OWASP 2025 Global AppSec EU

Organizations are transitioning in their use of OWASP SAMM. The use case evolves from an assessment model to a quality control program. Kaizen is an iterative improvement methodology popularized in the Japanese industry. As an operational philosophy it has influenced quality control systems worldwide. This talk highlights how Kaizen principles are applied in the industry by separating different streams from the OWASP SAMM model and managing each stream in a continuous improvement cycle. The talk is based on practical experience and 27 interviews with appsec program managers at a wide range of corporations on this journey. There are some recurring pitfalls in the implementation of OWASP that relate to the human aspect of change management, the pitfalls of gamification and challenges around fitting the generic framework to diverse contexts. Finally we distill from the successes and the failures of the industry the potential for Kaizen principles and OWASP SAMM to leverage participatory leadership, empowerment and intrinsic motivation. The conclusion is an optimistic picture of the future, where security is everyone's problem, jobs are meaningful and applications a little bit more secure.