We’ve got greatness among us!

The entire team at Intellicene is thrilled to announce that Jason Goldberg, Director, Global Partner Program, has been named an honoree of the 2024 Security Innovator Awards. To commemorate this recognition and provide him with more of the spotlight — we know he loves it — we sat down with Jason to get the details on his background, his industry expertise, trends to watch and what it means to be awarded as being an innovator in the security industry. Here’s what he had to say about the projects that earned him this accolade, the challenges he faced along the way, and his thoughts on the future of security intelligence and technology. .

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background in the security industry.
My career in the security industry began in July 2011 when I joined NowForce as its first Americas-based employee. I took on various roles throughout my time there, including support, quality assurance, product, marketing, and sales. During this time, I spearheaded the development of a global sales team and established a partner program that enabled the company to scale rapidly. I also helped establish a new office in Washington, D.C., further expanding our presence and capabilities within North America. One of our key partnerships was with Verint and it built the basis of the future of the company. Verint went on to lead our Series B round and ultimately, acquired NowForce. 

Congratulations on winning the Security Innovator Award! Can you share the innovative project or initiative that led to your nomination? What inspired your approach or idea?
Thank you so much! I was genuinely surprised and humbled by the honor. 

I’ve certainly come a long way since those early days at NowForce and today, I am in the position to reap the rewards of working for a company that supports creativity and innovation. I think this is part of the reason Intellicene is special, especially since organizations of our size often tend to silo employees and restrict creative freedom. 

My approach to partnerships is distinctive in our competitive landscape. Rather than competing for the same market share as other manufacturers, I focus on targeting market niches that may seem less lucrative but offer a significant total addressable market (TAM). I develop technical programs that leverage existing Symphia solutions alongside a partner’s core offerings. A prime example is our collaboration with Securitas Technology, where we developed a solution specifically for the financial and retail sectors. This solution seamlessly integrates our Symphia NowForce platform with Securitas’ 5 Diamond, UL-listed event monitoring center, providing a unique and valuable situational awareness service across these verticals.

Innovation often involves overcoming challenges. Could you describe a significant hurdle you faced while implementing your ideas and how you overcame it?
Running global operations comes with numerous challenges, including cultural differences, supply chain complexities, currency fluctuations, market entry strategies, technological infrastructure, and language barriers. Global expansion is incredibly challenging. One of the first regions NowForce expanded to was Latin America. My Spanish was muy malo at the time, and our offerings only translated into Hebrew and English. Regardless, I identified it as an incredible opportunity because no one was implementing incident management solutions in the region.

The first step was finding the right partner, which led me to BTI Solutions in Chile. They were running a security operations center for one of the largest universities in the country. I quickly developed a relationship with their CEO and traveled to Santiago to better understand their operations. After gathering extensive requirements, I distilled them into what could be achieved in a single sprint with Intellicene. I also learned that, like English, Spanish is highly regionalized, so mission-critical vocabulary had to be carefully vetted before implementation in the software.

Fortunately, our head of product management and head of research and development, Anshel Pfeffer and Amit Kahn, who are still with Intellicene, developed NowForce to be language agnostic. We just needed someone to translate each text string in NowForce appropriately. BTI graciously offered to handle this task. Once NowForce was ready for the LATAM market, I returned to Santiago to conduct in-person training. Unfortunately, their head of operations, Jesus, did not speak English. For two weeks, we relied on Google Translate to communicate. By the end of the training, Jesus had become a NowForce expert and picked up some English, while I learned some Spanish.

To this day, BTI remains one of our best Symphia NowForce partners due to their deep knowledge of the product. I collaborated with their CEO to develop the messaging and integrate the offering into the challenger sales model. Their sales team has now successfully brought NowForce into notable accounts such as Cencosud and HMC Michilla. Since our initial partnership with BTI, NowForce has gained popularity throughout South and Central America and has recently acquired new customers in the Caribbean.

How do you think your work has impacted the security industry or your organization, and what do you see as the next ample opportunity in security that could benefit from innovative solutions?
I’ve heard numerous customer stories about lives and property being saved thanks to some of the unique solutions Intellicene has developed with our partners. While it’s rewarding to grow a business, it’s essential to understand the “why” behind what we do (yes, I’m a big fan of Simon Sinek.) It’s challenging to evolve and properly serve our customers without a clear purpose.

This industry is changing rapidly and it’s exciting to be part of its transformation. The next big opportunity in security lies in consolidation and automation. Symphia Control is at the forefront of this trend, enabling operators to integrate the latest AI technologies into a single pane of glass. This unified approach simplifies operations and enhances situational awareness, making it an incredibly fascinating time to be part of this organization and the industry as a whole.

Okay, let’s step away from talking about security. Can you share two lesser-known facts about yourself?
I was a firefighter and EMT for 15 years and a DJ in college!

Read more about Jason and the rest of the Security Innovator Awards honorees.