Ben Hanson

Ben Hanson is a globally recognised cybersecurity keynote speaker, advisor, and technology leader, widely respected for his ability to translate complex security risk into clear, executive-level decisions. A trusted voice at board and C-suite level, Ben is best known for his work shaping security strategy for some of the world’s most regulated and high-profile organisations. His biggest achievement to date is holding senior global leadership roles at Microsoft as Senior Security Strategist and Advisor and later becoming Director of Field Engineering and Field CTO at Zenity, the leading agentic AI security company, placing him at the centre of one of the most critical technology shifts of the decade.

Ben’s career began firmly in hands-on engineering and delivery roles, building the technical foundation that underpins his credibility as a speaker today. He started as a transport engineer before progressing into senior engineering and infrastructure roles at IBM and Chart Industries in the United States. These early years gave Ben deep exposure to operational environments where failure had real-world consequences. His move to Atkins marked a turning point, where he became Senior US Technical Architect and later International Enterprise Architect, working across the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and China. During this period, Ben supported large-scale enterprise transformations, global mergers and acquisitions, and complex systems integration programmes, experiences that shaped his pragmatic, outcomes-focused worldview.

Ben’s profile expanded significantly during his tenure at Microsoft, where he spent more than seven years as Senior Security Strategist and Advisor and a recognised leader within Microsoft’s global cybersecurity community. In this role, Ben worked directly with CISOs, regulators, and executive teams across financial services, energy, pharmaceuticals, and critical national infrastructure. He led critical security elements of Microsoft’s long-term, multi-billion-dollar partnerships with institutions such as the London Stock Exchange and Barclays, contributed to widely adopted public security guidance, and became a frequent speaker at major industry forums including Cambridge University, SANS, and the Cloud Security Alliance. Alongside his industry work, Ben has remained committed to education as Visiting Lecturer of Digital and Cyber Security at South Central Institute of Technology, helping shape the next generation of security professionals.

Today, Ben is even more visible as Director of Field Engineering and Field CTO at Zenity, where he focuses on securing agentic AI systems at enterprise scale. Organisations hire Ben because he speaks with clarity, honesty, and lived experience. His keynote topics include cyber risk leadership, AI security and governance, operational resilience, identity and access strategy, and the cultural realities of security transformation. These topics matter because leaders are now directly accountable for technology-driven risk. 

In May 2024 we sat down virtually with Ben Hanson to discuss the current and future cyber security climate and the emergence of AI and the effects this will have globally. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Ben Hanson on the Champions Speakers YouTube channel.