CISO of the Year: Getting inspiration from the best

Fabian Cholewa has been Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Software GmbH in Düsseldorf since the beginning of 2023. The company has set itself the task of connecting companies securely, efficiently and digitally. Cholewa also fulfilled this mission in his new role as CISO: immediately after joining the company, he initiated a project to harmonise the existing management systems. The aim was to bring them together in an integrated, Group-wide system.

This project not only reduced costs, but also increased acceptance among employees – a transparent approach to the process was a great help. By automating processes, avoiding duplication of work and developing a central, automated control framework, Software GmbH under Cholewa was able to save several thousand working hours and reduce costs for existing audits by up to 50 per cent.

The aim of the CISO of the Year submission was for Cholewa to make the great performance of the entire team visible not only within the company but also to the outside world.

“The focus was on my team, which was instrumental in successfully implementing our programme. It was important to us that those involved not only receive a big “thank you” from the management and myself, but also receive external recognition for their achievements. That’s why I came up with the idea of having the project assessed and honoured by an independent panel of experts,” says Cholewa about the submission for the CISO of the Year.

With more than 13 years of professional experience in the IT industry, Fabian Cholewa has built global teams and led them to success through empowerment. He always demonstrates the highest level of professionalism in his responsibilities and tasks. Coupled with his outstanding social skills and a good dose of humour, he has always been able to convince people, make them grow and take them along on his journey.

Cholewa advises CISO of the Year 2025 applicants to create a suitable mindset in the team for their project and to stay as close to the business as possible, because it is essential to understand the needs of the market. If you do this, you can find suitable and, above all, simple solutions for current challenges. After all, security in day-to-day work is the decisive success factor for CISOs.

The CIS Compliance Summit is an Austrian event for experts, security managers and decision-makers in the security industry. Best practices, keynotes, practical experiences and networking opportunities will be offered. The summit will take place on 16 September 2025 in Vienna and invites you to exchange knowledge and become part of the Austrian security community.

“It was a great event with very inspiring presentations, professional exchange and great discussions with other experts in the field,” says Fabian Cholewa, describing the CIS Compliance Summit 2024.

Here you can find the video (german) of the presentation of the winning project.