherlands.
Notable projects
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ASML
Cloud Security Architect
Accelerated secure image building and threat-modelled critical infrastructure.
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Mollie
Engineering Manager
Built a 10-person security team from the ground up, covering infrastructure and application security.
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NS Dutch Railways
Product Manager
Led the Customer Identity & Access Management (CIAM) implementation for 8M+ active accounts.
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Computest
Ethical Hacker
Penetration testing and offensive security research, finding vulnerabilities before attackers do.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Get in touch
Let's have a cup of coffee.
Facing a security challenge, personal or professional? Whether it's securing a cloud platform, preparing for NIS2, designing a sovereign EU workplace or pressure-testing a strategy, I'd love to hear about it. No hard sell, just a genuine conversation.