The Global ASIS Board of Directors recently approved changing the name of the former Operational Intelligence Community to the Risk Intelligence Community. Steering Committee Chair Johanna Loock explains why the new name is a better fit as organizations evolve how they prepare for, identify, and respond to threats, with corporate security taking more of an intermediary role in risk management.
Q: Why did the steering committee decide that “risk intelligence” was a better description of the community than “operational intelligence”?
A: We consistently found that 'Operational Intelligence' misrepresented our remit, excluded areas we cover, and created confusion and mission creep with other ASIS communities. We felt that adopting ‘Risk Intelligence’ provides a broader, more adaptable mandate. The term captures the strategic decision-support function of this discipline, rather than narrowly emphasizing operations. It also distinguishes our domain from related fields such as business intelligence and cyber threat intelligence while remaining broad enough to include convergent areas like cybersecurity. We found that Risk Intelligence is a term widely recognized across private and public sectors globally and aligns with leading academic literature on the topic.
Q: How have you seen corporate approaches to intelligence evolve over your career, particularly as it pertains to security?
A: I've seen a lot of changes to the field over my career and could speak on this from so many angles. One area that is seeing real evolution is the increase in professionalization and formal collaboration. A lot of corporate risk intelligence still relies on professional networks. When I began my career, these networks were generally developed on an individual basis and supplemented by industry- or geographic-specific organizations. Examples include such things as cruise lines collaborating through the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) or US organizations communicating at Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) in-country meetings. While such organizations, and many others, continue to play an important role, there is now clear momentum toward organizing and connecting Risk Intelligence professionals on a broader scale. Academic research on the topic is increasing, and organizations such as the Association for International Risk Intelligence Professionals (AIRIP) have emerged to support this growing field. Our community at ASIS aims to help support and lead this exciting development, and much of what we have focused on this quarter is professionalizing our internal structure to better support ASIS risk intelligence professionals.
Q: How does risk intelligence fit into other areas of the ASIS body of knowledge, such as ESRM and physical security?
A: Risk intelligence is relatively unique for the high amount of security convergence we experience with other communities. In many ways, we complement Physical Security, and together we contribute to overall holistic security. Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) and Risk Intelligence are complementary to one another. We see ESRM as defining what to protect and the governance framework for doing so, whereas Risk Intelligence builds practitioner skills and standards for collecting, fusing, and interpreting signals. Risk Intelligence examines what's changing in the threat landscape and why those changes matter. Ultimately, Risk Intelligence provides a broader analytic capability that converts diverse information into timely, contextual insights for strategic decision making.
We view this convergence as a major strength for our group. We hope to partner with other communities to leverage these natural intersections – co-hosting events, deepening collaboration, and promoting cross-community initiatives that advance more integrated security.
Q: What can ASIS members expect to find in the Risk Intelligence Community?
A: We've spent the first quarter of 2026 evaluating who we are, what we should prioritize, and how we can support our community. On April 2nd, at 11am EST, we will be hosting a Quarterly Steering Committee Update. This will be the first of regular, recorded meetings to update our community on what their steering committee is doing, as well as providing resources for members. We'll be explaining our name change and introducing both our new mission statement and a 'watchlist' of topics that we will be prioritizing for research and organizing events this year.
Looking ahead, the Risk Intelligence Community is committed to advancing foramlized best practices for the industry, revitalizing events that bring subject matter experts together on pertinent topics, and expanding opportunities for risk intelligence professionals to collaborate and learn from one another. Members of the community will also be at GSX 2026 in Atlanta, GA!
