Bill Udell is Chief Executive Officer of Control Risks’ Americas region. He is responsible for the strategic growth and development of Control Risks’ business across the Americas, including its offices in Bogotá, Houston, San Francisco, Mexico City, New York, Panama City, São Paulo, Chicago, Toronto and Washington DC. He is based in San Francisco and sits on the Board and the Executive Committee.
He has held a number of positions within Control Risks and previously managed the security consulting, protective services and crisis management business for the Americas. Prior to that, he managed Control Risks’ Iraq business, working with foreign embassies, NGOs and companies to ensure that their Iraq operations were sustainable within the security environment, Iraqi legal framework and local social structure.
Prior to joining Control Risks, Bill served in a variety of positions in the Central Intelligence Agency, working as both an Intelligence Analyst and Operations Officer. During his tenure as an analyst in the Directorate of Intelligence, Bill focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Egyptian and North African political trends and counterterrorism. He conducted briefings and wrote intelligence reports advising consumers across the US government, including the White House and members of Congress. As an Operations Officer, Bill supported human intelligence activities worldwide and completed a long-term operational assignment in a high-threat environment in the Middle East. He developed expertise in source development, high-threat environment operations, explosives technology and countermeasures, defensive driving, surveillance detection and counterterrorism operations.
Bill holds a Master of Arts degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Trinity University.