Secure Delivery Review - Insurance
Sector: Insurance
Role: Lead Consultant
Engagement: Structured assessment and strategic advisory
Type: Bespoke application of The Friction Index
A global insurance mutual needed clarity. Delivery was functioning — but confidence was fading.
Architecture diagrams no longer matched reality. Guardrails were unclear. Critical roles were assumed, not owned.
They weren’t in crisis — but they knew they were flying blind.
The Challenge
- Business-critical cloud system with on-prem dependencies
- Blurred ownership across architecture, cyber, and delivery
- Fragile feedback loops between dev, ops, and product
- No documented risks — trust ran on gut feel, not shared evidence
The ask: Where are we exposed? And how do we move forward safely — without slowing delivery down?
What I Did
Designed a review built for trust — not theatre
- Created a Secure Delivery Review format tailored to regulated environments
- Grounded the approach in software delivery realities — not just cyber checklists
- Combined structured interviews, walkthroughs, and artefact reviews with an AI-powered analysis pipeline
Ran a full-spectrum assessment of change flow
- Interviewed stakeholders across engineering, product, architecture, QA, and ops
- Assessed delivery maturity across 7 dimensions — from secure SDLC to operational resilience
- Used AI tools to accelerate analysis and surface signal from fragmented evidence
Delivered a board-ready roadmap
- Visual maturity snapshot and clear thematic findings
- Prioritised recommendations (Quick Wins + Strategic Enablers)
- Framed all guidance in business-first terms: risk, effort, value
What Changed
From Blind Spots to Shared Clarity
- Surfaced hidden risks in architecture, identity, and feedback loops
- Unified technical and non-technical teams with a shared view of delivery risk
From Gut Feel to Strategic Action
- Equipped leadership with a credible, prioritised action plan
- Enabled better decisions on sequencing, ownership, and investment
From Uncertainty to Trust
- Reframed the review as a reusable leadership tool — not a one-off audit
- Boosted trust in engineering by showing capability, not just gaps
Reflections
In regulated environments, ambiguity is a risk vector. This engagement proved that high-trust, delivery-grounded insight doesn’t just reduce risk — it builds confidence across teams.
When the review builds trust, not fear, change becomes not just safer — but faster.
Powered by The Friction Index
This was a bespoke early deployment of what became The Friction Index — tailored for a security-sensitive context. It showed the framework’s flexibility: surfacing cyber risks, clarifying ownership, and aligning leadership fast.
→ Explore The Friction Index
→ See how the framework evolved: AI-Powered Delivery Review
Facing delivery risk or architectural uncertainty?
Let’s surface the friction — and build safer, faster delivery from the inside.
Book a 20-minute discovery call