Cybersecurity In-Depth: Feature articles on security strategy, latest trends, and people to know.
Walmart co-locates red and blue teams to build trust and improve security through collaborative purple teaming exercises
August 12, 2026
While many organizations struggle with the inherent tension between red and blue teams — where offensive security testers and defensive operators often work in silos or even develop adversarial relationships — Walmart has entirely reimagined this dynamic. Jason O'Dell, the retailer's Global VP of Security Operations, recognizes that the traditional model of rigidly separate teams conducting exercises in isolation delivers limited value and can actually damage team morale and organizational learning.
O'Dell addresses this challenge by focusing on building trust and psychological safety within security operations, transforming purple teaming from a competitive win-lose scenario into a collaborative learning environment. By physically co-locating teams, implementing a "trusted agent" observation model, and emphasizing organizational improvement over individual victories, Walmart has created a security operations culture where both offensive and defensive practitioners continuously elevate their skills — and the company's overall security posture benefits from their combined growth. Here's how they do it.
