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From Cost Center to Growth Driver: The CFO’s Playbook for Cloud Security ROI
For too long, security has been treated as an unavoidable expense - just another cost on the balance sheet, a necessary evil to keep auditors and regulators at bay. CFOs approve budgets for security tools, teams, and compliance initiatives, but the conversation rarely goes beyond risk mitigation. It’s time for a shift.
Dani Woolf
06 Jun • Read Time: 8 minutes
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For too long, security has been treated as an unavoidable expense - just another cost on the balance sheet, a necessary evil to keep auditors and regulators at bay.
CFOs approve budgets for security tools, teams, and compliance initiatives, but the conversation rarely goes beyond risk mitigation.
It’s time for a shift.
Cloud security isn’t just about reducing threats.
Done right, it removes operational bottlenecks, increases efficiency, and accelerates revenue.
The challenge is that most CFOs aren’t hearing that message.
Security teams focus on technical risk, while finance teams focus on business growth.
And somewhere in the middle, the real value of cloud security gets lost.
I sat down with Chris Thomas, Chief Revenue Officer at AlgoSec, to break down the financial impact of cloud security investments.
We talked about the cost of doing nothing, how automation changes the math, and what CFOs should really be looking at when evaluating security spend.
If security is still seen as a cost center in your organization, you’re leaving money on the table.
This playbook will show you why.
Let’s go.
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The CFO’s Dilemma: Why Security Investments Are Often Undervalued
Most CFOs don’t think of security as a business accelerator.
Instead, it’s a budget line item that only gets attention when something goes wrong - a compliance failure, a breach, or an operational bottleneck that slows down a key initiative.
That approach is shortsighted.
Every day security delays cause real financial losses.
It’s not just about risk - it’s about revenue. Chris put it bluntly:
"Security teams were the enemy to the application teams…Security traditionally has not been thought of as a true partner to the business side."
The reality is that security should be enabling business growth, not slowing it down.
The problem isn’t just that companies spend money on security - it’s that they spend it inefficiently by failing to align security with business priorities.
Instead of asking, How much does security cost?
CFOs should be asking, How much money are we losing due to inefficient security processes?
The Three Pillars of Cloud Security ROI for CFOs
For security to justify its cost, it has to deliver clear business value. That value comes from three key areas:
1. Revenue Enablement: Security as a Business Accelerator
Every application, service, and digital product relies on security approvals before it can launch.
If those approvals take too long, they delay revenue.
If they are rushed, they increase risk.
Cloud security investments should focus on removing friction while maintaining compliance and security integrity.
Chris shared a story about a European banking service provider managing IT for 1,000 banks.
Their biggest issue?
Security reviews for cloud applications were taking four weeks, delaying revenue-driving services.
"When their banking customers were going to push new applications into the market…it would take them up to 3 or 4 weeks to pull that off. That is a huge amount of time when you're talking about applications that drive revenue."
By automating cloud security processes with AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE), they cut that timeframe to three days, with a goal of 24 hours.
That’s a direct impact on revenue.
If security teams and CFOs aren’t talking about how security enables faster product rollouts and customer acquisition, they’re missing the point.
2. Cost Optimization: Reducing Operational Waste
Companies waste millions each year on manual security processes that should be automated.
Security approvals, policy reviews, and compliance checks take up valuable time - often performed by highly paid specialists doing administrative work.
Chris highlighted a financial services firm in Orange County (that’s where I’m from!) that had ten full-time IT employees manually reviewing 500 security change requests per month.
"They have about ten IT people whose sole job is running off spreadsheets to review change requests… Those people should be working on strategic projects."
By implementing security automation with AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE), they eliminated that manual workload, freeing up their IT staff for higher-value work.
Instead of spending resources on inefficient workflows, they redirected talent to innovation.
CFOs need to look at security investments the same way they look at any other operational efficiency project.
If automation can replace slow, manual processes, it’s a cost-saving initiative, not an expense.
3. Risk Avoidance: Preventing Financial Losses from Breaches and Compliance Failures
Security failures are expensive.
Fines, lawsuits, lost customers, and stock price drops can cost a company more than an entire security program.
Yet, many CFOs still see security investments as optional, despite the financial risk of non-compliance or a breach.
Chris made one point clear:
"Getting audited and failing an audit is reputational risk. There’s fines. A lot of costly things can go on with being out of compliance."
Companies that treat compliance as a last-minute fire drill end up spending more on reactive fixes than proactive investments.
Security automation ensures compliance is continuous, reducing the cost of last-minute fixes and preventing regulatory penalties.
CFOs should be asking:
What’s the financial impact of a security failure?
What would a breach or compliance fine cost compared to proactive investment?
How AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE) Reduces Costs: A CFO’s Perspective
Beyond reducing risk and improving efficiency, ACE delivers measurable cost savings.
Companies that fail to optimize security are paying too much for inefficiencies, breaches, and downtime.
1. Avoiding Multi-Million Dollar Security Breaches
The global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was $4.88 million.
In the U.S., that number jumps to $9.36 million per breach.
Most breaches aren’t caused by elite hackers - they happen due to preventable misconfigurations.
ACE automates risk detection and remediation, eliminating human error-driven breaches.
2. Reducing Downtime and Accelerating Application Deployment
The average cost of downtime is $225,000 per day.
Cyberattacks cause an average of 18 days of downtime per incident.
ACE prevents costly security-related downtime by automating approvals and eliminating misconfigurations.
3. Cutting IT Labor Costs Through Automation
Many organizations pay security professionals six-figure salaries to perform manual security policy checks.
ACE eliminates repetitive security tasks, freeing up talent for strategic work.
4. Reducing Compliance Costs and Audit Readiness Expenses
Companies with high levels of non-compliance face an average financial impact of $5.05 million.
ACE automates compliance management, ensuring that audits don’t become last-minute, high-cost fire drills.
Final Thoughts: ACE is a Cost-Saving Business Investment, Not an Expense
CFOs evaluating cloud security need to stop asking, How much does security cost? and start asking, How much money are we losing by NOT automating security?
ACE isn’t just reducing risk - it’s cutting costs, eliminating waste, and increasing efficiency in a way that positively impacts the bottom line.
As Chris said:
"Security should be a strategic enabler, not a blocker. It’s time to rethink how we measure its value."
CFOs who get this right will see security not as a cost center - but as a competitive advantage.
If you want to hear more from Chris Thomas, check out the full episode of Audience 1st or talk to AlgoSec's team here.
Until next time,
Dani
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