Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Tom Armstrong, a Global Risk Director for Comcast and the President of the RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter. Tom shares what inspired him to pivot from studying music education to studying risk and insurance, and how his professors guided and inspired him into a career in risk management. Tom went directly from graduation into a risk management role, eventually landing at Comcast just as it acquired NBCUniversal, transforming from an ISP and cable supplier into a multimedia and theme park powerhouse. Tom discusses how the Risk Management Department works at Comcast. Tom tries to build long-term relationships with his interns that endure when they move on. The RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter is the host chapter for RISKWORLD 2026, held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The chapter is also celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Tom shares his enthusiasm for these events and for a member reception on May 1st, linking the chapter's 75th Anniversary to RISKWORLD.

Listen for ideas on advancing in your risk career and in your RIMS chapter.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2026, which will be held from May 3rd through 6th in Philadelphia. Visit RIMS.org/RISKWORLD to register.

[:28] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is Tom Armstrong. He is a Global Risk Management Director at Comcast. He is also the President of the Delaware Valley Chapter of RIMS, which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Lots to discuss! But first…

[:59] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course will be on April 21st and 22nd, and then again on June 9th and 10th. Registration links are in this episode's notes.

[1:13] On April 15th, we have a virtual workshop covering "Emerging Risks", led by Joseph Mayo. Register today and strengthen your risk knowledge. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops.

[1:30] Webinars. On April 16th, Zurich and World Travel Protection will present "Navigating the New Global Risk Landscape: Lessons for Business Travelers in Unstable Times". Register for webinars at RIMS.org/webinars and through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:47] Folks, for more RIMS content, head over to YouTube and subscribe to @RIMSOfficialChannel. There you will find video podcasts, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS.

[2:05] On with the Show! Our guest today is a Director of Global Risk Management at Comcast. He oversees construction, crime, contracts, and executive risks.

[2:16] We will learn what it takes to be a Global Risk Director for one of the top communications companies in the world, as well as a household name and brand.

[2:27] We're also going to talk about all the joviality surrounding the Delaware Valley Chapter as they celebrate their 75th Anniversary. They happen to be the host city for RISKWORLD 2026, so we'll learn what they have in store for us. Let's get to it!

[2:43] Interview! Tom Armstrong, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:10] Tom says he is fortunate to hold the positions of Global Risk Director for Comcast and President for the RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter. In each case, he is one of a team that makes it happen.

[3:47] Tom shares his career path. He went to Temple University intending to major in music education, to learn to conduct high school choirs and marching bands. After two and a half years into his degree, he decided it was not for him.

[4:11] Tom transferred to the business school, where he was fortunate to take an Introduction to Risk course taught by Professor Barbara Manaka, now Chairman of the department there. She told him he'd make a great risk manager.

[4:27] With help from Professor Manaka, Professor Robert Drennan, and the rest of the wonderful staff at Temple, Tom finished his four-year degree in only five years! He was one of the few to be hired into a risk management role straight out of school.

[4:43] He started at CDI. In 2008, the position was eliminated, and Tom moved over to Aramark. He spent about three and a half years at the risk department. Then he got a call that Comcast was looking for someone to help them with the review of insurance language in contracts.

[5:01] Tom was a contractor for his first 18 months at Comcast. A new risk manager came on board, Sandy Aspinall, and he brought Tom in-house as a senior analyst to review insurance language in contracts.

[5:24] Tom was able to add on some additional scope, supporting construction, property, executive risks, the crime program, and whatever comes up that needs some support. Like the rest of the team, he's happy to step up.

[5:57] Tom says that he never had a great talent for music. What he really liked was the community that a marching band or a choir brought to him as a kid in high school. He has found that this industry can give him a lot of the same community.

[6:09] Community is why Tom wants to be a part of RIMS. It's why he stepped up to lead a RIMS chapter. It's why he appreciates his peers at Comcast.

[6:23] Tom joined RIMS through meeting participation early in his career, in 2009 or 2010. Aramark supported his involvement in visiting and joining certain meetings. In 2017, he stepped up to be Treasurer of the Delaware Valley Chapter. He's been President for about three years.

[6:46] Some staffing changes happened in the RIMS and the RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter in 2017 and 2018, opening up positions like Treasurer. Tom mentions former Treasurer Deborah Saunders and former RIMS President Robert Cartwright Jr., now a huge asset to the chapter.

[7:53] Tom says he enjoys his work. He is one of six Directors and Senior Directors on the team, each reporting up to Sandy Aspinall. They each have their slice of the business. Tom gets to work on some really cool stuff.

[8:03] Comcast deals with cable and internet delivery. Tom says there are some fun elements to it. They deal with theme parks and movie studios. They put solar panels on roofs. When Tom joined Comcast, he thought it was a boring cable company, but it is light-years more than that.

[8:42] Tom and his peers sit at the corporate level at Comcast but have responsibilities across almost all Comcast subsidiaries, with a few exceptions that have their own approach to risk. They have no line authority over any of the subsidiaries.

[8:58] Tom says everything we do is through demonstrating our value and persuading through convincing arguments. Risk Management doesn't say, "You have to do it this way."

[9:14] They say, "You're not going to say Risk Management approved this, unless we work together and we provide you with the advice that we think will let you do your business in a way that protects the organization while letting you do the cool and inventive things that you do."

[9:39] From day one, Tom's been involved in the review of insurance language in contracts. His team reviews 1,500 contracts in a year. They care about what they're doing, from the smallest contracts to the biggest engagements. They inform business leaders to make good choices.

[10:21] For Tom, contracts are a framework through which he can look at the operations of the business. If contractors are going to enter customers' homes, they need commercial general liability to make any damages right.

[10:38] Similarly, for people who handle customer data, design attractions in Comcast parks, or license intellectual property that Comcast distributes. In all of those situations, Comcast cares about how they engage.

[11:07] Tom says the nature of the business to which they apply the risk framework has changed again and again. When Tom came on in 2012 as a contractor, Comcast was just starting to acquire NBCUniversal.

[11:22] They went from an Internet Service Provider and a cable operator to a multimedia powerhouse with theme parks, movie studios, and TV production. That was a massive shift in how Comcast operates, and Risk Management had to learn to manage a new suite of risks.

[11:42] That happened in a different way when Comcast bought and started operating Sky UK a few years ago. Every time Comcast introduces another element of business, Risk Management has to figure out how that fits into how they manage risk.

[12:08] Peacock is a huge piece of the puzzle in terms of how Comcast is approaching its consumers and delivering content.

[12:16] From a risk perspective, it mirrors what Comcast used to do from a linear distribution, but through very new channels and with less mature partners. Risk Management has to think about how the partners are capitalizing their exposures and how that cascades onto Comcast.

[12:32] A Quick Break! RIMS is once again supporting the FERMA Global Risk Manager Survey 2026.

[12:43] Now in its second consecutive glob...

Tom Armstrong on Leading Risk at Comcast and RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter