The times of the current era are becoming increasingly dangerous. Especially since the business world has become phygital, holistic, and robust, corporate security has become the paramount factor in every enterprising entity’s operational smoothness—particularly for organizations operating across regions, regulatory environments, and cultural contexts. It is where the role of a Group Chief Operating Officer, like Conor Mulhall, becomes most crucial and widely influential.
Helming Sentinel Risk from January 2025, Conor Mulhall has completely boosted the company’s strength in providing cost-effective and professional corporate security solutions at both operational and strategic levels. With his own specialization in business re-engineering, re-focusing, and re-growth, Conor used his vast and multidisciplinary experience to put Sentinel Risk amongst the top corporate security providers in the world, supported by teams that bring local insight and varied professional backgrounds into every engagement.
Conor Mulhall holds a Bachelor of Business, a First Class MBA, and is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. He says that at Sentinel Risk, his team’s global reach, combined with exceptionally delivered local-level services, distinguishes them in a fiercely competitive corporate security world. “We can assure you that irrespective of the size and scale of your local and global operations, we can design the most reliable solution for you.”
The Foundation of Service: Business and Problem-Solving
Conor ‘s passion for business and service was evident from a young age, starting with simple ventures and culminating in a striking example of entrepreneurial problem-solving during his school days. This inherent drive, coupled with a fundamental enjoyment of business, drew him to the security and risk management sector.
He finds the service industry fascinating, noting that clients typically approach Sentinel Risk when they are “under pressure” or “in trouble,” not when celebrating happy moments. This reality aligns perfectly with his passion for problem-solving and his strong willingness to help people. Conor Mulhall sees the core of the security industry wrapped up in these two qualities: they are called upon when people truly need assistance, and his goal is always to provide that help effectively.
Leadership Philosophy: Confidence, Outcome, and Empowerment
As Group COO in a high-stakes, discrete industry, Conor Mulhall defines his leadership philosophy around three critical tenets. The most important goal is to give people confidence. Secondly, he stresses not over-promising but ensuring that if Sentinel Risk commits to a task, they do it, regardless of cost. The outcome is paramount: “Number one is to solve the problem. And if you solve the problem, everything else kind of falls into place.”
His philosophy also relies heavily on empowering staff on the ground. Recognizing that front-line personnel often operate in very different environments and circumstances, teams are trained and trusted to make the right call in the moment. Conor ensures his staff knows they are backed up: even if a decision proves wrong, the company will solve the problem and learn from the mistake.
Consistency Through Quality: Investing in People
Sentinel Risk’s service portfolio is diverse—spanning risk assessment, security audits, executive protection, and crisis management—but Conor Mulhall ensures consistency through the quality of the people they employ. He explicitly states that while a top-quality employee may cost “a few pounds more” than standard labor, the investment is necessary and worthwhile.
Ireland’s talent landscape has played a meaningful role in strengthening Sentinel Risk’s operational capability. Conor views immigration as a positive factor for the business, enabling the company to draw from a strong base of Irish professionals while also benefiting from experienced international talent now based in Ireland. This combination deepens internal leadership, brings a broader operational perspective into decision-making, and enhances the value delivered to clients operating across multiple jurisdictions and risk environments.
The company looks after its team by offering flexibility to align with the modern, 24/7 service requirement, understanding that traditional 9-to-5 schedules no longer apply. To maintain excellence across services like risk management and technical surveillance countermeasures (TSCM), the focus is always on: employing the best talent, ensuring they are really well trained, and deploying them in the right situation.
Once people with the right expertise, local understanding, and operational judgment are in the right positions, the firm achieves success “ninety-five, ninety-nine percent of the time.”
Continuous Anticipation: Two Ears, One Mouth
In an era defined by rapidly shifting geopolitical risks and pervasive cyber threats, Conor guides Sentinel Risk using a philosophy of continuous anticipation. He attributes this mindset to the company’s founder, who stressed the classic principle: “two ears, one mouth.”
This translates into an active strategy of listening to the security landscape. Sentinel Risk is constantly present at major industry events and conferences, not solely to solicit business, but to understand what’s happening. Conor emphasizes that insights gathered from a wide range of conversations—across markets, disciplines, and regions—often provide a more accurate picture than formal reports.
Furthermore, the company maintains a proactive stance with clients, regularly checking in on their security situation—a practice that allows Sentinel Risk to anticipate needs and offer essential updates, evolving client relationships into true strategic partnerships.
Global Reach, Local Reliability: The Network Mandate
Conor Mulhall recognizes that adapting to global change requires a deep understanding of local nuances. Sentinel Risk balances its global reach with a commitment to reliable local service by meticulously building and vetting its partner network.
For key markets like Paris or London, Sentinel Risk maintains established partnerships, relying on local experts who are known and trusted to oversee their work. Conor Mulhall stresses that they will only deliver local service if they are absolutely confident in the local provider’s ability. He illustrates the necessity of this approach: it would be nonsensical to send personnel unfamiliar with the local context (e.g., sending staff from Dublin to Ulaanbaatar) to conduct essential travel risk assessments.
The true value lies in combining global oversight with people who understand the local environment, context, and way business is done on the ground. The headline suggested danger, but the local partner clarified that the demonstration was four kilometers away from the client’s route, allowing the CEO to proceed confidently. This ability to deliver precise, on-the-ground intelligence is the core of their tailored, culturally sensitive security solution.
The Public-Private Nexus: Outsourcing Specialist Security
Conor Mulhall observes a clear global trend: governments are increasingly attempting to outsource specialist security provisions. While foundational services like police forces remain essential public functions, many more complex and niche security processes are being delegated to private capabilities like Sentinel Risk.
Conor Mulhall views this not as a transactional process but as an opportunity to build deep, collaborative public-private partnerships. The key is first to listen and understand the varied operational realities and priorities of different departments and jurisdictions.
Sentinel Risk can then sit down with local and national government representatives and develop tailored solutions in partnership with them. This approach ensures that the bespoke security requirements of the state are met professionally and cost-effectively, positioning Sentinel Risk as a trusted collaborator in shaping global security and compliance standards.
The Operations-Driven Leader: Trust and Operational Excellence
When discussing his own background, Conor Mulhall immediately anchors his professional drive in his personal life: being happily married with three children who are the “bedrock of everything.” This foundation of reliability extends to his professional relationships, emphasizing the importance of working with people he trusts and relies upon, notably the CEO and founder, who has been a friend for 30 years.
Conor Mulhall’s path to COO was built on an extensive background in operations, including managing sites across Europe for Kingspan, an Irish building materials firm. This experience instilled his core philosophy: operational excellence is built through people who bring different operational experiences to the table but remain firmly aligned on outcomes. Sentinel Risk consciously operates without a dedicated sales team.
Instead, they focus relentlessly on delivering an excellent service at a cost-competitive price. “If we’re really good at what we do…the customer will get a really good service, and they get it at a really good price,” he states. This leads to organic growth, where clients not only return but actively tell their friends about the company, creating a powerful, integrity-driven referral cycle.
The Security CEO’s Essential Quality: Calmness Under Pressure
Conor notes that overseeing security operations presents fundamentally different challenges than a traditional commercial setting. In security, timelines are significantly shorter, and situations are almost always more urgent. This high pressure can easily lead to panic, resulting in bad decisions.
Therefore, the key quality distinguishing an effective security CEO is calmness. Conor asserts the leader must have the discipline to “take a moment”—however brief—to ensure the mindset is clear. The primary focus must always remain on the customer’s safety and the best possible outcome. This commitment means that if a situation arises that requires blowing the budget to solve the problem correctly, they will do so. “Calmness” ensures that even when dealing with crises, every decision is measured, focused, and aimed squarely at the client’s ultimate security.
The Tech Edge: Human in the Loop for AI-Driven Security
Conor Mulhall and his CEO, Terry, share a “techie” passion, placing Sentinel Risk at the forefront of technological adoption. Conor notes the “amazing jump” in technology over the last few years, particularly the ability to analyze vast amounts of data to produce succinct, actionable security intelligence.
Under his leadership, the company integrates high-end technological tools like the Dark Compass, a sophisticated piece of tech used for TSCM (Technical Surveillance Countermeasures)—or bug sweeping—to detect illicit listening or video devices operating at unusual frequencies within buildings.
Furthermore, Sentinel Risk embraces AI for analytics and report writing. To ensure responsible usage, the company recently achieved the ISO 42001 certification (Artificial Intelligence Management System). Conor stresses the non-negotiable principle of the Human in the Loop (HITL). Human oversight ensures that analysis reflects real-world context, not just data outputs. Thus, he insists that while AI provides valuable analysis, every piece of data and every report presented to a customer must be sense-checked and data-checked by a human expert. This maintains transparency, honesty, and—most importantly—accuracy.
Integrity and Honesty: The Core Personal Compass
For Conor Mulhall, the personal values that shape his leadership are non-negotiable and fundamentally mirror the organization’s culture. The two central values are honesty and integrity.
Honesty, for him, includes the willingness to admit mistakes openly without fear of reprimand. He fosters an organizational culture where people feel safe to say, “I messed up here,” knowing that the focus will immediately shift to solving the problem rather than assigning blame. This open culture makes life easier, as Sentinel Risk can deal directly with the truth.
Integrity is the critical second pillar, often tested by the pursuit of profit. Conor firmly believes that maintaining integrity—refusing to “chase the dollar” at all costs—is paramount. He operates under the belief that if they do the right things, are honest, and deliver operational excellence, “the bottom line will look after itself.”
Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders: Think Long-Term and Work Harder
Offering wisdom to aspiring professionals, Conor advises them to think in the long term. While short-term decisions are necessary, leaders must constantly zoom out to see the right path for the medium and long term. He uses the analogy of Chinese strategic thinking, which focuses on decades. When a tough decision is made, he advises against procrastination: “Don’t do it tomorrow if you can do it today.”
Finally, he offers a universal, unwavering principle for success: “If things are tough or if you want to get on better in life, get up earlier and work harder.” He maintains that these two actions rarely fail to deliver positive results.
The Future: Certainty in an Uncertain World
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Conor Mulhall recognizes that the only certainty is uncertainty. The global environment is dramatically more volatile than it was just five years ago. In this landscape, the vision for Sentinel Risk is clear: to be the firm that brings certainty and confidence to its customers during highly unpredictable times.
The organization’s focus is not on sales targets or massive growth rates, but purely on operational excellence and ensuring the customer achieves the desired outcome. Conor emphasizes: “It hasn’t been about making the most amount of money.
It’s been about making sure our customers are well looked after.” By focusing on operational excellence and grounded, context-aware decision-making, Sentinel Risk builds long-term partnerships in an increasingly unpredictable world.
