Cybersecurity has been trapped in a reactive cycle for years: a new threat emerges, a new tool gets purchased, and teams get overwhelmed by alerts. 

In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Jen Waltz (Chief Information Security Officer at IMAJENATIVE) to unpack how generative AI can fundamentally disrupt that cycle—shifting the focus from managing tools to achieving strategic outcomes. 

The conversation goes beyond “faster alerts” and gets practical about what’s changing right now: 

• Moving beyond alert triage into predictive threat hunting, including simulating adversary behavior and generating TTP playbooks—especially when paired with threat intel and MITRE ATT&CK data. 
• Upskilling SOC teams by using GenAI to reduce menial work, provide clearer remediation paths, and support more anticipatory defense postures. 
• Embedding security, privacy, and governance early so “secure-by-design” becomes a business enabler, not a speed bump. 

Jen also gives a clear governance warning: as AI adoption accelerates, organizations must guide usage with approved tools and acceptable-use controls—especially to reduce the risk of sensitive data being dropped into consumer AI chat tools like ChatGPT. 

If you’re responsible for security operations, AI strategy, or governance, this episode offers a grounded path for how to adopt GenAI without losing control. 

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Key Quotes 

“Cybersecurity has long been trapped in this reactive cycle… generative AI… can fundamentally disrupt the cycle by shifting the focus from managing tools to achieving strategic outcomes.” — Jen Waltz 

“The CISO no longer is this superhero defender of the perimeter. You have to become a business strategist…” — Jen Waltz 

Three Big Ideas from This Episode 

1. GenAI can break the reactive cycle—if teams target outcomes, not tools 
Jen frames GenAI as an opportunity to move beyond buying more technology and instead shift security programs toward strategic outcomes and anticipatory defense. 

2. Predictive threat hunting becomes practical with TTP playbooks + MITRE ATT&CK context 
Rather than only prioritizing alerts, Jen describes prompting GenAI to simulate adversaries and generate playbooks—then connecting that to threat intel and MITRE ATT&CK data to anticipate attacker evolution earlier. 

3. AI governance is a leadership mandate—and the CISO role expands 
Jen argues the CISO must operate as a business strategist balancing innovation enablement with risk governance. That includes guiding internal AI use with hardened, approved tools and clear controls—without shutting down creativity. 

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Resources Mentioned 

• MITRE ATT&CK Framework: https://attack.mitre.org/resources/attack-data-and-tools/  
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF): https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework  
• ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS):

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