James Owen

Partner

  • Global
  • Digital Risks
  • Organisational Resilience
  • Crisis Response
  • Investor Services

James Owen is the Global Head of Digital Risks, based in London. He leads Control Risks' worldwide cyber threat intelligence, advisory, assurance, and incident response capabilities. He works closely with Boards, CEOs and senior executive teams to help them navigate the rapidly evolving intersection of technology, cyber threats, and business risk. 

James delivers threat-led, business-focused insight to inform strategic decision-making, strengthen resilience planning, and guide enterprise-wide transformation. Working with multinational organisations across a wide range of sectors, he is frequently called upon to brief Boards during periods of heightened threat, major incidents or strategic inflection points. 

His perspective combines deep digital risk expertise with practical insight gained from years of operating in Russia, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. That grounding enables him to advise organisations on their most consequential strategic questions: which technologies to invest in, which emerging risks to mitigate or accept, and how to build global resilience in ways that reflect local operating realities.  

Recent engagements include:

  • Overseeing the design and delivery of tailored threat intelligence capabilities for leading technology firms 
  • Shaping threat‑led cyber security strategy and digital transformation for Fortune 100 organisations 
  • Leading engagement with a global technology organisation to redesign its risk governance model for AI and early agentic‑AI adoption 

  • James has held senior leadership roles in regions characterised by geopolitical complexity, fast-changing operating conditions, and demanding stakeholder environments. He brings globally informed judgment, commercial acuity, and an ability to deliver calm, confidence-building guidance. He excels at building diverse, collaborative and high-performing teams.  

    James has a BA in Modern European History from York University in the UK and an MA in Russian Politics from University College London. He is fluent in Russian. 

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