Harri Uusitalo, Security Director of OP Pohjola, has been selected as the recipient of the Security Director of the Year 2026 award.

The award is granted annually to an individual in a demanding leadership position who has strengthened the strategic role of security within their organization and, more broadly, in the security field.

The award has been granted annually since 2016.

Uusitalo has spent his entire career in security. He began in internal audit and security at the Tradeka Cooperative, where he eventually served as Chief Security Officer. He then worked in guarding and cash handling at G4S Finland. Uusitalo joined OP Pohjola in 2015 and has served as Security Director since 2020.

Over his career, Uusitalo has seen many kinds of security threats. He therefore encourages organizations to boldly consider different future scenarios.

“If we only prepare for what we have read in the newspapers and what has already happened, we are always preparing for the past,” Uusitalo says in an interview with Aalto Leaders’ Insight.

According to him, artificial intelligence is creating a new playing field. “In the past, we have been protected by our language and our geographical location. Now neither of them is an obstacle for the adversary.”

Uusitalo has also contributed to the development of the security field beyond his own organization over the long term.

He currently serves as Chair of ASIS Finland ry and is an active member of the Bank Security Committee of Finance Finland, the Corporate Security Committee of the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, and Finnsecurity ry. He has also been involved in the preparation of Katakri, Finland’s national security auditing criteria.

“Harri Uusitalo has witnessed changes in the operating environment over a career in security spanning several industries. In his current role as Security Director in the financial sector, which is critical to the operational resilience of society, Uusitalo’s expertise plays a key role not only within his own organization but also more broadly in Finnish society,” says jury member Anna-Maija Ahonen from Aalto EE.

“He is known in the field for his in-depth expertise and his thorough approach. He does not emphasize his own role, but rather cooperation and solving problems together with others,” Ahonen continues.

The Security Director of the Year award is granted by Aalto EE, the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), and Finnsecurity ry.

Further information

Anna-Maija Ahonen
Program Director, Aalto EE
+358 10 837 3831
anna-maija.ahonen@aaltoee.fi

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