Cloud Security Meets AI: What CISOs Need to Govern Before They Scale - Brent Neal - CSP #226

AI is changing cloud security fast, but the biggest challenge is not just adoption. It is governance. In this episode, Jess sits down with Brent Neil, CISO at RapidScale, to talk about what CISOs should be watching as AI becomes embedded in cloud environments, business workflows, and sensitive data systems. Brent shares practical insight on AI governance, identity and access, cloud security controls, and the risks that emerge when experimentation moves into production. The conversation explores how security leaders can support innovation without losing visibility, accountability, or trust. Brent also breaks down the questions CISOs should be asking before AI tools scale deeper into the enterprise. Because AI may be unavoidable, but unmanaged AI risk is optional. Segment Resources: RapidScale's IT Talent Gap Report: https://try.rapidscale.net/the-talent-gap/ This segment is sponsored by Arctic Wolf. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com/arcticwolf to learn more about them! Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-226

In this episode, former FBI cyber leader Jason Manar joins us to unpack the state of critical infrastructure security and why small and medium-sized businesses are more connected to it than they realize. From power, telecom, healthcare, finance, and supply chains, Jason explains how hidden dependencies can turn "not our problem" into a business-stopping event. With his FBI perspective and CISO experience, Jason shares what organizations should understand about risk, resilience, and protecting the systems we all quietly rely on. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-225

Identity is at the center of nearly every modern breach, but when IAM responsibilities are shared with MSSPs, where does trust end and accountability begin? In this episode of CISO Stories, Jessica Hoffman sits down with Dr. Dustin Sachs to explore the human side of identity and access management, including cognitive bias, automation, privilege creep, and the hidden risks of "blind trust" in real-world security operations. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-224

In this episode of CISO Stories, Jessica Hoffman speaks with Richard Marcus, CISO at Optro, about how organizations are securing cloud environments at scale. They discuss secure by design principles, infrastructure as code, continuous monitoring, and how GRC and security teams are working together more effectively. The conversation also explores the impact of AI on both defense and the evolving threat landscape, with practical insights for modern security leaders. Segment Resources: Optro Cyber Risk Playbook: https://optro.ai/resources/ebook/the-cyber-risk-playbook-for-the-ai-threat-era This segment is sponsored by BlinkOps. Blink Micro-Agents stop AI threats with agentic speed and precision — visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com/blinkops to see the Agentic SOC in action. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-223

Threat intelligence too often arrives as a steady stream of alerts that don't translate into clear, timely decisions. This episode explores how public-sector intel flows today through channels like CISA, MS-ISAC, and CIS—and why changes in funding and distribution can reshape what organizations actually receive and when. We also imagine an all-in state approach, where states take a bigger role in getting actionable cyber intel to local businesses and organizations. From a higher-ed security leadership lens, we connect student data privacy and regulatory realities to the broader public–private challenge—and highlight community-driven efforts like the Redwood Project that strengthen trust-based, peer-to-peer intelligence sharing. This segment is sponsored by Arctic Wolf. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com/arcticwolf to learn more about them! Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-222

CISO Jadee Hanson shares how Vanta "drinks its own champagne," running on NIST CSF with quarterly baseline reviews and using Vanta's GRC platform to turn every release into live UAT for privacy, governance, and compliance. We rethink third-party management—why point-in-time risk scores are fading and how AI drives continuous monitoring and outcome-based assurance. Bottom line: don't just audit—instrument your controls and prove trust in real time. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-221

Title: Keys Without People" — John Heasman on Cleaning Up Non-Human Access Summary: John breaks today's non-human identity mess into three buckets: core tools your business runs on, old/one-off integrations that linger, and engineer tokens left behind. His playbook is simple: decide what's truly critical, assign a clear owner, keep access minimal, and review it on a schedule. With AI spawning even more "non-human users," basics done well—prioritize, tighten, rotate, repeat—win the day. This segment is sponsored by Saviynt. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com/saviynt to learn more about them! Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-220

This episode was about agentic IAM—what it is and the risks that come with letting non-human agents act for customers. We defined external IAM, then traced how the industry moved from basic login and MFA to consent, delegation, and now agent-to-agent interactions. Along the way we unpacked key risks for CISOs and practitioners to consider. Segment Resources: https://www.loginradius.com/ https://customeriambook.com/ Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-219

CISO Sandy Dunn breaks down her blueprint for AI-ready defense—pairing MITRE ATT&CK v18 with MITRE ATLAS to move from policy to behavior-based detections. We hit practical AI governance, her early focus on defending and understanding AI, and how OWASP GenAI tools turn checklists into action. Segment Resources: Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/attck-v18-atlas-blueprint-ai-ready-defense-sandy-dunn-mafoc  AI Cheat Sheet:  https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7388688396166238208/ OWASP LLM Governance Checklist: https://genai.owasp.org/resource/llm-applications-cybersecurity-and-governance-checklist-english/ OWASP Threat Defense COMPASS: https://genai.owasp.org/resource/owasp-genai-security-project-threat-defense-compass-1-0/ Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-218

Jennifer Selby Long reframes security awareness as more than training—it's about earning trust and influence with executives and security teams. She shares leadership lessons on how to build stronger alignment and support for security initiatives. Visit https://cisostoriespodcast.com for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-217