Resilience is a Competitive Necessity: Learnings from 2020, Considerations for 2021

On this fifth episode of Digital Threshold, host Anil Chitakara brought together two industry experts to help him break down the state of risk assessment and security heading into 2021. Courtney Adante, President of Security Risk Advisor at Teneo, and Jonathan Wackrow, Managing Director & Global Head of Security at Teneo, spoke about how 2020 changed the landscape of workplace and venue security and how these changes would impact security plans and strategies for 2021.

Adante believes how security professionals worked, and the methods and solutions they provided in 2020 will continue to benefit clients in 2021. “Throughout the pandemic, day to day, week to week, we spent our time figuring out what our clients were going to need in terms of security advisory services,” Adante said. “We were learning every day based on public health guides and new developments with the pandemic.” Adante also said it was beneficial to have two pandemic experts on her team to help navigate Teneo’s clients' best solutions.

“All risk practitioners, at the close of 2019, as they started planning for 2020, had a blueprint laid out in front of them and how they were going to execute on that,” Wackrow said. Those plans were quickly thrown out the window as the pandemic began to take hold. “Those who were successful were those who were good at identifying the threats now facing their organizations and being able to pivot quickly into putting in short-term and long-term mitigation within their organization.”

While 2020 may be over, that doesn’t mean the problems and challenges are. The pandemic is still here, and there are myriad residual issues for businesses and organizations to contend. As these businesses begin to open back up, the additional risks before the pandemic are ones risk practitioners must also manage.

About Evolv Technology

Founded in 2013, Evolv Technology is the leader in human security solving the security screening problems of today with the most innovative technology and thinking. Evolv makes it possible for venues of all kinds to keep visitors and employees safe from concealed weapons, pandemic health threats and intruders. 

Digital transformation is unlocking efficiency and value everywhere as organizations reimagine archaic processes and technology, better equipping themselves with interoperable and flexible capabilities. Within the Digital Threshold vision, venues and facilities can intelligently use data to create a frictionless experience for guests and employees. The result is an entry process that enhances the overall experience instead of diminishing it as it so often does today. Making weapons screening faster and more precise is part of the Digital Threshold vision, but it’s just the beginning.