The Trust Product

•  From unmeasured to operationalized emotion.

Trust is not abstract; it is a product built intentionally through evidence designed to inspire the emotions driving trust-buyer decisions.

•  From an emergent outcome to an intentional deliverable.

Trust is not accidental or inherited; it is manufactured intentionally through deliberate actions, quality outputs, and operational excellence.

•  From IT-centric service work to trust-centric product deliverables.

IT security enforces controls to mitigate risks, but trust products transform these operational efforts into market-facing deliverables that create measurable value for trust stakeholders.

•  From internal service metrics to external value outcomes.

Internal excellence in operations and controls creates the foundation for trust artifacts and stories that deliver measurable value as externally-facing trust products for trust buyers and stakeholders.

• Trust is value: Trust is an intentional, measurable asset that accelerates the Value Journey, driving competitive advantage and enterprise valuation
• Trust is manufactured: Trust is intentionally manufactured through consistent actions and evidence aligned with stakeholder expectations.
• Trust Stakeholders are buyers: Trust Stakeholders (customers, partners, regulators, investors, and employees) are buyers whose Value Journeys are accelerated by trust products.
• Trust Stories drive decisions: Trust Stories resonate with stakeholders, guiding decisions, creating value, and demonstrating trustworthiness.
• Evidence builds trust artifacts: Trust artifacts, built on evidence of safety, validate trustworthiness and form the foundation of trust stories.

1. Operational excellence enables trust value: Operational excellence is the foundation of trust, ensuring safety, reliability, and consistent quality outcomes.
2. Trust transcends compliance: Compliance is the baseline. Trust transcends it, transforming requirements into assurances that resonate with trust buyers.
3. Trust is a team sport: Trust is collaborative. Every department plays a role in manufacturing and delivering trust to buyers.
4. Trust requires transparency: Transparency aligns expectations with reality, fostering accountability and strengthening trust with buyers.
5. Trust creates a moat: Manufactured trust creates a durable moat, ensuring long-term differentiation and value defense.
6. Measure, improve, repeat: Trust products must be measured, validated, and improved continuously to align with buyer and market expectations.
7. Trust investments are business investments: Trust operations are strategic investments driving revenue growth, retention, and enterprise valuation.

We invite trust leaders (CISOs, CFOs, General Counsel, CIOs, and product owners) to collaboratively manufacture trust. By delivering measurable outcomes that exceed stakeholder expectations, you can accelerate value journeys, build sustainable market advantage, and lead in the Trust Economy.

Pivot into Trust Product. Build and ship Trust to market. Deliver stakeholder value. Lead the Trust Economy.

The Trust Product is a management framework that transforms operational excellence, evidence, and storytelling into market-facing value outcomes. It turns trust from an abstract into a product that accelerates Value Journeys and drives stakeholder confidence.

Relevant Articles

• Building Trust as a Strategic Asset: The Trust Product Practice Lexicon

This foundational piece offers a detailed lexicon for understanding the Trust Product, defining key terms and concepts that underpin the practice.

• Your Company May Have a Costly Trust Problem. Here's How to Fix It — And Boost Your Profits

This article discusses how companies can reframe trust as a product by productizing processes, establishing a dedicated trust function, and aligning trust initiatives with C-suite metrics to enhance business value and profitability

• Shifting from InfoSec-as-Service to Trust-as-Product

This article discusses the transition from traditional information security services to treating trust as a product, aligning security initiatives with business objectives.

• The Trust Factory: Demonstrating Continuous Asset Safety

Explores how organizations can establish a ‘Trust Factory’ to produce trust products consistently, ensuring continuous asset safety and stakeholder confidence.

• Aligning Assurance to the Revenue Strategy

This article discusses how Value Assurance integrates Information Security and Compliance practices with an organization’s revenue strategy and go-to-market motions to enhance revenue velocity and influence valuation during equity events. 

• RUN Security / DO Security for Value Assurance

This article advocates for treating information security as a strategic business function by adopting a “Run Security” and “Do Security” model, enabling organizations to transform security operations into trust-building initiatives that drive revenue and stakeholder confidence

The Trust Product is for trust leaders (CISOs, CFOs, general counsel, CIOs, product owners, and other leader-stakeholders) who are responsible for delivering trustworthiness to market. These leaders seek to accelerate their organization’s Value Journey, driving competitive advantage, revenue velocity, and sustainable market positioning.

Relevant Articles

• The Journey from CISO to Chief Trust Officer

This article traces the evolution of the CISO role, emphasizing the strategic shift from a technical security focus to a market-facing trust leadership role. It outlines the new responsibilities and value creation opportunities for Chief Trust Officers.

• The CISOs Evolution as a Strategic Partner in the Value Journey

The article discusses how CISOs are evolving from focusing solely on security to becoming strategic partners in value creation, emphasizing the importance of aligning cybersecurity initiatives with stakeholder objectives to drive growth and innovation.

• Everything Can Change: The Co-Evolution of the CMO and the CISO

This article highlights the emerging partnership between marketing and cybersecurity leaders, showing how their alignment can drive trust as a key market differentiator.

• The Interplay of Trust and Cybersecurity in Business Strategy

This article delves into how cybersecurity underpins trust within business strategies, focusing on the interplay between technical safeguards and market expectations.

• CISOs are NOT Liable Leaders (Yet)

A critical look at the accountability gap for CISOs, exploring why they have yet to be recognized as liable leaders despite their central role in managing trust risks.

The Trust Product operates at the intersection of internal excellence and external delivery. It spans departments, processes, and systems, aligning internal operations with market-facing trust artifacts and stories.

Relevant Articles

• Pivoting Technical Leadership to Market Incentives

This article discusses aligning technical leadership with market-facing incentives, a critical domain where the Trust Product delivers value.

• The CISO Role Transformation: The Shift from Security to Trust Assurance

A detailed exploration of how the CISO role expands to encompass trust assurance across organizational silos.

• Connecting Safety to Your Bottom Line

This article demonstrates the financial link between safety initiatives and trust value, highlighting operational areas where trust is generated.

• Information Security Leads to Customer Trust

A straightforward analysis of how strong information security practices directly contribute to customer trust and loyalty.