Jeff Engle has moved the headquarters of his cybersecurity software company to Nashville, which he will use as his springboard to double headcount in a year as revenue surges into nine-digit territory.
In an interview, Engle said he's looking to grow the workforce at Conquest Cyber from 120 people to about 250 people within the next year. About 40% of that expanded workforce, or 100 employees, will be tied to the company's new main office at 1 Music Circle South.
"It's easy to stay motivated when in you’re in a cyberwar, trying to protect critical infrastructure," said Engle, a veteran of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
What's also motivating is the kind of growth Engle forecasts, as chairman and president of the company. Much of it stems from long-term contracts.
"We've averaged 300% growth year-over-year the last three years. We anticipate being about ten times our current size by 2025," Engle said, declining to provide a precise dollar figure. "We're seeing a fundamental change in demand. Most products are built for one thing and designed to be sold to security people. Our product is designed to help with executive decision-making around cybersecurity, because now the board and C-suite are bearing personal responsibility of whether their cybersecurity program is doing what it's supposed to do."
Why it matters: The arrival of companies such as Conquest Cyber reflects the growth of the region and its rising national profile — and in particular, more advanced and specialized jobs, especially in the tech sector. Conquest Cyber is growing as data breaches and other hacks, and even just the mere threat of that trouble, proliferates across a wide variety of businesses.
Why Nashville: Conquest's parent, United Data Technologies, has been in Nashville for more than a decade. That office has served as a backup operations center when hurricanes or other disasters hit its South Florida headquarters. Conquest has an office in South Florida and a headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., market. An expiring lease created the opening to rethink where Conquest's chief location would be, Engle said.
Beyond the Nashville region's universities and inbound talent, Engle said: "You go there, and you fall in love with it. Our employees, when they're not working remotely — from London to Seattle — that's where we want them to come, because of the energy of the city."
Engle will be relocating his family to Nashville (complicated by the fact that he and his wife have seen more than a few houses vanish on Zillow before they could pursue them).
Needed: Engle said he will be hiring security engineers, software developers, product managers, analysts and also strategy consultants, who tailor cybersecurity protections with clients.
Those customers include defense contractors, government agencies and Franklin-based hospital chain Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: CYH). Other clients include organizations that need to safeguard work they do for the government, from universities to architecture and engineering firms.
Engle said he'll be leaning on more than just the area's colleges and universities and coding boot camps.
"We need people who think out of the box, with a myriad of experiences," Engle said. "Some of best threat intelligence analysts have degrees in music theory, and some of best hackers didn’t even graduate high school. A diversity of backgrounds ultimately enables us all to get better. We're open to all."
Not leaving: Engle said he'll also be hiring for roles in the D.C. and South Florida markets as well.
