AI Resilience as CISOs Can Balance Internal AI Risk and Productivity Concerns - Ryan Grant, Bill O'Connell - BSW #469
Businesses face severe challenges when balancing short-term efficiency with long-term adaptability against unforeseen cyber events. And Artificial Intelligence has only added to those challenges. How should organizations prepare? Bill O'Connell, Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Commvault, joins Business Security Weekly to discuss why CISOs must think like resilient boxers, not fortresses. Bill will discuss why the CISO is becoming the Chief Resilience Officer and why they need to focus on Availability and Recovery. Bill's four areas of focus include: AI Governance and Controls Configuration Management Backup and Recovery, and Testing Balancing artificial intelligence risk with productivity gains requires organizations to manage the tension between speed, security, and human oversight. The business wants to move fast, but security has concerns and employees fear for their jobs. How can organization adopt AI while eliminating friction points? In this CyberRisk TV interview, Matt Alderman speaks with Ryan Grant, Country Manager for the US and Canada at ESET, about building cyber resilience in the AI era. They discuss findings from ESET’s 2026 S&P Cyber Readiness Index, including the continued challenges organizations face with basic cyber hygiene, the growing sophistication of phishing attacks, and the impact AI is having on traditional threats. Grant explains why organizations should focus on foundational security practices before layering AI-specific defenses on top, including multifactor authentication, access controls, endpoint detection and response, vulnerability and patch management, and incident response planning. He also addresses the rise of shadow AI and AI agents, emphasizing the need for clear policies, governance, access controls, employee training, and continuous monitoring. The conversation also explores the challenges facing SMBs with limited cybersecurity resources and how managed service providers and security-as-a-service offerings can help close the gap. Grant discusses ESET’s newly redesigned Protect offering, which combines security technology, 24/7 monitoring, vulnerability and patch management, multifactor authentication, premium support, and a cyber warranty into a simplified package designed to help organizations strengthen their security posture and focus on prevention. Segment Resources: ESET free AI Skills Checker: ESET AI Skills Checker: https://www.eset.com/us/home/ai-skills-checker/ WeLiveSecurity Blog: Learn more about Guardbreaker, AI skills in the ESET H1 Threat Report, and more: www.welivesecurity.com SMB 2026 Cyber Readiness Index: https://www.eset.com/us/about/newsroom/research/eset-2026-smb-cyber-readiness-index/ This segment is sponsored by ESET. Visit https://securityweekly.com/eset to learn more about them! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/bsw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/bsw-469
