Zero Trust: What Does It Mean Exactly, In Practice?

Commvault Field CTO Vidya Shankaran explains why AI agents, machine identities and increasingly complex data environments are forcing IT leaders to rethink what cyber recovery really means. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI is changing the cyber threat landscape, but attackers are still exploiting something much older: human trust. In this special crossover episode of Ready. Set. Midmarket! and Ctrl Alt Lead, Samara Lynn and Tom Allen sit down with Cynthia Kaiser, former FBI Deputy Assistant Director of Cyber and current head of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center, to examine what today’s cyber threats mean for IT and security leaders. Kaiser draws on more than two decades of national security experience, including work on North Korean cyber operations and intelligence briefings at the White House, to explain why organizations of every size should pay attention to nation-state activity, ransomware and AI-enabled attacks. The conversation explores: Why smaller and midsize organizations should not assume nation-state attackers will overlook them How attackers exploit suppliers and trusted third parties to reach larger targets Why social engineering and manipulation of human trust remain so effective How AI is making phishing, voice cloning and other forms of deception easier Why MFA, passwordless authentication and layered verification matter more than ever How AI and automation can help overstretched security teams respond faster Why attackers currently have an AI advantage, and why Kaiser believes defenders can catch up What enterprises need from government as AI security and regulation evolve Kaiser also discusses the different ways nation-states, ransomware groups and less-skilled cybercriminals are adopting AI, and why the next few years could be particularly challenging for defenders. Subscribe to MES Computing and Computing for more conversations with the technology and security leaders shaping enterprise IT. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode:Why cybersecurity remains a top spending priorityHow AI is complicating traditional IT budget categoriesThe challenge of forecasting AI and token costsWhy AI governance and training need to accompany investmentHow a lean IT team evaluates vendors and security toolsWhat measurable AI ROI can look like in professional servicesHow IT leaders can make the investment case to the CFO🎧 Ready.Set.Midmarket! brings together IT leaders and industry experts to talk about the technology decisions, challenges and opportunities shaping midmarket IT. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amid the rush to adopt artificial intelligence occurred a recent incident that made system leaders take pause and ask: What happens when an AI system causes harm without clear human intent? The industry has been in heated debate following the recent OpenAI-Hugging Face incident. In July, advanced AI models being tested by OpenAI expanded their access within a sandboxed research environment, got online, and ultimately interacted with Hugging Face’s production systems. The event sparked concerns over AI autonomy, security guardrails and accountability when AI systems behaver unexpectedly—or "go rogue," as some have phrased it. That's one of the topics explored in the latest episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket! Guest Nicole Beckwith, senior director of security engineering and operations at Cribl, served as a U.S. Marshal and was assigned as a task force officer with the Secret Service, specializing in financial fraud, digital forensics and cybercrime investigations. Beckwith, leant her insight as someone who has traversed both the real and cybercriminal worlds. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cybersecurity discussions often focus on networks, firewalls, and remote access. But are organizations overlooking the systems that actually keep operations running? In this episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket!, Samara Lynn talks with industrial cybersecurity expert Joe Weiss and Xona Field CTO Mike Carr about the growing threat to operational technology environments, recent attacks on water facilities, and the cultural divide between IT security teams and engineers. The conversation explores what midmarket leaders should know about OT security, why reliability and safety matter as much as cybersecurity, and where organizations should focus their efforts now. Key takeaway: If your OT security strategy starts and ends with the network, you may be missing the real risk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The SaaS pricing model used to be simple: buy licenses, count users, and budget accordingly. AI is changing that equation. In this episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket!, MES Computing's Samara Lynn and Adam Dennison sit down with Ken Knapton, CIO of Win Brands, and Jason Williamson, CEO of MythWorx, to discuss how AI is reshaping software purchasing, budgeting, and governance. Topics: ✅ Why AI consumption pricing is creating new budgeting challenges ✅ The rise of token-based pricing and "token sprawl" ✅ Lessons CIOs can take from the cloud computing era ✅ How governance can prevent AI spending surprises ✅ Why some organizations are exploring alternatives to traditional LLMs ✅ Practical advice for negotiating AI-related software contracts As AI adoption accelerates, midmarket IT leaders need to balance innovation with cost control. This discussion explores the real-world challenges and opportunities ahead. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What midmarket leaders do with AI in the second half of 2026 could mean the difference between keeping ahead of competitors. That's the topic of discussion in this episode. Co-hosts Adam Dennison and Samara Lynn and joined by Watchguard CEO Joe Smolarski to discuss what midmarket IT leaders should focus on right now. Throughout the conversation, Smolarski argues that AI is different from previous technology shifts because of its speed, reach, and impact across every business function. The discussion explores how midmarket IT leaders can prioritize investments, strengthen security, and identify practical AI opportunities before competitors gain an advantage. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket! - the podcast for midmarket IT leaders - MES Computing senior editor Samara Lynn welcomes Denny LeCompte, CEO, Portnox and James Cusack, CIO, Van Eerden Foodservice for an engaging discussion on the realities (and hype) of implementing zero trust security. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does infrastructure modernization actually look like for a midmarket IT team? In this episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket!, Adam Dennison and Samara Lynn sit down with Ali Molavi, Infrastructure Solutions Architect and Team Lead at Publix Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU), to break down a real-world migration from VMware to a hybrid cloud environment powered by Azure. Facing rising costs, aging infrastructure, and increasing disaster risks (including hurricanes), PEFCU rethought its entire IT strategy—moving from a dual data center model to a hybrid cloud architecture with Azure as a disaster recovery platform. Ali shares how his team consolidated infrastructure, migrated workloads with minimal downtime, and delivered measurable business outcomes—including lower licensing costs and improved uptime—all while operating with a lean IT team. The conversation also covers a critical but often overlooked factor in modernization: culture change. As Ali explains, successful transformation isn’t just about new technology—it’s about whether your team is ready to adopt it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Microsoft is giving Windows 11 users more control over when, or if, updates are installed. For many IT teams, that flexibility sounds appealing. But according to new data from Absolute Security, delaying OS updates may be creating a much larger cyber resilience problem — especially for midmarket organizations with lean IT teams and aging infrastructure. In this episode of Ready.Set.Midmarket!, MES Computing sits down with Andy Ward, SVP International at Absolute Security, to unpack why patching is no longer routine maintenance — it’s now a critical factor in an organization’s ability to withstand and recover from cyber incidents Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.