Whitepaper
The Architects of Modern Defense
Six enterprise CISOs on what it takes to move from finding an exposure to proving it is closed, and how to build that judgment into an AI-powered CTEM workflow.
Finding an exposure starts the work. Getting the right people to act on it is where security programs succeed.
Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report puts vulnerability exploitation ahead of credential abuse as the leading initial access vector, at 31% of breaches. Yet only 26% of critical vulnerabilities were fully remediated in 2025, and median time to resolution rose to 43 days from 32.
Members of SAFE’s CXO Advisory Board describe what closes that gap: decisions technical teams can trust and business leaders can support, carried through to verified closure by workflows that repeat.
In this whitepaper, you’ll learn:
- Five shifts that make CTEM actionable, from business consequence through to verified closure
- A workflow blueprint you can adapt, with the trigger, evidence, AI task and human decision defined
- How to choose your first AI workflow by the bottleneck consuming analyst time
- How SAFE’s CTEM AI Co-Worker connects scoping, validation and mobilization
With perspectives from Chris Grant (BECU), Ben Smith (Optimum), John Melnick (ArcelorMittal), Vinod Madhavan (Solstice Advanced Materials), Travis Nichols (Shelter Insurance) and Dan Holland (Tampa General Hospital).