Data shows a costly communication gap between security teams and the C-suite
Security leaders often face challenges that extend beyond the firewall: a major gap in communication between the security function and executive leadership. This misalignment can have severe consequences, including stalling deals, increasing organizational risk, and preventing security from being recognized as a key driver of business growth.
To better understand this disconnect, a new survey from agentic trust platform Vanta reveals how security professionals view their communication challenges, which security metrics matter most to the C-suite, and how often executives truly factor security trends into critical business decisions. The survey collected responses from 600 business decision-makers in the United States in September 2025.
Below, Vanta shares key insights from the survey data and expert perspectives on improving business communication.
Key takeaways
- Security drives decisions: Eighty-seven percent of respondents say security insights always or often guide executive strategy, influencing budgeting, partnerships, and risk management.
- Alignment gaps remain: Executives and security teams share priorities, but differences in framing make security seem like a cost center.
- Misalignment impacts deals: Over half (54%) report lost or delayed deals due to security-sales gaps.
- ROI and communication challenges: Nearly a third (30%) see security as a cost center, with inconsistent reporting limiting perceived value.
Security insights influence nearly all (87%) business decisions
Our survey reveals that security indicators and insights play a critical role in executive decision-making, with 87% of respondents reporting that these insights “always” or “often” influence business decisions.
These indicators, such as incident prevention metrics, compliance achievements, and operational resilience data, are more than technical health checks. They directly influence executive decisions, guiding strategic choices around budgeting, partnerships, product launches, and risk management. Security isn’t operating on the sidelines; it’s helping define the direction of the business.
But as the following findings reveal, this influence may not always translate into shared understanding. While executives rely on security policies and insights to steer key decisions, many still struggle to interpret the data’s full business implications—a disconnect that limits security’s potential as a growth driver.
C-suite and security teams are nearly perfectly aligned, in theory
At first glance, security leaders and executives appear closely aligned. Most security leaders said avoiding security incidents is their most valuable initiative, both in their own view (35%) and in what they believe executives value most (39%). Operational continuity and customer trust followed, showing shared priorities around resilience and reputation.
Yet alignment in theory does not always translate in practice.
“The biggest disconnect between security leaders and executives is language,” said Jadee Hanson, chief information security officer at Vanta. “Security leaders speak in technical risks, while executives focus on business impact. When we translate threats into outcomes like revenue, trust, and resilience, security becomes a strategic driver instead of just a cost.”
While both sides agree on priorities, differences in framing create a language gap. Executives emphasize measurable business outcomes like revenue and brand perception, while security teams focus on risk reduction and operational resilience. This gap can limit how well alignment is realized in practice, even when priorities appear closely matched.
A majority of companies suffer lost deals due to security and sales misalignment
Over half of survey respondents (54%) reported that misalignment between security and sales has led to lost deals or delayed sales cycles at their company. Including those who haven’t experienced it yet but expect to, the true impact could affect nearly three-quarters of companies.
This disconnect directly affects revenue and deal velocity. When security is seen as a challenge, sales cycles slow, opportunities are lost, and potential customers may walk away. Enterprise deals often stall when compliance requirements aren’t clearly communicated or when security policies are introduced late in the sales process.
Security teams can prevent lost deals by engaging early with sales and translating compliance and risk requirements into clear business outcomes. Framing security as an enabler rather than a blocker helps accelerate the sales cycle. Practical steps include aligning documentation for prospects and clarifying regulatory requirements upfront.
Nearly one-third say security is viewed as a cost, not a catalyst
Nearly a third of respondents (30%) still see security as an operational expense rather than a growth driver, limiting how its value is perceived across the business. This perception is reinforced by inconsistent ROI reporting and a lack of standardized metrics—1 in 4 cited these gaps as a major communication challenge.
Key findings highlight how this plays out internally:
- Twenty-six percent cite the lack of standardized metrics as a barrier to proving ROI.
- Thirty-seven percent say executives most value insights tied to financial risk reduction.
- Forty-two percent report that cost is the security metric that gets the most executive attention.
- Over 2 in 5 (42%) wish executives were more educated on the value of security and today’s risk landscape.
This isn’t a failure of security; it’s a failure to communicate impact consistently. Security teams can reframe value by tracking business-aligned metrics, standardizing reporting, and linking security outcomes to revenue protection, risk reduction, and operational resilience. By telling the story in business terms, security shifts from being seen as a cost to being recognized as an advantage.
Compliance confidence is high, 90% report
Security and IT professionals are generally confident that their leadership understands regulatory and security compliance requirements needed to close enterprise deals. Almost half (45%) are very confident that executives fully grasp these requirements, while 46% are somewhat confident, meaning leadership understands the basics but may lack detailed knowledge.
While overall confidence is high, communicating the relevance of security metrics in terms of business impact remains important.
Why security communication often breaks down
Several common barriers, as reinforced by our survey results, can hinder effective security communication:
- Technical jargon (21%): Security metrics and risk assessments can be difficult for executives to interpret.
- Lack of standardized reporting (26%): Without consistent ways to measure impact, demonstrating ROI is challenging.
- Competing business priorities (17%): Security insights may receive less attention when executives focus on other initiatives.
These challenges persist because security teams and business leaders often operate with different perspectives. Standardized reporting and compliance management software can help—providing consistent ways to demonstrate ROI.
Tips to improve communication between executives and security teams
Improving communication across the board is the foundation of progress for any company. Several tips include:
- Simplify technical language: Translate complex security metrics into terms executives can understand. For example, instead of reporting a “42% reduction in phishing click rate,” frame it as “Employee awareness training reduced our risk of credential theft nearly by half.”
- Tie security metrics to business outcomes: Show how security impacts revenue, customer trust, and operational continuity.
- Standardize reporting: Use consistent formats to clearly demonstrate ROI and impact.
- Involve executives early in planning cycles: Align security team priorities with C-suite priorities from the start.
- Connect security compliance solutions to revenue opportunities: Show how meeting regulatory requirements supports deals and business growth.
- Provide visibility into controls and risk posture: Top GRC platforms that centralize compliance and risk data can help communicate security’s impact and aid trust management with leadership.
These tips can help shift the perception of security from a solely operational function to a strategic enabler.
From compliance to confidence: Mastering security communication
Clear security communication turns compliance into business value. By connecting metrics to outcomes, standardizing reporting, and using dashboards to show impact, teams can build executive confidence and generate security wins across the organization.
Methodology
In September 2025, quantitative research conducted by Centiment was commissioned by Vanta to explore the communication gap between security teams and executives. The goal was to better understand how well U.S.-based business decision-makers perceive, engage with, and act on security-related information from their security teams. The survey was co-designed by Vanta and Siege Media and collected responses from 600 business decision-makers in the United States. Data is unweighted, and the margin of error is approximately plus/minus 4% for the overall sample with a 95% confidence level.
This story was produced by Vanta and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
