“40 under 40” Class of 2019 — Michael Castillo, 32

Michael Castillo joined Aronson Security Group (ASG), a Security Risk Management Services (SRMS) provider, in June 2017. Since ASG merged with ADT Commercial in February 2018, his role has been essential in building and implementing eSRG's processes and procedures and plans to scale within ADT Commercial.

“I also simultaneously manage client security consulting projects and lead cross functional security teams with budgets in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars while also providing security domain expertise,” he explained. “SRMS is all about leveraging the technology expertise with end-user experience upfront in the design of the security program with a focus on mitigating risk, creating organizational resilience and optimizing the deployment of security efforts.”

Before joining ASG/ADT Commercial, he served 7 years as a U.S. Army Officer. “While deployed to Afghanistan, I was tasked to be the Officer in Charge of the security of the largest sector of Bagram AFB (the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan),” said Castillo. “Upon promotion to Captain, I served in the position of Senior Director of Intelligence and Security for an organization of 500+ personnel. It was in these two positions where I really gained the knowledge of all the aspects that go into managing the security of locations and organizations.”

Castillo pointed to artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics as two key areas for security.

“Data is the new oil,” he said. “The most promising development is that we are finally moving away from proprietary silos of excellence in technology. Data, at the time of need, requires a high degree of interoperability between sensors and applications. With this interoperability, we can now begin to create as-a-service-models that will transform the way security executives purchase, manage, measure and maintain their security technology.”