End Users '20 under 40' 2015—Anjen� Abston

Anjen� Abston, 31

Vice president, security and life safety, SL Green Realty

New York

"I didn't really intend to have this career path, but I fell in love with security,"�Anjen� Abston said.

After earning a bachelor of science in marketing from Miami University, Abston heard about an opening at SL Green for an administrative assistant in the security and life safety department. SL Green is the largest commercial landlord in New York City, Abston said.

Abston rose through the ranks, to associate and then assistant vice president in the security and life safety department. Now, she is the VP of security and life safety for the company. She manages procedures, such as fire planning, for about 20 million square feet. She oversees physical security measures and maintenance on SL Green's buildings.

Abston ensures that “risk assessments are done on every building. � personally dealing with any projects relating to access control projects, camera system upgrades [as well as other responsibilities],” she said.

“It's never a dull moment when you're dealing with 20-plus buildings,” Abston said.

One technology she would like to have would be “a completely fully loaded command center � to monitor the portfolio � an enterprise system.”

“I think our biggest challenge is technology refresh,” she said. “Technology is becoming obsolete so quickly that it's definitely a challenge to make sure that we have a program that replicates what's going on in the technology industry right now.”

Abston predicts that cybersecurity will become more relevant as the Internet of Things takes off, and more devices become interconnected. IoT devices could be incorporated at SL Green as a way of creating an enterprise solution, through connecting more devices, Abston said.