Security Is the Biggest Blocker to Innovation - Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Be
Does This Sound Familiar?
- You skip exploring new tools because the thought of enduring a security assessment through pages of documentations and endless meetings are simply not worth it.
- A penetration test report flags dozens of “critical” issues with no real impact - but fixing them is easier than fighting it.
- A security scan drops an SLA on your desk - drop everything and fix it now. No debate.
Security isn’t supposed to work this way. But in most organizations, it has become the biggest blocker to innovation.
Fixing it isn’t just about better policies - it’s about rethinking how security fits into product and engineering from the ground up. And that’s not easy.
Why Security Should Be a Product Responsibility, Not Just an Engineering Concern
In most organizations, security is treated as a separate function - something that sits outside of engineering and product, enforcing policies, conducting audits, and often acting as a blocker to innovation. This model is fundamentally broken.
Security isn’t just an engineering challenge, nor is it just a compliance requirement. Security is a product concern. And for tech-driven organizations, the best way to integrate security effectively isn’t to treat it as a gatekeeping function - it’s to embed it directly into product and technology leadership.
The Real Problem: Security as a Separate Function Creates Bottlenecks
The reason security often slows organizations down isn’t because security itself is unnecessary. It’s because of how security is structured.
Most companies operate under a flawed model where security:
- Exists as a separate team - reviewing engineering work instead of being part of it.
- Lacks deep product and business context - resulting in overly cautious policies that don’t align with real-world trade-offs.
- Gets involved too late in the process - forcing last-minute changes instead of shaping secure design from the start.
This separation means security is often seen as a hurdle rather than an enabler. Engineers try to ship features, security blocks them. Leadership sees security as necessary but frustrating. And in the end, the organization moves slower than it needs to - not because security exists, but because it’s applied in the wrong way.
The Solution: Security as a Product Function
The right approach isn’t to get rid of security - it’s to rethink where security sits in the organization.
If security directly impacts the product experience, customer trust, and long-term stability of the business, then it shouldn’t be owned by an isolated security team. It should be embedded within product and technology leadership.
This means:
- Security is a core part of product roadmaps. It’s considered at the same level as feature development, UX, and performance.
- Security trade-offs are made with business context. Instead of security being applied in isolation, it’s evaluated alongside customer needs, speed, and usability.
- Security becomes a natural part of development. Instead of being a gate that slows things down, it’s built into engineering workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and design processes.
Who Should Own Security in a Tech Company?
Since security is ultimately a CEO-level concern, the question is: who should own security on a daily basis?
The traditional model - where security reports to IT, compliance, or a standalone security team - creates unnecessary friction. A better approach is:
- Security as part of the product and technology function.
- A tech-first product leader owning security decisions.
- Security KPIs integrated into product success metrics.
When security sits within product and tech, it transforms from being a blocker to innovation into a core part of how the business operates.
Why This Model Works Better
- Security is considered from day one.
- No more last-minute compliance hurdles. Security is baked into product planning.
- Security teams work alongside engineers, not against them.
- Instead of auditing work after the fact, security partners with teams to build secure systems from the start.
- Security trade-offs are made with full context.
- A product-driven security model ensures risk is balanced with speed, usability, and customer experience.
Final Thought: Security as a Competitive Advantage
Security isn’t just about preventing breaches or meeting compliance requirements - it’s a key part of how customers trust and interact with a product.
The companies that get this right - where security is an integrated part of product and technology - don’t just move faster. They outcompete everyone else by building safer, more resilient, and more scalable products.
The future isn’t security as a gatekeeper. It’s security as a first-class product function.