A cybersecurity leader has received a major industry award for her contributions across the sector.
Lisa Ventura, from Worcester, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Security and Safety Entrepreneur Awards (SSEAs) on April 28, in Birmingham.
Hosted at the NEC alongside The Security Event, the SSEAs celebrate ground-breaking entrepreneurship and innovation across the UK security and safety sector.
Ms Ventura said: “I genuinely didn’t see this coming. A Lifetime Achievement award is one of those things you hear about and think belongs to someone else.
“But when I look back at the journey, from my early days in journalism and broadcasting, to founding Unity Group Solutions, to launching the AI and Cyber Security Association as the world’s first global trade association focused on the convergence of AI and cyber security, I realise just how much this work has meant to me.
“I have always believed that people are at the heart of everything we do in this industry, not technology, not frameworks, but people.
“If this award reflects even a fraction of the impact that belief has had, then I am deeply, deeply grateful.”
The award marks a career spanning more than 15 years in cyber security during which Ms Ventura has become one of the most respected voices in the UK industry.
She is the founder and CEO of Unity Group Solutions, a consultancy specialising in cyber security awareness, strategic communications, and thought leadership.
Ms Ventura also founded the AI and Cyber Security Association (AICSA), the world’s first global trade association focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence and cyber security.
An advocate for human-centred and neuroinclusive approaches to security awareness, Ms Ventura was awarded an MBE in 2023 by King Charles III for services to cyber security and to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
She was also made a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security in May 2025.
Her recent book, Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity, was published in April 2026.
The 2026 SSEAs were supported by partners including The Banks Foundation, the British Security Industry Association, and Skills for Security.
Category sponsors included Ajax Systems, The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals, and others.
