Why Security Teams and Engineering Teams Don't Talk
In most large organizations, security and engineering operate in different orbits. This is by design—and it's expensive.
In most large organizations, security and engineering operate in different orbits.
Security identifies risks: "That API endpoint doesn't have rate limiting. It could be DDoS'd."
Engineering builds features: "The new microservice architecture reduces latency 40%."
When they interact, it's usually adversarial: - Security wants to add requirements late in the project - Engineering feels security is blocking progress - Neither fully trusts the other's judgment
Why This Happens
This dynamic exists because:
**1. Different incentive structures.** Security is evaluated on "what went wrong?" Engineering is evaluated on "what shipped?" These are almost opposite priorities.
**2. Different risk tolerance.** Security wants zero-risk systems. Engineering wants shipped products. The gap between zero-risk and shipped is 100% of the work.
**3. Information asymmetry.** Security doesn't understand engineering constraints. Engineering doesn't understand threat models. Neither can evaluate the other's tradeoffs.
**4. Process theater.** When security and engineering don't communicate, organizations implement process controls (security reviews, approval gates, sign-offs). This looks like security but is usually just friction.
What Actually Works
Organizations where security and engineering collaborate effectively have:
**Security engineers who code.** Not "security people who understand code." Actual engineers who write code, understand implementation constraints, and think like builders.
**Security integrated into platform design.** Not retrofitted into architecture reviews. Built into the CI/CD pipeline, testing frameworks, and infrastructure code.
**Shared metrics.** Not "security incidents prevented" vs. "features shipped." Shared metrics like "deployment velocity without security regressions" or "time-to-security-fix."
**Early collaboration.** Threat modeling during design, not security reviews after implementation.
The Rare Thing
Most organizations have security people and engineering people in separate orgs with separate leadership. Some organizations have security-minded engineers embedded in engineering teams.
Very few organizations have cloud architects who deeply understand both: - Security threat modeling and compliance requirements - Engineering velocity and operational constraints - How to design systems that are secure AND don't slow down engineering
If you can position as that rare thing—a security architect who enables engineering velocity—you're in the top 1%.
That's worth premium rates.