Lidia Giuliano - The Accidental Security Architect (and why that needs to change)

Security Architecture is a strategic and high-impact position. It demands broad and deep technical skill sets across IT and security. Despite this demand, no clear definition exists for the role. Subsequently, no clear pathway exists to becoming a security architect, leading to fragmented expectations, skills, and responsibilities across the industry. This needed to change. In 2025, we surveyed 332 practicing security architects globally across industries and regions. It was important to understand their career pathways, their formal and informal training, and their daily responsibilities to answer the question: What is a Security Architect? The results reveal consistent and troubling patterns. This talk walks through the research and findings. It will cover the overall themes by region, industry, and other segments to help diagnose the problems facing the sector. We then establish a blueprint for security architecture roles and careers so that security architecture will remain effective and sustainable into the future. For aspiring architects, we highlight what skills and experience are the best pathway to landing that position. For practicing architects, we raise the most common challenges faced by your peers and provide a standardised and clear position description for your role. For managers and leaders, we outline how security architecture must be structured to deliver genuine value for your organisation as well as give you the tools to identify and reduce the sources of friction that lead to retention and hiring challenges. Whether you're aspiring, practicing, or hiring, this talk will provide the benchmarks and blueprint the industry has been missing!