about Ontic
Ontic is the first protective intelligence software company to digitally transform how Fortune 500 and emerging enterprises proactively address physical threat management to protect employees, customers and assets. Ontic’s SaaS-based platform collects and connects threat indicators to provide a comprehensive view of potential threats while surfacing critical knowledge so companies can assess and action more to maintain business continuity and reduce financial impact. Ontic also provides strategic consulting, multidimensional services, education and thought leadership for safety and security professionals at major corporations via its Center for Protective Intelligence. For more information please visit ontic.co
conversations
Surfing the Data Tidal Wave: Risk Intelligence Moving from Analog to Digital
Back in the day, embedded intelligence teams worked with few resources, limited budget, and little to no technology. They had their art and their science. They had a process, but never called it a workflow. Their data was captured through face-to-face interviews, phone and post it notes.
Now we have human and digital sensors and a tidal wave of data. Technology must be involved at a scale we never imagined…
We asked Tom Kopecky, who bookended both the analog world and the digital in investigative intelligence, to take us through this evolution, break it down for us, and provide us some thoughts on where it goes next and why. What we found is the new technology is bridging the old organizational silos, the technology silos, and the communication silos that have kept us from the promise of proactive and protective intelligence. As well, it is opening the door to non-intelligence personnel through its guided workflows and multi-modal communications.
Tom was a founder of IRC Intelligence & Fortis Protective Services, both boutique security intelligence firms with offices located in Chicago & Austin, where he helped clients coordinate threat assessment investigations and develop their protective intelligence programs. He and his team were constantly searching for more optimized approaches to create more insights in the protective intelligence workflow. He eventually decided to build his own as the co-founder of Ontic Technologies.
Ron Worman on the Cultural Challenge Behind the Cyber-Physical Convergence
The unification of cyber and physical security information is a challenge that technology alone cannot solve. However, what many do not realize is that it is most certainly a culture problem — rooted in deeply embedded belief systems. In order to be changed and viewed under the same roof, it has to be articulated and measured — and, more importantly, it has to be embraced by leadership.
Ron and Fred have a “Great Conversation” in this episode in every sense of the phrase. Ron shares how convergence has occurred at the technical level, but it is long overdue at the organizational level. They discuss the role of technology and automation to assist in this organizational shift, since the current deluge of information means that no one has enough time, money, or people to detect anomalies and patterns.
Ron Worman is the Founder and CEO of The Sage Group® and The Great Conversation. Over the last 30 years The Sage Group has been helping companies build and execute a ‘value’ strategy that leverages their internal and external relationships. Sage helps clients identify their strategy, formalize it in an effective plan, communicate it to its employees, partners and clients and measure it to ensure strategic objectives are met. The Sage Group methodology, The Path to Value™, has been leveraged successfully by clients across multiple markets and models since 2002. That led to “The Great Conversation”, a podcast and physical forum designed to capture the essential ideas that are working today and, more importantly, the emerging ideas that could change our lives and our businesses tomorrow.
Confronting the Fear of the Surveillance State
You hear of it all the time. When an incident occurs; a fire, an earthquake, or an active shooter, we want to know who was in the building. Or when we are working late at night in a building with heat and lighting controls, why does it not just sense my presence and adjust my section of the building accordingly? We have the technology to do both, and it is improving over time.
We had a great conversation with the Chief Product Officer of Ontic, Manish Mehta and the CEO of turnstile-based access control company Orion, Steve Caroselli, to discuss their early discussions in engaging this challenge. And in return we uncover the recognition that fear, uncertainty and doubt can radically change a market forcing innovations in technology, business models, and security.
The Measure of a Company
Corporate lawyers have a very specific role within the business value chain. Very few become students of leadership. And then translate that into a multi-dimensional successful career. One man did, and our conversation focused on the ‘why’ of that success. The measure of a man that contributed to the measure of a company.
Tom Mars is an accomplished trial lawyer, a nationally recognized advocate in collegiate sports, (Where they compare him to Tom Brady in the legal world), and an experienced crisis consultant for companies, executives, and public officials.
In the 1990s, Tom’s high-profile clients included the Governor of Arkansas. In 1998, the Governor asked Tom (a former police officer) to join his leadership team as Director of the Arkansas State Police—the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement position. He served in that capacity for nearly three years before returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in Northwest Arkansas.
Not long after returning to private practice, Tom was recruited by Walmart to manage its vast litigation portfolio as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. Four months after joining Walmart’s legal department, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel and became responsible for all the company’s legal matters. During his tenure as Walmart’s General Counsel, Tom led an ambitious diversity initiative and became a nationally known champion for advancing diversity in the legal profession. He received numerous awards for his leadership in this area, including the American Bar Association’s prestigious “Spirit of Excellence Award.”
Five years after joining Walmart, in recognition of Walmart’s legal department receiving national acclaim for both its unprecedented diversity and extraordinary talent, Tom was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Two years later, he was promoted again and joined the leadership team of Walmart U.S. as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. In that role, he was responsible for various business units, including real estate, human resources, labor relations, external relations, U.S. compliance, and financial services.
The Digital Transformation of Protective Intelligence within a GSOC
Global Security Operations Centers are increasingly expanding their investigative capabilities by formalizing the methodology within a digital transformation model.
We turn to a top-performing security professional with over 15 years of physical security experience covering the entire spectrum of Physical Security; Security Operations, Executive Protection, Security Training, Workplace Violence, Global Security Operations Centers, Event Security, Travel Security, and more; Nabih Numair of Palo Alto Networks.
He was joined in our great conversation with the father of Protective Intelligence, Fred Burton, and the CEO of a leading protective intelligence platform, Lukas Quanstrom of Ontic.
Inside the Mind of a Protective Intelligence Thought Leader
We wanted to get inside the mind of a former police officer, special agent and New York Times best-selling author who has the history and credentials to provide thought leadership around protective intelligence; the critical tool for organizations in an increasing complex world.
Fred Burton has served on the front lines of high-profile investigations like the hunt for and arrest of Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the first World Trade Center bombing; the 1988 plane crash of PAK-1 that killed U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel and Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq; and the search for Americans kidnapped by Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon
His best-selling books include his personal memoir GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi and his fourth book, Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah’s War Against America.
Burton also consults with Fortune 500 companies on security developments and how to keep their personnel and business safe as the Executive Director of the Ontic Center for Protective Intelligence. He serves on the board of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies and is an active member of the Greater Austin Crime Commission.
We came away from our time together realizing we are never quite equipped, never fully ready, and never can fully imagine what might occur. But we can develop a leadership and organizational mindset. And we can create a platform to aggregate the critical information we need at the time of need, so that we are prepared to assist our stakeholders stay safe, secure, and resilient.
want to know more?
If you would like to learn more about Ontic, their technology, the markets they serve, or how you can engage with them, please click the link below to get in direct touch.