Patrick McNaught
Systems thinker.
Security-minded.
Builder.
I help put the puzzle pieces together for people who don't know where to start — whether that's a CISO navigating data security, a team evaluating a platform, or a product that needs someone who can demo it and debug it.
About
Fifteen years in cybersecurity pre-sales, most of it spent making technical complexity legible to people who buy it. I've worked across threat intelligence, DLP, data governance, and DSPM — and I've learned that the demo is rarely the hard part.
What I enjoy most is the in-between: the whiteboard session before the POC, the competitive question nobody prepared for, the moment a prospect's engineer stops being skeptical. I also build things — full-stack AI pipelines, homelab infrastructure, automation tooling — because staying hands-on makes me better at the job.
Outside of work I collect and grade Pokémon TCG, tinker with hardware, and spend too much time optimizing things that don't need optimizing. I always learn something.
Experience
Senior Solutions Engineer
Led technical pre-sales for BigID's data security and AI governance platform, delivering executive demos and POVs across enterprise environments. Built applied expertise in AI risk discovery, data classification, access intelligence, and DSPM. Translated complex capabilities into outcome-focused narratives for security, privacy, and data leaders; partnered with Product and Marketing on competitive positioning and AI GTM messaging.
Senior Sales Engineer
Drove adoption of Concentric AI's data security platform across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Led POVs and built outcome-based presentations for non-technical stakeholders. Served as conduit between field, Product, and Marketing — shaping roadmap and messaging from customer insights. Created enablement content and tailored positioning for targeted verticals.
Senior Sales Engineer
Evangelized Cyera's DSPM platform by mapping capabilities to high-impact customer challenges. Delivered demos, POVs, and cloud deployments across AWS, Azure, M365, and GCP. Partnered with channel and marketing on regional events; created scalable technical collateral and demo scripts.
Senior Solutions Architect
Drove threat intelligence platform adoption through tailored demos and technical workshops. Shaped product direction and competitive positioning via market trends and field feedback. Mentored junior Sales Engineers and supported recruiting and onboarding. Delivered a seven-figure enterprise win ($2.1M over three years) through a deep GuidePoint partnership.
Sales Engineer roles at Recorded Future, Varonis, Veritas & Symantec
15+ years of cybersecurity pre-sales across endpoint, DLP, data governance, and threat intelligence. 100% channel-led motion throughout — in-region technical resource for partners at GuidePoint, Trace3, Optiv, WWT, CDW, and others. Technology alliance work with Splunk, Snowflake, Microsoft, AWS, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike.
Skills & Tools
Projects
EC2 Management Dashboard
Node.js/React dashboard for managing AWS EC2 instances with real-time CloudWatch metrics, session cost tracking, and auto-shutdown. Built for production automation workflows.
Patrickplex Homelab
Full virtualization stack with Proxmox, LXC containers, Synology NAS, UDM Pro, Tailscale mesh VPN, and self-hosted services. Prometheus + node-exporter monitoring throughout.
Pokémon TCG Pipeline
End-to-end card collection and resale workflow: Fujitsu fi-7160 scanning, Synology NAS storage, PSA grading submissions, and sales tracking across TCGPlayer and eBay.
DIY Rooftop Solar
Designed a residential solar installation sized for future EV charging load (Scout Traveler EREV). Researched permitting, panel selection, and inverter options for Scituate, MA.
Writing
Notes on infrastructure, security, and building things.
Setting up NanoKVM PCIe for remote server access
Why I chose open-source, cloud-free KVM over IP and how to configure it on Proxmox.
CNAPP vs CSPM: what actually matters for cloud-native security
A practitioner's perspective after evaluating multiple vendors in the space.
Running a self-hosted kosync server on Proxmox
Syncing KOReader progress across devices without cloud dependencies.
My Pokémon card scanning workflow with a Fujitsu fi-7160
PaperStream IP settings, background configuration, and NAS-based file organization.
Contact
Let's work together.
Whether it's a security consulting engagement, a technical writing project, or a freelance engineering contract — I'd love to hear what you're building.