Bryan Finney walks through the massive IT and business transformation he’s spearheading at Vector Security—an organization rooted in legacy infrastructure, complex acquisitions, and a fast-evolving physical security market. He breaks down how he unified siloed teams across two companies into “One IT,” introduced enterprise architecture practices, and began reshaping the tech stack for resilience, scale, and customer responsiveness. His story highlights how seemingly mundane systems like phone platforms can become mission-critical—and how strategic decisions must sometimes be re-evaluated midstream to ensure failover readiness in high-stakes industries.

A key theme throughout the conversation is Bryan’s philosophy of “outsourcing responsibly.” Rather than overburden a lean team with 24/7 tasks, he explains how he leverages trusted vendors for device provisioning, phone management, and security operations—freeing his internal staff to focus on exceptions, innovation, and user support. This pragmatic approach lets him deploy Microsoft Autopilot and Copilot, optimize for cloud-first transformation, and architect for business continuity in a world where a single tech failure can cascade into widespread disruption.

Bryan also dives into his untraditional path to CIO, sharing how early roles in retail IT, innovation labs, and e-commerce taught him the importance of thinking like a business partner, not just a technologist. From launching curbside pickup platforms to surviving FedEx’s WannaCry response, his experience shaped a leadership style that centers trust, flexibility, and results. As he now mentors others, Bryan emphasizes soft skills, curiosity, and being "present in the moment"—especially in a hybrid work world where casual conversations can spark career-defining opportunities.