About Guardantix

Guardantix is a fractional executive and security leadership firm serving founder-led and regulated organizations across North America. We provide operator-led fractional COO, CIO, and CISO leadership. We embed as part of your team to build operating systems, run programs, and own outcomes.

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The Operator Behind Guardantix

Rick passero, founder & CEO

You’re here because you want to know who you’d be working with. Short version: an operator who’s been in your seat, not a consultant who’s read about it.

CISO/CIO of a PE-Backed MSP Platform

Rick served as CISO and CIO of Anatomy IT, a PE-backed managed services platform executing a roll-up strategy. During his tenure:

  • Scaled the company from $15M to $50M revenue
  • Grew from ~500 clients and 75 employees to 1,700+ clients and 250 employees
  • Managed infrastructure across ~3,000 servers, 800+ firewalls, and 25,000 endpoints
  • Led due diligence on dozens of acquisition targets
  • Integrated eight completed acquisitions
  • Built and launched a managed security suite generating $5M+
  • Led 25+ critical security incidents (ransomware, sensitive data loss, double extortion, business email compromise)
  • Designed and led an operating model transformation

20+ Years in Security & Technology

Before Anatomy IT, Rick held security and technology leadership roles across financial services, professional services, healthcare, and public sector:

  • CISO of a publicly traded financial services company (15+ subsidiaries, SOX/NYDFS/PCI compliance)
  • Built a cybersecurity consulting practice from scratch, generating $10M+ in annual revenue
  • Led infrastructure programs for MTA, FDNY, and NY State agencies (12,000+ users, $13M in projected savings)
  • Delivered compliance engagements across HIPAA, SOX, PCI-DSS, NIST CSF, CMMC, and ISO 27001
  • Managed clinical IT and radiology systems at Lenox Hill Radiology (multi-site imaging network)