Richard Harrison named TrendAI's inaugural global VP of AI security

TrendAI, the enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, has appointed Auckland-based Richard Harrison as its global VP of AI security.

This is the first time TrendAI has appointed a global executive role based in New Zealand.

He most recently served as the CISO of Foodstuffs South Island, one of New Zealand’s largest retail cooperatives with operations spanning over 200 sites and 14,000 people.

Prior to this, he led Accenture's NZ cybersecurity practice and also served as CISO of healthAlliance, formerly New Zealand’s largest public sector shared services health organisation.

“AI adoption is accelerating faster than security, governance, and risk models can keep up. The gap is widening between fast evolving threats and defenders’ ability to respond," Harrison said.

“Closing that gap and doing it in a way that builds real trust in AI is my key focus, and I am keen to utilise my real-world experience as a CISO to help organisations successfully achieve this goal."