In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Andreea Ursu, a seasoned identity and access management leader who’s been vocal about a topic the industry doesn’t talk about enough: identity burnout.

As identity becomes central to cloud, AI, zero trust, compliance, and non-human access, IAM teams are carrying more weight than ever.

Nearly half of IAM professionals report burnout - and many leaders are questioning how sustainable the current pace really is.

We explore:

🔥 What “identity burnout” actually looks like in real organisations

⚖️ Why IAM teams are uniquely exposed to overload and scope creep

📋 How the “compliance checkbox” mindset contributes to stress

🤖 Whether AI and non-human identities add relief - or more pressure

📉 What it means when security leaders are considering stepping away

🧠 What practitioners wish executives truly understood about IAM workload

🛠️ Practical steps leaders can take in the next 90 days to ease strain

🔮 The mindset shift that could change IAM going into 2026

This is a candid, human conversation about the people behind identity - and why taking care of IAM teams is critical to securing everything else.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Bert Kashyap, CEO of SecureW2 - a company that’s been deep in passwordless authentication, digital certificates, and PKI long before those conversations came back into focus.

What’s changed is that many of today’s identity failures don’t look like break-ins anymore - they look like perfectly normal logins. As agentic AI, post-quantum concerns, and legacy infrastructure collide, identity is back at the centre of security.

We explore:

🔑 What’s actually changed in the passwordless conversation🚪 Why modern attacks are about logging in - not breaking in📜 Why PKI is having a real comeback moment🤖 Where legacy identity plumbing is breaking under modern AI workloads🔐 How certificates are evolving (and why not all are created equal)⚖️ What security teams should prioritise: post-quantum, AI agents, or fundamentals🧠 The philosophy guiding SecureW2’s approach to identity🔮 What identity teams should be watching as we head toward RSA and beyond

If you’re thinking about identity at scale - human and machine - this episode brings clarity to where things actually stand.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Apurva Davé, CMO at Aembit, and David Goldschlag, CEO & Co-Founder, to unpack one of the fastest-emerging shifts in security: identity beyond humans.

As AI, automation, and agentic systems accelerate, identity is no longer just about users and logins. It’s about workloads, services, and machines communicating at speed - and most organisations are struggling to keep up without creating new risk.

We explore:

🤖 Why non-human identity has suddenly become a priority🔗 How AI agents and automation are changing access patterns⚠️ Why legacy approaches to service accounts and secrets no longer scale😳 Where teams are most surprised (and confused) when they dig into this problem✅ What “good” workload identity actually looks like in practice🔄 Why trust can no longer be a one-time decision🔮 The mindset shift security leaders need as we head into the new year

If you’re dealing with AI, automation, or cloud-native environments, this episode will reframe how you think about identity - and why it’s now foundational to moving fast safely.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Nathan Burke, CMO at 7AI, for a focused conversation on one of the hardest problems in cyber today: marketing differentiation.

Cybersecurity is one of the noisiest markets out there. AI is everywhere, messaging sounds the same, and standing out - especially as a startup - has never been harder.

Nathan joined 7AI at a pivotal moment, helping take the company from stealth to one of the most talked-about funding rounds in cybersecurity, right as the AI hype cycle hit full speed.

We explore:

📣 Why differentiation in cyber marketing has become so difficult🎯 Why competing feature-vs-feature no longer works👥 Why people, trust, and services are becoming the real story again🤖 The limits of “AI messaging” in a crowded market🌍 How globalisation is changing cyber PR and go-to-market📉 What’s actually changing inside marketing teams as budgets tighten🔮 What the next value conversation looks like once “we use AI” isn’t impressive anymore

If you’re leading marketing in cybersecurity - or trying to break through the noise - this episode offers a rare, honest look at what’s working right now.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Rob Ackerman and Leo Scott, Managing Directors at DataTribe - a DC-based early-stage venture firm with a unique foundry model focused on cybersecurity and AI startups.

AI has reshaped the cyber landscape - not just for defenders and attackers, but for founders and investors too.

In this conversation, we unpack how AI is changing what gets funded, how risk models are evolving, and what the next wave of security startups needs to get right.

We explore:

🤖 How AI is changing the types of cyber startups getting attention

💰 What separates companies getting funded from those struggling to break through

⚠️ What recent AI-driven incidents reveal about how fast risk is shifting

🧠 The real security gaps emerging with agentic technologies

🔍 How investors tell real AI innovation from buzzwords

🚀 Advice for founders building security at speed and scale

🔮 The trends likely to define the next generation of cybersecurity startups

If you’re a founder, investor, or operator trying to understand where cyber innovation is headed next, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at what actually matters.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Bill Moore, CEO & Founder of Xona, to break down what’s really changing in OT and industrial security - and why access has become the biggest risk factor.

OT environments are more connected, more remote, and more targeted than ever. With the release of KuppingerCole’s 2025 Leadership Compass for Secure Remote Access in OT/ICS, Bill walks through the six most important takeaways - not from a vendor lens, but from what CISOs, compliance teams, and OT operators need to focus on now.

We explore:

🏭 Why OT environments look nothing like they did 10 years ago
🔐 Why access - not malware - has become the biggest exposure point
📊 The most important insight from KuppingerCole’s 2025 report
🛡️ How Zero Trust really applies in OT (and where people get it wrong
📜 What CISOs should prioritise around NERC CIP, IEC 62443, and compliance

⚙️ Why deploy ability matters more than promises in real OT network
🔮 The key mindset shift OT leaders need heading into 2026

If you’re responsible for OT access, resilience, or compliance, this episode offers clarity on what actually matters - and what to do next.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Irfahn Khimji, Field CTO at BackBox - a platform redefining network cyber-resilience across backups, patching, compliance, and automation for 180+ vendors.

As AI adoption accelerates across infrastructure and operations, Irfahn helps us zoom out and ask the harder questions: how do we bring safety, trust, and responsibility into AI-driven environments - and what does resilience actually look like when the attack surface keeps shifting?

We explore:

🤖 How AI is reshaping infrastructure resilience in 2025⚠️ What teams underestimate when rolling out AI initiatives🧪 Why security teams often become the testing ground for new tech⚖️ How to balance staying modern with not trusting AI too early
🔄 How AI risk looks different from a CISO vs. vendor perspective🧠 What we’re not being honest about - both good and bad - with AI🔮 What responsible AI looks like when trust is constantly changing

If you’re thinking about AI, infrastructure, and long-term resilience, this episode offers a grounded look at how to move forward without losing control.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Nithin Thomas, Founder & CEO of Klarytee - a data governance platform built for the age of AI.

Nithin is a repeat founder with over 20 years in security, including a PhD in encryption technology and years building platforms for defence and national security organisations. Today, his focus is on a new challenge: how organisations govern, protect, and trust their most valuable data as AI, SaaS, and cloud reshape everything.

We explore:

🧠 Why security needs a mindset shift in the AI era⚖️ How AI is both an accelerator and a risk multiplier🔐 What it really means to build a “platform for trust”🚀 How to reframe security as an enabler - not a blocker🌍 Extending data and AI governance across partners and supply chains📜 Staying compliant without slowing down innovation🔮 What resilience looks like as AI continues to evolve

If you’re grappling with data trust, governance, and speed in an AI-driven world, this episode brings a grounded, practical perspective.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined once again by Sounil Yu - creator of the Cyber Defense Matrix and now leading AI and security strategy at Knostic.

Sounil’s last appearance became one of our most referenced conversations. This time, we go deeper - exploring how his mental models are helping practitioners make sense of security in an AI-powered world.

We explore:

🧠 How AI is changing the way practitioners think and operate
🧩 The conceptual model for understanding AI in security workflows
🔄 How teams move from theory into day-to-day practice
📊 Why DIKW (Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom) matters more than ever
⚡ Why the OODA loop is resurfacing in the age of agentic AI
🎯 How these models work together to reduce noise and cognitive load
🛠️ Practical ways teams are applying these ideas right now

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by AI hype and tooling, this episode offers frameworks that bring clarity - without turning into a sales pitch.

In this episode of The CyberVault, I’m joined by Lisa Landau, Co-Founder of Threatlight, to explore why security challenges can no longer be solved in isolation - and why global operations are becoming a non-negotiable part of modern security strategy.

Lisa shares the story behind Threatlight, the defining problem the team set out to solve, and how thinking globally changes both impact and outcomes for security teams.

We explore:

🌍 What inspired the creation of Threatlight
🧩 The core problem Threatlight is addressing - and why it matters now
⚙️ What “global operations” really mean for customers and security outcomes
💡 The early insights that reshaped how Lisa viewed the problem
🚀 Threatlight’s vision over the next 18–24 months
🧠 The mindset shift security leaders need to make to keep up

If you’re thinking about security beyond tools - and about how operations, scale, and collaboration drive real impact - this episode is worth your time.