Executive Protection can no longer be treated as a purely physical discipline. In this episode, Phelim and Shaun are joined by Jason Bolwell, Global Executive Protection Manager at BP, to explore how AI is reshaping the threat landscape for senior leaders.

The conversation makes one thing clear: digital exposure now routinely creates physical risk. AI has lowered the barrier to entry for threat actors, enabling individuals, activists, and criminal groups to scrape personal data, track executive movements, and amplify narratives at speed. Jason argues that modern EP must fuse digital privacy, cyber security, and physical protection into a single, joined-up protective model, supported by better intelligence discipline, cultural awareness, and defensible decision-making.

Key discussion points

1. AI has democratized threat capability — everyday actors now access tools once limited to specialists
2. Digital exposure → physical risk — online data increasingly drives real-world disruption
3. Activist tactics are evolving — focus shifting from companies to named executives
4. Deepfakes raise the stakes — voice and video manipulation threaten reputation and markets
5. OSINT is getting harder — closed channels, platform restrictions, and legal caution reduce visibility
6. Optics and legality matter more than ever — not every threat is kinetic, but all are reputational
7. A data-led EP future — Jason outlines a 2026 event-scoring tool to standardize risk, resourcing, and accountability

The episode challenges protectors to move from reactive responses to proactive, intelligence-led protection, anticipating threats across all domains, not just the physical one.

About Jason:

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The Circuit team is:

1. Jon Moss
2. Shaun West
3. Phelim Rowe
4. Elijah Shaw

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