In this episode of the Security Insider podcast, we speak with Neil Fergus, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Intelligent Risks Pty Ltd. Neil founded Intelligent Risks in 2001 following a 20-year career in the Australian Government; including roles as a senior diplomat, as Manager Middle East and as the Principal Operations Adviser. He has since led IR’s growth into becoming a pre-eminent international management services firm. He is an internationally recognised speaker and author on risk management, security, KRE and terrorism; and is a co-author of Security Risk Management (HB167 – 2006).

He has been a senior adviser to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) since 2004, on six Commonwealth Games. He has also been engaged in the planning and delivery of security for 11 Olympic Games, including several reviews for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Neil has conducted numerous complex reviews for governments, such as the ‘Layers of Aviation Security Review’ for the Australian Government and several projects for the US State Department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, including in the Middle East, East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. He has led IR security teams delivering projects for several other governments including Argentina, Brazil, Brunei, China, Colombia, France, Greece, India, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE and the UK. He has also advised on security planning for several international political summits including APECs, ASEAN, CHOGMs, G20s and NATO.

Neil has been directly involved in the response to over 50 international kidnap or forced detention cases. Most of IRs work in this field is under contract to international underwriters. Similarly the IR team are first responders for international underwriters supporting insured entities affected by product contamination and malicious product tampering events.

The International Olympic Committee bestowed the Award of the Golden Olympic Rings on Neil for his contribution to the security of Olympics and international sport. The Governor General of Australia awarded Neil the Australian Sports Medal in 2022. He was also awarded the Outstanding Security Professional Award (OSPA) in 2022 as the leading Australian security consultant.