Former Pentagon Chief Information Officer joins Samsung Mobile

Terry Halvorsen, who served as Chief Information Officer for the US Department of Defense, will officially join Samsung Mobile as executive vice president. Though his exact role remains unclear at the moment, this could be a major step forward in the company’s effort to create reliable mobile security solutions.

Halvorsen is a known figure in the government/military security arena: he served as CIO in the US Department of the Navy and as the deputy commander in the warfare division of the US naval network. In 2015, he joined the US Department of Defense as CIO and retired just a few months ago back in February. Well, it looks like Halvorsen has found himself another job – this time at a South Korean electronics company.

Samsung announced that Halvorsen will be joining Samsung’s IT and Mobile Communications division as executive vice president. Though the company did not specify what his role would be, industry sources say that he will serve as an advisor to JK Shin, CEO of Samsung Mobile, and help in the expansion of Samsung’s security segment in the US and Europe. Samsung has always placed a big emphasis on the security of its Galaxy devices and has been pushing its KNOX software for quite some time now. The general speculation is that Halvorsen may play a key role in enhancing Samsung’s security solutions and software products. This might prove to be important for smartphone desktop experience like the recently announced DeX Station.

On a related note, while Halvorsen may have found a new position as an executive at Samsung, it seems quite a few lost their positions last year. In fact, for the first time in five years, the number of executives at Samsung fell below 1,000.

According to the company’s business report, the number of full-time executives in 2016 was 998 – that’s down 64 from 1,062 in 2015. Samsung reached the milestone of having over 1,000 executives back in 2012, and the number reached its peak in 2014 at 1,226. However, since then, that number has seen a steady decline. Last year, in particular, was a turbulent year for the company, with executives being fired for poor performance and many resigning amidst the infamous Choi Soon-sil scandal, which revealed deep corruption within the company.

Samsung hopes it can rebuild its image with the Galaxy S8, and Halvorsen’s joining the company, and its effort to restructure and re-manage its internal divisions may signal a new era for Samsung; however, as shown by those seemingly invincible brands who have fallen, those who do not innovate and disrupt will get left behind.