Ava Risk Group has appointed former Otis Worldwide Corporation, L3Harris Technologies and Lockheed Martin executive Bryant Henson as chief executive officer, effective August 24, 2026.
The company said the appointment supports its North American growth strategy and comes amid rising investment in the protection of mission-critical infrastructure, driven by geopolitical tensions, ageing infrastructure, digital transformation, and the growing convergence of physical and cyber security.
Ava describes itself as a global technology company that develops intelligent sensing and physical security platforms to help organisations detect, understand and respond to threats across mission-critical infrastructure, combining sensing technologies, AI-powered analytics and integrated software.
The company said its technologies are used by government agencies, defence organisations and commercial operators in more than 70 countries.
Henson most recently served as executive vice president and global head of strategy and business development at Otis Worldwide Corporation. Before that, he held roles at L3Harris Technologies, including president of the Tactical Communications Sector and the Mission Avionics Sector. Earlier in his career, he spent sixteen years at Lockheed Martin in senior operational, business development and executive leadership roles.
David Cronin, Chairman of Ava, commented:
“The protection of mission-critical infrastructure has become one of the defining security challenges of our time. Governments and infrastructure operators are under increasing pressure to protect essential assets against more sophisticated threats while maintaining operational continuity, resilience and efficiency. For decades, the physical security industry has focused on detecting events. We believe the next generation of intelligent security will be defined by understanding those events, providing customers with meaningful operational intelligence that enables faster decisions, improves resilience and helps safeguard essential services.”
“Bryant brings exactly the leadership experience we were looking for. He has built and led world-class technology businesses, developed long-term strategic partnerships and successfully executed growth strategies across global defense, aerospace and critical infrastructure markets. Just as importantly, he understands that innovation only creates value when it delivers measurable outcomes for customers.”
Bryant Henson, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ava, commented:
“Throughout my career, I’ve been privileged to work with organizations that solve complex challenges for customers operating in some of the world’s most demanding environments. What attracted me to Ava Risk Group was the opportunity to build on an outstanding technology foundation and help scale a business with tremendous global potential. The market is entering an exciting period of transformation. Customers increasingly require more than sensors or security devices, they need intelligent platforms that deliver actionable information, improve operational awareness and support better decisions across increasingly complex environments.”
“Ava has earned an outstanding reputation for innovation, technical excellence and customer success. The Company’s technologies address some of the world’s most important physical security challenges, and I believe there is a significant opportunity to expand that leadership by continuing to invest in innovation, strengthening strategic partnerships and remaining relentlessly focused on customer outcomes.”
“My priorities are straightforward: listen to our customers, support our people, invest in innovation and execute with discipline. By bringing together intelligent sensing, AI-powered analytics and integrated physical security platforms, we have an opportunity to help customers generate better operational intelligence, strengthen resilience and make faster, more informed decisions. I believe Ava is exceptionally well positioned for its next phase of growth, and I look forward to working alongside our employees, customers and partners to realize that opportunity.”
Ava said organisations across government, defence and commercial markets are seeking technologies that provide earlier detection, greater operational visibility and faster decision-making.
