In this episode of Cyber Security District, we sit down with Kim van Lavieren, co-founder and CTO of Dawnguard, a cybersecurity startup that raised millions in funding before registering a company or launching a product. Kim’s story is anything but ordinary, from leading Marines on no-sleep missions to building offensive hacking tools for the Dutch military, to managing massive security teams at Amazon in the U.S., his path combines discipline, vision, and deep technical mastery.

Together with co-founder Madi Abdurazak, Kim is now on a mission to completely rethink how cybersecurity should be done, by starting not with alerts or vulnerabilities, but with architecture, policy, and real business risk. Dawnguard is building a platform that automates secure-by-design architecture using AI, aiming to replace an entire category of cloud security tools before most companies even realize there’s a better way.

In this episode, we cover:

• What the Dutch Marine Corps taught Kim about discipline and decision-making


• How a military comms officer became a cybersecurity architect


• Building secure systems after discovering flaws in weapons room access


• Writing offensive tools for the cyber division of the Dutch Armed Forces


• Why cyber soldiers may be more impactful than boots on the ground


• Kim’s journey to Amazon and running third-party security at massive scale


• The mindset shift from “no” to “how” in security engineering


• The origin story behind Dawnguard and raising millions pre-product


• How Dawnguard is building a new category for architecture-led security


• Using AI to design, verify, deploy, and enforce security from day zero


• Advice for cybersecurity newcomers, and why the industry must rebrand


• How Dutch risk aversion is holding back innovation — and how to break through

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Intro

00:00:47 – Kim's Background: From Marines to Cybersecurity

00:03:29 – Training Under Extreme Pressure

00:06:28 – Becoming a Communications Officer & Discovering Security Gaps

00:08:18 – First Lines of Code at Age 10

00:10:19 – When Tech & Physical Endurance Collide

00:11:04 – Offensive Cyber Capabilities in the Military

00:14:22 – Why Cyber Soldiers Now Matter More Than Physical Ones

00:17:05 – Consulting, CISO Roles & Joining Amazon

00:18:49 – The Scale & Speed of Security at Amazon

00:21:00 – The Origin of Dawnguard

00:23:00 – Automating Architecture Compliance with AI

00:25:08 – Using Threat Intel & Policy as a Starting Point

00:28:02 – Building the Engine: 5 AIs and a Moonshot

00:30:46 – Meeting Madi & Finding the Perfect Co-Founder Match

00:33:29 – Raising Millions with No Product — and Building a Dream Team

00:36:37 – Rise Into Resilience: What the Dawnguard Slogan Really Means

00:38:08 – Rebranding Cyber: Why the Industry Needs a Makeover

00:39:44 – Advice for People Trying to Break Into Security

00:41:03 – Advice for Aspiring Cyber Entrepreneurs

00:44:42 – Certifications, Labs & Reality Checks

00:47:25 – Going Big Means Accepting Uncertainty

00:49:00 – The 5-Year Vision: Replace Entire Security Categories

00:50:30 – Final Signal Message to CISOs: Security Is Balance, Not Absolutes

Connect with the guests:

Kim van Lavieren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-v-0645931b4/

Learn more about Dawnguard: https://dawnguard.ai/

Follow Cyber Security District:

Laurens Jagt (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensjagt/

Website: https://www.cybersecuritydistrict.com

All channels & newsletter: https://beacons.ai/cybersecuritydistrict