Beyond the Algorithm: The Human Skills Engineering Still Can’t Live Without

In this episode, Tim Chang, Global VP and GM of Application Security at Thales, exposes the hidden world of cyberattacks that unfold after a shopper clicks the checkout button. This is a place where automated fulfilment, APIs, and agentic AI collide with increasingly sophisticated bad bots. Tim explains how modern attackers use business‑logic manipulation, inventory hoarding, supply‑chain distortion, and more to trick applications into helping them, creating real‑world consequences including empty warehouses and crowds of angry shoppers. Tim outlines the essential AI techniques needed for this Black Friday and beyond.

Madeline Miller is an advisor, researcher, and keynote speaker focused on the gap between what institutions promise and what people experience, particularly across generational transitions. A lawyer for fifteen years, including in Hollywood and international criminal justice, she now researches how early-career professionals build judgment and resilience as AI automates the entry-level work through which those capabilities were traditionally formed. Through her research project, The Legitimacy Gap, she examines how Gen Z views and is navigating their careers and work futures.

Cybersecurity today exists in a space where attackers move faster than policies, AI‑driven threats can spin up entire architectures in minutes, and where nation‑states are quietly harvesting encrypted data for the day quantum breaks it open. The dangerous thing a business can do right now is assume “everything is fine.” Dr. Chase Cunningham, also known as Dr. Zero Trust, reminds us that trust is a human emotion, and one that has no place in digital systems. Every implicit assumption inside your cloud, your APIs, your east‑west traffic is a potential breach that in some ways is already in progress. Zero Trust isn’t a product, and it isn’t optional.

In this episode, global AI strategist Aaron Kalvani dismantles one of the most dangerous misconceptions in modern technology: the belief that AI is built on stable ground. Drawing on decades of work across disaster zones, conflict regions, scientific expeditions, and critical national infrastructure, Aaron reveals how truth itself shifts under pressure and how AI systems can continue producing confident answers even when the world they were trained on no longer exists. From the fragility of veracity to the geopolitical forces reshaping global data flows, he explains why trust, not intelligence, is the real currency of AI.

In this episode, Damien Bullot explains to host Steve Prentice why AI has upended the economics of software, not only in how it’s built and sold, but in how easily it can now be attacked. He reveals how organizations rushing to “AI‑everything” are discovering that a single feature can quietly turn a revenue engine into a cost center, and how systems like Mythos have created a world where cyber‑offense is cheap, fast, and accessible to anyone. From the rise of usage‑based monetization to the medieval‑level fortification now required to stay ahead of machine‑speed threats, Damien offers clear, practical guidance for leaders navigating this volatile new landscape.

In this episode, Steve Prentice sits down with tech writer and podcast host Neil C. Hughes to explore how serendipity shapes careers far more than strategy decks or five year plans ever could. Neil shares his accidental journey from IT specialist to globally recognized podcaster, revealing how chance encounters, lost recordings, unexpected conversations, and the courage to “look up instead of doom scrolling” can redirect an entire professional life. Together they dive into the power of following your passion, recognizing the subtle signals the universe sends, navigating the messy realities of live interviews, and staying optimistic amid rapid shifts in AI and cybersecurity. This is a conversation about opportunity, presence of mind, and the surprising moments that change everything.

In cybersecurity, the biggest threats aren’t always the attackers but instead can be the blind spots we create ourselves. Organizations often seek to buy the “shiny tools,” deploy them out of the box, and assume they’re protected. But are those the tools that are actually needed? This can lead to an even more dangerous situation in which company leaders believe “we’ve bought that tool, we’re now safe.” In this episode, host Steve Prentice is joined by Zoë Rose, CSIRT Manager at Canon EMEA, and Chris Harris, AVP, Sales Engineering at Thales, to dig into the uncomfortable truth: real security isn’t about the technology you buy, but how deeply you understand your environment, your people, and the hidden gaps that attackers exploit long before you ever see an alert. If you want to know what operational maturity actually looks like, the kind of security that many organizations never attain, check out what the experts have to say.

In this episode, host Steve Prentice talks with Ant Allan, former VP Analyst at Gartner, to explore a future where identity is no longer a single moment at login, but a continuous, evolving signal. As AI agents begin acting on our behalf, and deepfakes challenge the very idea of “proof,” traditional authentication models are breaking down. Ant explains why biometrics, from device‑bound fingerprints to vein patterns and continuous ECG, are becoming essential evidence in the identity equation. He also reveals why friction still matters: not as an inconvenience, but as a psychological anchor that reassures users during high‑risk actions. If you want to understand where authentication is truly headed - beyond passwords, beyond factors, and into a world where trust never sleeps, this conversation is essential listening.

In a world racing toward AI, quantum disruption, and unprecedented security threats, the future of engineering depends on who we invite to the table. And sometimes, the spark that changes a life—and strengthens an entire industry—comes from a single voice of encouragement. In this episode, we sit down with Deborah Theriault, Crypto Engineering Management Director at Thales, whose journey from a math obsessed student to a leader in mission critical security engineering reveals what truly drives innovation: curiosity, courage, and the power of seeing what’s possible when someone believes in you.

What if the greatest threat to your organization isn’t lurking in the shadows but is accelerating right in front of you? In a world where AI can uncover vulnerabilities in minutes where it once took weeks, and where nearly two-thirds of organizations don’t even know where all their data lives, the rules of cybersecurity are being rewritten in real time. The Emerging Battle for Data Protection reveals a stark reality: data is expanding faster than our ability to protect it, attackers are moving at machine speed, and the race to secure what matters most is no longer theoretical, it’s happening now. In this episode, recorded live at RSA Conference 2026, Scott Crawford, Information Security Research Head, 451 Research / S&P Global and Todd Moore, Vice President Data Security Products at Thales, join us to discuss some of the key findings of the 2026 Thales Data Threat Report.