Jake Nix, founder and chief growth officer of Cleveland-based cybersecurity and compliance firm RISCPoint, has been elected to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Council, the governing body of the nation's largest accounting organization representing more than 430,000 CPAs and finance professionals. Nix was nominated by the Ohio Society of CPAs, officially seated at the AICPA Spring Meeting of Council held May 19-21 in New Orleans, and begins a standardized three-year term effective immediately. The appointment marks recognition of a practitioner whose firm sits at the intersection of traditional accounting and emerging cybersecurity discipline, industries increasingly intertwined as organizations confront regulatory and operational threats to financial data and systems.
Nix's election reflects 15 years of involvement with the Ohio Society of CPAs, according to his statement at the appointment. The AICPA Council, comprising approximately 265 members selected to represent the full range of the profession across geography, firm type, and professional background, operates through a nomination and election process managed at the state level. Ohio's seats are allocated based on state membership concentration. Council members participate in shaping AICPA strategy, policy positions, and organizational responses to emerging professional issues. Nix characterized the appointment as a platform to help ensure CPAs have a strong future both in traditional practice and in emerging areas of the field, remarks that signal potential advocacy around cybersecurity and compliance integration within accounting practice.
Nix holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree in accountancy from Bowling Green State University and brings Big Four experience from positions at PwC and EY. At PwC, he served as a national subject matter expert in the audit innovation practice. At EY, he led the building and go-to-market strategy for EY Controls 2.0. Beyond accounting credentials, Nix holds multiple specialist certifications including CISSP, CISM, CISA, and AWS Cloud Practitioner certification, reflecting deep technical knowledge in cybersecurity and compliance frameworks. He founded RISCPoint in 2018 after his Big Four tenure. In August 2025, Nix transitioned from CEO to chief growth officer as the firm appointed Matt Drewyor to the chief executive position, allowing Nix to focus on innovation, product development, and thought leadership initiatives.
RISCPoint, headquartered in Cleveland, was founded eight years ago and operates as a premier advisory firm specializing in security and compliance consulting. The firm serves clients ranging from Fortune 10 companies to pre-Series A startups and has earned FedRAMP and GovRAMP accreditation as a third-party assessment organization, positioning it prominently in federal contracting and public sector compliance work. Beyond government-focused services, RISCPoint offers expertise across SOC 2, ISO, HIPAA, CMMC, and other compliance frameworks, and recently launched RADAR, an AI-powered penetration testing platform. The firm has approximately 44 employees as of February 2026 and operates with a model emphasizing customized solutions and subject matter expertise over transactional service delivery.
Nix's appointment to the AICPA Council reflects broader professional trends in which cybersecurity and technology compliance have become integral to accounting practice rather than peripheral concerns. The elevation of a leader whose entire professional evolution tracks the integration of risk and controls expertise into traditional accounting suggests the profession's governing bodies are positioning themselves around threats and opportunities emerging at the intersection of financial operations and technological infrastructure. Firms like RISCPoint, which blend CPA credentials with specialized technical capability, occupy an expanding sector of professional advisory services that conventional accounting firms increasingly must address to serve enterprise clients facing complex regulatory requirements around data protection, cloud security, and third-party risk management. Nix's three-year term runs through 2029, a period likely to encompass significant regulatory change around artificial intelligence, federal cybersecurity mandates, and evolving privacy laws affecting both public and private sector clients.
