Derik Callahan

Security leader working where security operations meets AI. I lead security engineering and operations, and I help companies adopt AI without taking on risk they can't see.

  • CISSP
  • CISM
  • AAISM
  • Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert
Portrait of Derik Callahan
Senior Manager, IT SecurityMeritage Homes Corporation · Phoenix Metro, Arizona

What the SOC is measured on

A 24/7 SOC run through an MDR partnership, made fast with detection engineering, SOAR automation, and AI agents in triage, not extra headcount.

mean time to detect
< 5 min
triage
< 20 min
mean time to respond
< 1 hr

What I work on

15 years in IT and cybersecurity, 7 of them leading security teams at public and private companies.

AI risk & agentic security

Making it safe for a company to put agents into production.

  • AI use-case risk review and intake
  • AI / MCP gateways and runtime guardrails
  • Approval gates and execution sandboxing
  • Non-human identity governance
  • OpenTelemetry agent tracing for detection

Security operations & response

A 24/7 SOC that is fast because it is engineered, not staffed up.

  • Agentic AI triage with human review
  • Detection engineering and SIEM / SOAR
  • Incident command and IR program
  • Ransomware prevention and recovery
  • Threat hunting and red team coordination

Identity, Zero Trust & exposure

Taking passwords and standing access out of the attack chain.

  • Phishing-resistant, passwordless auth
  • Entra ID, Conditional Access, IGA
  • SASE / SSE, ZTNA, CASB, DLP
  • CTEM: vuln management, CSPM, ASM, pentest
  • Policy-as-code control standards

How I lead

I rebuilt that SOC around agentic AI. Production agents triage phishing, endpoint, and identity alerts, and an analyst reviews every incident with AI doing the enrichment and investigation legwork.

I sit on our AI Center of Excellence and architecture committee and lead safe AI adoption: use-case risk review, AI/MCP gateways, agent runtime guardrails, non-human identity controls, and OpenTelemetry tracing so the SOC can detect and investigate agent misuse.

  • Develop engineers rather than hire around gaps — grew interns into senior analysts and service desk staff into identity engineers.
  • Set the operating plan and the metrics the program is measured on, and personally drive the critical initiatives and high-severity incidents.
  • Report risk posture and program performance to senior leadership through KPI/KRI metrics and automated dashboards.
  • Drive remediation through influence — partner with engineering and application owners so findings actually get fixed.
  • Manage MDR, testing-firm, and platform vendor relationships against outcomes, not activity.
  1. 2021 – PresentSenior Manager, IT SecurityMeritage Homes Corporation
  2. 2019 – 2021Cybersecurity Manager / LeadUSLBM Holdings
  3. 2015 – 2019Systems EngineerR&K Building Supplies (USLBM)
  4. 2014 – 2015Linux System AdministratorServerHub

Let's talk

Security leadership, AI risk, or agentic SOC work. I'm happy to compare notes.