This man will protect your password

Tom Grissen has always designed his life around things he’s passionate about — and identity assurance is one of them. “To be successful, I fundamentally believe you must be energized,” says Grissen. “I have led thousands of staff in large divisions of multi-billion dollar companies, turned around struggling businesses, and most recently with Daon, have taken an early stage company to one that has customers on five continents.”  In the following Q&A, Grissen discusses what attracted him to the Reston-based company — “I saw an extremely talented staff, people willing to make bold decisions with the strength and stamina to be leaders rather than followers,” he says — plus he fills us in on the latest trends in identity assurance.

What are some of the major vertical markets you are in right now?

Tom Grissen: Today, our software technology powers national security systems in the US, Japan, Australia and the EU.   From this success, we have moved into regulated industries (i.e., aviation), where we have architected and our software powers systems such as US Registered Traveler and the nations clearinghouse for biometric background checks for 100 percent of the aviation industries in the US.  It’s starting to expand into non-government sectors such as banking and health care.  Identity assurance will shift to be consumer led and become ubiquitous across the government vertical in every region of the world.  Daon, from its inception, was designed to power these global systems.

The technology obviously keeps changing a lot, so where do you see the market and what Daon is doing now and a couple of years out?

Tom Grissen: It has always been important to be able to establish our identity. The demands of the future are going to require that we instantly be able to identify and trust anyone we interact with whether in person or over a distance.  The increasing demand to be able to easily assert our identity is driving the rapid global adoption of credentials and systems that provide higher levels of identity assurance.  These identity systems must be inclusive to all members of the population and will require “person centric identity records” (e.g., unique human characteristics such as fingerprints, iris, face, voice) that combine biographic and biometric data.  These are not trivial challenges and Daon has the expertise and identity platform to deliver on this challenge.

Today’s systems extend into numerous national security goals including border management and immigration.  In addition, they are extending into other desirable social goals including employee credentialing, enabling the reduction of waste, fraud, and abuse as well as efficient commercial transactions.  The ease that individuals can assert their identity through biographic and biometric techniques will prove central to the nation’s economy.  Identity will dramatically increase in value and has been referred to as the “world’s new money”.  As identity becomes increasingly valuable it is more likely someone will want to steal it.  Daon is a leader in the development of highly secure identity systems to protect against this risk.

What is your biggest challenge in business today?

Tom Grissen: Today, no one would even consider the custom development of a database or ERP system.  Companies that specialized in the custom development these solutions  saw their business collapse.  The challenge in identity assurance systems is even more acute.  Security, scalability, and system flexibility must be done right.  Daon has been called on to turn around what I refer to as “red projects” that were approached as custom development projects and failed.  While a profitable business model, we are much more interested in helping our customers get it right the first time.  Our challenge is to simply get better at sharing these experiences and thereby enabling a more informed decision.

What will the company look like in five years?

Tom Grissen: Daon’s hallmark as a market leader will continue five years into the future.  We will continue to provide mission critical systems that are central to identity assurance.  As we look forward I expect our business will shift from 95 percent government to a consumer led revolution with the early stages of a shift in ownership of identity records from government to the individual.

How would you describe your leadership style?

Tom Grissen: As someone who is always assessing our organizational capability and focused on bringing the experience of the company to the task at hand.  I approach work with the feeling of being very fortunate and able to spend my life exactly how I want to spend it.  I have tons of energy, feel my eyes are wide open, I am sensitive of our environment, and have a never ending desire to learn.  My leadership style could be summarized as someone who thrives on making hard things happen.

Anything you would like to add?

Tom Grissen: My approach to leadership has worked in large, midsize and early stage companies.    I am open to discussion but also recognize the importance of ending the debate and moving on to successful execution.  It takes a proper sense of balance to get the job done right and when it’s right, it’s magical.

Tell us something about you that others would not know?

Tom Grissen: I used to love whitewater kayaking until I found myself floating upside down in my kayak through the brown Potomac River rapids attempting to do an Eskimo Roll with my head bouncing off the rocks wondering “Why am I doing this sport?”

Interview with Tom Grissen was conducted by JD Kathuria

Read more interviews here: http://blog.executivebiz.com/category/interviews/

Posted by Staff Writer on Monday, November 3rd, 2008. Filed under Executive Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry