Alin Mechenici — Founder & CEO, chen.ist
Alin Mechenici
Entrepreneur and cybersecurity practitioner building secure platforms, strong teams, and healthy cultures across Europe.
Gothenburg, Sweden
Secure platforms.
Strong teams.
Healthy cultures.
I'm Alin — founder of chen.ist, a European cybersecurity and digital infrastructure consultancy. Over the last 15+ years I've combined PR/CSR, IT, cybersecurity and project management across Romania and Sweden — bootstrapping two NGOs and three companies along the way.
At chen.ist I lead three divisions: Academy & Club (training, talent, open-source), Digital (software & infrastructure), and Cybersecurity (architecture, hardening, IAM, DLP, cyber-hygiene). My focus is helping digital businesses become resilient — prevention, detection, response, and recovery for business continuity.
Areas of expertise
Hands-on practice across the full stack of European digital resilience.
Cybersecurity
OS hardening · air-gap networking · OpenBSD/FreeBSD · IAM · DLP · privacy & anonymity · security-by-design · cyber-hygiene & awareness training.
DevOps & Cloud
Ansible · WireGuard · PfSense · TrueNAS · NixOS · Debian/RHEL · Linux security & hardening · distributed architectures · cloud management.
Software
Python automation · front-end development · open-source platforms · Neo4j / graph databases · data visualisation · Emacs / Org-mode.
Leadership
Bootstrapping · team & culture building · Train the Trainers · strategic PR planning · project management · community building.
Experience
13+ years running companies at the intersection of tech, training, and communications.
Founder
Helping digital businesses become resilient — prevention, detection, response and recovery for business continuity. Infrastructure solutions, distributed architectures, cloud management and end-to-end cybersecurity from design through training. Three divisions: Academy & Club, Digital, Cybersecurity.
Founder
Bespoke digital solutions for Scandinavian SMEs: IT consultancy, data protection, project management, training and technical support. Organised four editions of the NASA Space Apps Challenge and co-hosted a podcast with Mjärdevi Science Park clients and friends.
Founder
Digital services company; flagship cloud products were an event-management system and an online learning platform serving medical, education, corporate, SME and NGO sectors. Coordinated a 20+ person technical team for Heineken Romania, mentored 15 startups, and trained hundreds of professionals across 20+ cities.
Trainer & Consultant
Marketing and management consulting for Romania's first dental-consulting firm, serving a portfolio of private clinics and dental-industry clients. In parallel co-founded Teddy Care in Pitești — the city's first paediatric dental company — as Managing Partner.
Public Relations Officer
PR & media relations, project management, community building, design, video, photo and audio editing.
Selected projects & volunteering
Communities, media, and global hackathons.
NASA Space Apps Challenge
Lead Organiser · 2016 — 2026
Five editions of the 48-hour global hackathon in Linköping and Craiova — open-source solutions for life on Earth and in space.
JCI Craiova
Founder & President · 2011 — 2013
Founded the Junior Chamber International chapter in Craiova (15–20 active members) — business conferences, meetups and events including BNE and TEDx.
ON/OFF — Newsletter & Podcast
Author & Host · 2024 — Present
AI-free newsletter and podcast on business, cybersecurity, open-source and motorcycle culture. Weekly trainer at CHENIST Academy.
Education &
continuous learning.
SNSPA — Political & Administrative Studies, Bucharest (2005 — 2009).
Selected courses
Linux Security & Hardening · Debian Hardening · RHEL · OpenBSD · NixOS · FreeBSD · PfSense · WireGuard · TrueNAS · Ansible · Python automation · Neo4j · Data Visualisation · DLP · Cyber Awareness · Strategic PR (Achelis & Partner) · Train the Trainers (AIESEC + Dale Carnegie) · CSR Academy (JCI) · Leadership Academy (JCI).
Let's talk.
Cybersecurity, resilient infrastructure, training, or just a conversation about building in Europe — I'm always happy to meet.