Make Sound Decisions About AI Before You Invest in AI

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The Security Executive Council is a research and advisory firm that partners with corporate security leaders to strengthen their programs, align with business priorities, and make more effective decisions.

Powered by research and led by former security executives, we deliver practical insight and guidance you can act on. We help you build security programs that reduce risk and deliver business value.

Security Programs

Event Security, Executive Protection, GSOC, Insider Threat, Intelligence and Analysis, Investigations, Risk Management, Travel, Uniform Security, Workplace Violence and more.

Operations & Leadership

Business Alignment, Demonstrating Value, Executive Communication and Influence, Metrics, Optimized Operations, Organizational Structure, Risk Identification, Strategic Planning and more.

About the Security Executive Council

Take two minutes to discover why security leaders turn to the Security Executive Council for trusted, experience‑based advice.

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Featured Insights

We've gained a lot of knowledge about corporate security over the last 20+ years. Find actionable insight you can use right now.

Security Leadership

Internal Approval Toolkit: Building Support for Security Initiatives

Security leaders often recognize the need to advance their programs. This guide provides a practical framework to help you position a security initiative, align stakeholders, and build internal support.

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Security Metrics

Security Barometer - The Benefits and Challenges of Security Benchmarking

Some organizations rely on benchmark data to guide budgets, staffing, and strategic decisions, yet using it effectively isn’t always simple.

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Security Program Strategy & Operations

From Risk Manager to Strategic Resilience Leader

How is the role of corporate security changing, what must security leaders do to stay relevant? We asked our security practitioner community their thoughts.

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Our Team

SEC subject matter experts are former security executives. Our staff come from security practitioner, research, business and technology backgrounds. What makes the SEC different? Simply stated - our process and our people.

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News

By participating in the 2026 SLRI Corporate Organizational Structure, Cost of Services, and Staffing Benchmark, you get access to clear, unbiased data that shows how budgets, staffing, and responsibilities compare for organizations like yours.

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What Your Peers Have to Say About the SEC

"The SEC helps security leaders translate enterprise strategy into a defensible operating model. They connect executive vision, legal expectations, and operational realities into actionable roadmaps. Their guidance moves security from activity to intent—aligning risk with enterprise frameworks and developing metrics that show value. As a strategic partner, they accelerate clarity, reinforce confidence, and support security’s evolution as a valued contributor."

- A Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 global biopharmaceutical company
"The SEC represents the best aggregation of security leadership knowledge, global research, deep expertise and objective impartiality. They have plugged and played at every level and across the full enterprise security risk spectrum (tactical through strategic)—security strategy formulation, security program evaluation, advocacy and assessment, security process design and development, risk mitigation project implementation and measurement. The SEC broke the mold in their charter to help develop creative, adaptive and risk-aware security leaders. They have been extended staff since their introduction to the team. Their collective and data-driven solutions continue to drive relevance and help elevate our game. Couldn’t live without them."

- A Director of Global Security Services for a not-for-profit research and development organization
"Our company has been an SEC member because of the practical benefits received from the organization such as expertise received on a wide variety of security issues and assigning complex security projects to experienced SMEs that our company has neither the expertise nor time to complete. They help us keep current on issues that confront other security practitioners and are on the cutting edge of where the security profession is heading so we stay current with trends and make the appropriate adjustments to our program in a timely manner. Our department has grown and matured exponentially from the expertise and guidance provided by the SEC."

- A CSO from a large privately held consumer electronics company
"I was initially drawn to the Security Executive Council in 2014 because of their strategic focus on communicating security value at the board level. Their business focused and forward-thinking philosophy aligned perfectly with where I wanted to take my department. The SEC’s leadership and subject matter experts have continued to impress and provide significant guidance and resources that have allowed me to successfully evolve my program. Equally as valuable, is the ability to collaborate with other Tier 1 Security Leaders from large Fortune 500/1000 companies who all share similar strategic objectives. It’s these things that have kept and will continue to keep me involved."

- A Director of Global Security from a Fortune 1000 manufacturing company
"The Security Executive Council has been a trusted partner as we evolved our operating model. Their guidance turns strategy into actionable initiatives, enabling agility and value when priorities shift. Peer forums like GSOC provide benchmarking we can apply immediately. Over time, they’ve become an extension of my leadership team—strengthening decision-making, alignment, and credibility."

- A Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 financial services company
"The SEC has been a force multiplier—bringing research-backed insights that elevated security’s credibility beyond ‘gates, guards, and guns.’ Their work gave us the language to influence HR and leadership on issues impacting employee experience and psychological safety. They consistently surface modern, business-relevant ideas that reduce frontline pressure and improve outcomes. The SEC helps leaders translate security into business value and keep programs evolving."

- A Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 global retail company
"Being involved with the SEC provided me with the opportunity to tap into the collective knowledge of the SEC subject matter experts, provide meaningful training for my global security team, and allowed me access to valuable security benchmarking data. I always strived to lead a highly functioning team that protected our employees and our business. My association with the SEC assisted me in analyzing my efforts."

- A CSO from a Fortune 500 financial services and communications company
"As we scaled a global security program under intense pressure, the SEC was an indispensable strategic partner. They helped us move fast without sacrificing rigor—bringing clarity and defensible frameworks for complex challenges like tool selection, incident management, and executive protection. Their input sharpened thinking, avoided costly missteps, and established credibility early—positioning security as a business enabler with shared standards and consistent messaging."

- A Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 global media and technology company
"The Security Executive Council is our main resource for improving our programs and ensuring our strategy for business value. The SEC provides unmatched skill and intelligence for benchmarking our programs with top industry talent and programs. The staff and faculty of the Security Executive Council are skilled problem solvers who add capabilities to our internal security staff."

- A Vice President of Security from one of the largest financial services companies in the world
"The SEC provides rare, trusted counsel for high-stakes situations with no playbook. Their perspective cuts through noise on geopolitical risk, executive decisions, and sensitive internal matters. They understand trust and influence at senior levels, helping articulate security’s invisible yet critical value. As a true confidant and strategic sounding board, they strengthen leadership decision-making and reinforce security’s role as a trusted business function."

- A Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 global healthcare company
"As a CSO and/or senior security leader for almost 25 years, I have been strategically engaged with the Security Executive Council for over a decade. Our relationship has evolved from an initial specific request-driven relationship to our current state relationship of partnering through the most challenging strategic issues and concerns on a global scale. The SEC faculty has an appreciation for the challenges CSOs face since they themselves are very often former CSOs who have learned and excelled throughout their careers. They are thought leaders and problem solvers grounded by the highest levels of security knowledge and real-world experience."

- A CSO from one of the largest U.S. commercial banks

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We know how to fine-tune corporate security because we've led effective and efficient Fortune 500-level security programs. The SEC helps businesses find the best balance of risk mitigation, cost and innovation.

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