Andrea Yzeiri is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer at Picsume, and a graduate of Catalyst’s Cyber for Startups program.
Cybersecurity across distance
Andrea Yzeiri is in Vaughan, and her colleague, Candice Dennis, is sitting in on the conversation in Windsor. I sit bathing beneath the filtered light of a window in the Catalyst offices in downtown Toronto. Aside from an interest in cybersecurity, we instantly have one thing in common: the deep cold of Ontario winter. These days, the temperatures are settled snugly in the minus double digits.
Picsume, the company that Andrea and Candice work at, is a remote organization modernizing how talent is represented by replacing traditional resumes with a dynamic profile, built on well structured data. But distance doesn’t dilute risk. Cyber threats ignore geography. As Andrea puts it, “Data in transit is more vulnerable than data at rest.”
Before I finish my first question, Andrea is already mapping the risk landscape: data in transit, data at rest, points of exposure. Her answers are measured, precise. It’s clear she doesn’t just work in cybersecurity; she thinks in it.
Defining community
Andrea believes that community can exist in many forms. Community, she says, is a network of shared insights and support. That’s what comes to mind when she reflects on Cyber for Startups. Her background is in data, and when it comes to data, she means business. But as an early adopter and forecaster of AI, she knew she needed to expand her education. A peer who is in the cyber ecosystem in Toronto had completed the Catalyst’s CLIC training program, and recommended it to Andrea. One thing was clear: cybersecurity knowledge was quickly becoming critical. She signed up.
Harsh realities of phishing
It was Andrea’s first day at Picsume that pushed her on to a cybersecurity path. As she settled at her desk, she opened her fresh Picsume email account. There was a message waiting, from the CEO, aesthetically pleasing and well-structured. But something felt off. She reached out to her manager, the organization’s CTO, who flagged it as a phishing attempt. It was her first day, and the threat was no longer theoretical. She wanted more training. Eight months post-phishing incident, she was enrolled as a member of the CLIC cohort.
Choosing Cyber for Startups
Cyber for Startups strengthened Picsume’s approach and extended her learning beyond CLIC. As Andrea describes it, it’s a program that gives early- to mid-stage Canadian tech companies the foundation to build cyber resilience, adopt security-by-design principles, and build investor confidence. Delivered virtually at no cost by Catalyst, with support from RBC, the program fit their stage of growth.
Immediately, Andrea found that the program offered practical insights she could apply in the workplace. But equally important, she says, “We became a part of this network through Cyber for Startups. Like other startups in similar situations, I was trying to find an approach to cyber. It’s a massive endeavor.” The program connected Andrea and her colleagues with experts whose insights shaped both daily operations and long-term strategy.
Getting it up and running
On the ground, cybersecurity is rarely a single decision. It’s a sequence. As a SaaS platform, Andrea explains, you’re thinking about architecture, backend infrastructure, access controls, HR processes, customer data, vendor risk — all at once.
“It becomes a waterfall of possibilities,” she says. “You need to protect different types of stakeholders, so you need the expertise to know where to start.”
That’s where roadmap thinking comes in. Compliance might be a milestone, but it isn’t the goal. The goal is something steadier;security you understand, trust, and can explain to your investors and your users.
“We weren’t the only ones looking into this,” says Andrea. “Other companies were also worried about what this means, especially with the increasing number of breaches that we’re seeing among SMEs.” Organizations shared practical approaches they could implement immediately.
Echoes of the program
“Cyber for Startups gave us a place to begin,” says Andrea. She notes that the program provided detailed frameworks and practical templates. They already knew what they wanted to build. The difference was clarity — a blueprint for how to get there. Since Andrea and her team were looking to become SOC 2 compliant, the process guided them and outlined the operational processes that should be in place.
This aligned the organization around compliance. “It was painless to integrate the new practices,” says Andrea. “We’re integrating those security questions into daily decisions.”
With foundational controls in place, Andrea can look beyond immediate risk, toward the future of AI and how we define it. In the business world, she notes, the term “AI” is often used to describe everything from simple automations to machine learning to fully autonomous systems. “I think we’re on the cusp of needing another big breakthrough, not just technically, but in how we talk about these systems.”
In a landscape defined by rapid change and emerging risk, community becomes infrastructure, scaffolding that allows companies to grow without compromising trust. Cyber for Startups gave Andrea a way to move from concern to control. On her first day at Picsume, the threat arrived quietly in her inbox. Now, security isn’t reactive, it’s embedded. That shift, she says, is what community made possible.
“So that’s what community means to me,” says Andrea. “That’s what I took away from Cyber for Startups.”
Andrea Yzeiri
Andrea Yzeiri is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer at Picsume, a revolutionary hiring platform that transforms traditional resumes into dynamic work profiles, powered by AI-driven matching algorithms and committed to bias-free recruitment. She is recognized as a pioneering force in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cybersecurity, actively leading in the design and deployment of scalable, ethical AI systems with an emphasis on fairness, transparency, accountability, and security. She holds a BComm in Supply Chain & Analytics (with thesis) and a BA in Political Science (Law & Politics) from the University of Windsor, and a Master of Management in Analytics from McGill University. At Windsor, Andrea was the first woman to complete an undergraduate thesis at the Odette School of Business and the first University of Windsor student to receive the Mitacs Globalink Research Award, conducting research in São Paulo, Brazil.
Over her ten-year career across technology, academia, healthcare, and defense, Andrea has delivered end-to-end AI solutions that balance predictive performance with ethical integrity. In 2025, Andrea was named one of the Top 25 Women Chief Data and Analytics Officers in North America by Women We Admire, in recognition of her leadership in responsible, inclusive data innovation. Andrea is also a dedicated educator, currently a sessional lecturer at McGill University, delivering Python and analytics workshops to graduate students, and a teaching assistant at Uwindsor’s Odette School of Business, supporting business analytics education. Andrea has received eighteen honours and awards for her research, academic achievements, leadership, and community impact.