From the AIA Board Chair: What the 2026 CSO Survey Means for Private Sector Intelligence Careers

Written by Nikki Rutman

Chief Security Officer (CSO) surveys offer great insight into private sector intelligence, and they are also a perfect primer for navigating the job market, preparing for day one, and thinking about career progression.

The Clarity Factory's annual CSO Survey polled 118 CSOs from multinationals with 3,000+ staff in March-April 2026. The takeaways below may help whether you are in your current job, looking for your next one, or just getting the lay of the land.

TLDR; more of the business is reading security intelligence, but few CSOs say it changes decisions. CSOs need intelligence professionals who bring business acumen, not just government experience.

Key takeaways

1. Reach is up, influence isn't

There are about 12% more CSOs than in 2025, and intelligence is reaching more business leaders and cyber teams beyond corporate security. Yet only 25% of CSOs say it frequently influences decisions, and about a third say it rarely or never does. A larger readership hasn't produced more influence.

2. Worry less about output and more about quality

In one case study, a team swapped high-volume, generic products for a demand model, producing only what was requested and dropping readers who didn't engage. Demand rose.

From my perspective, it wasn't producing less that drove demand; it was producing against leadership's requirements with actionable recommendations. Do you have experience managing requirements and producing against them? Lean in to that experience and leverage it during your conversations or in your current role. Sorry to any collection managers who just had flashbacks!

3. Intelligence as a key collaborator

Risk, government affairs, supply chain, third-party risk and business units now produce their own insight. The survey argues corporate security (read: intelligence) should lean in to working groups to show its value.

Intelligence analysts do this naturally: we collaborate, share information and build relationships. Lean into that in your next interview, and if you are already on the job, seek out groups to join or start one of your own.

4. The C-suite is now a competitor

Executives can now use AI to answer many geopolitical questions themselves, which raises expectations on speed. Value is shifting from collection to interpretation: second-order effects, dependencies and prediction rather than reporting.

AI is a force multiplier. Use it to buy time to think, assess and recommend, and to get products to executives before they realize they need them. Job seekers: be ready to discuss how you would implement AI and what efficiencies it might create (bonus points for the latter).

5. Does your CSO have a seat at the big table?

It may signal that intelligence has moved from tactical to strategic, but much depends on what the CSO does with that presence. Companies with a formal geopolitical risk structure are twice as likely to have security teams doing scenario planning and red teaming, and teams in working groups are three times more likely to brief the board or executive committee. Help your CSO keep that seat with timely products that anticipate executive needs; it may take some coaching and coaxing to get the requirements. Job seekers: ask the interviewers about this. It reveals the internal appetite for intelligence and what type of CSO you may be working with.

6. Teams are being rebuilt

Intelligence is the fastest-growing role category, alongside higher-value GSOC roles, while guarding and operator-level roles decline. GSOCs are becoming intelligence and coordination hubs (read: fusion centers). One CSO wants analysts, engineers, scientists and business-minded people, not a team of ex-government analysts, and communication ranks as the top team competency.

The key takeaway is two-fold: get smart on the corporate fusion center model and the intelligence function within a GSOC and shift your resume from government jargon to business speak. If you lack private sector experience, a business essentials course can help you talk the talk; you can already walk the walk.

7. AI maturity is still low

Most teams use AI for reporting and productivity; a small but growing group uses it for decision support, and very few use it to change their operating model.

AI is adding capacity rather than cutting jobs: only 13% cite headcount reduction as a driver.

Caveats

The sample skews US/UK and multinational, and I would expect the same or worse at smaller companies, so ask questions in interviews to understand the environment you'd be hired into. Several sponsors sell intelligence and monitoring platforms, and ASIS is pushing a GSOC model that moves all intelligence into the GSOC. “Influences decisions” is self-reported; if CSOs rate their own impact this low, the view from the business may be worse. CSOs weren't asked about their own experience with intelligence, how well they communicate it, or whether they bring intelligence personnel to senior meetings. These gaps could make for a future FBI AIA private sector survey (reach out to the AIA if you're interested in discussing more).