State of the Cybersecurity Market - ft. Mike Privette

Interview with Founders of Embedd Security

On the Zero Signal Podcast, the hosts preview RSA micro-events and then interview Embed Security co-founders Seth Somersett (CEO) and Jeffrey Johns (CTO), who launched the company in 2024 after careers at NSA, FireEye/Mandiant, Google, Meta, and others. They discuss the SOC’s operational crisis—thousands of daily alerts, manual triage, burnout, and uninvestigated incidents—and how Embed aims to reduce investigation time and alert noise using agentic AI with human oversight, transparency, and a “chain of evidence” that shows its reasoning. They argue the analyst role will shift toward validating AI-driven investigations, that organizational context and feedback are key, and that investigation, detection engineering, and threat hunting will converge. They cite customer results like ~90% false-positive reduction and ~155 hours saved per month, predict major disruption to MDR/MSP economics, and emphasize domain-specific models and trust-building metrics. Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors who make this show possible. → https://hamptonnorth.com/ [https://hamptonnorth.com/]. Hampton North is the premium US-based cybersecurity search firm. → https://www.sysdig.com/ [https://www.sysdig.com/]. Leader in real-time AI-powered cloud security. 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:41 RSA Micro Events 01:54 AI SOC Alert Crisis 02:47 Meet Embed Security 06:17 Why Tackle Investigation 07:50 State of Detection Today 10:43 Future SOC Analyst Role 14:35 Skills That Stand Out 19:06 Human in the Loop 22:43 Building Modern Detections 24:58 Convergence Ahead 26:26 AI Arms Race Reality 27:38 Defenders Gain New Tools 28:33 False Positives Economics 30:56 Proactive Analyst Work 31:51 MDR Market Disruption 35:03 Build Versus Buy AI 36:17 Domain Specific Models 41:46 Trust And Transparency 46:19 Measuring Trust Metrics 49:19 Customer Win Story 50:51 Lightning Round Threats 53:20 Closing Thanks

Business-Driven Security: SAP on Cyber Risk & AI Security - ft. Jay Thoden van Velzen

Episode Summary Business-Driven Security: SAP on Cyber Risk & AI Security features Jay Thoden van Velzen, Technical Advisor in SAP’s Office of the Chief Security Officer. The episode explores how cybersecurity must evolve to secure business processes, not just technology, and addresses the challenges of agentic AI, risk quantification, and the importance of human-centric controls in enterprise environments.   Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors who make this show possible. → https://hamptonnorth.com/ [https://hamptonnorth.com/]. Hampton North is the premium US-based cybersecurity search firm. → https://www.sysdig.com/ [https://www.sysdig.com/]. Leader in real-time AI-powered cloud security.   Guest Introduction Jay Thoden van Velzen is a Technical Advisor in SAP's Office of the Chief Security Officer, supporting security processes, products, and partner management across cybersecurity functions. He previously led SAP cloud security operations and transformation during SAP’s rapid shift to cloud business applications and platforms.   Chapters * 00:00 Introduction to SAP and Its Impact * 02:44 The Role of Cybersecurity in Business Processes * 13:38 Risk Management and Business Outcomes * 23:02 Exploring Security in Agentic Systems * 27:20 Balancing Innovation and Compliance in AI * 31:22 The Weight of SAP: Stability vs. Innovation * 38:12 Future of AI and Data Sovereignty   Referenced Links & Resources * SAP Community Security Blog [https://community.sap.com/t5/security-and-compliance-blog-posts/bg-p/security-complianceblog-board] * SAP TechEd 2025: SAP launches RPT-1, AI & Security in Business Process Platforms [https://news.sap.com/2025/11/sap-teched-developers-drive-agentic-ai-revolution/?utm_source=openai]   Call to Action For more insights on business-driven security and agentic AI, follow Jay and the SAP Security team at SAP Community [https://community.sap.com/t5/security-and-compliance-blog-posts/bg-p/security-complianceblog-board].

State of the Cybersecurity Market - ft. Mike Privette

Episode Summary The episode features Mike Privette, founder of Return on Security, discussing the 2025 State of the Cybersecurity Market. [https://www.returnonsecurity.com/p/2025-state-of-the-cybersecurity-market]   Key topics include the realities behind AI security funding, the shift from product to service models, the impact of M&A and capital flows, and how regional consolidation is shaping the industry.   Subscribe to the Return on Security [http://return%20on%20security/] Newsletter    Guest Introduction Mike Privette [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeprivette/] is the founder of Return on Security and creator of Security, Funded, a data-driven briefing on cybersecurity funding, M&A, and market trends. He is recognized for his independent, data-driven analysis and his ability to bridge the gap between boardroom strategy and operational security.   Chapters * 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction * 02:46 The Role of a Market Analyst in Cybersecurity * 05:23 Understanding the 2025 Cybersecurity Market Report * 08:06 AI's Impact on Cybersecurity Investments * 10:52 The Shift from Products to Services in Cybersecurity * 13:43 Unit Economics and the Future of Cybersecurity Companies * 16:15 The Dynamics of Private Equity and Venture Capital in Cybersecurity * 24:35 The Great Bundling Era in M&A * 35:34 Regional Capital Flows in Cybersecurity * 45:35 Outro   Referenced Links & Resources * 2025 State of the Cybersecurity Market: $25B Funding, $76B M&A, and What's Next [https://www.returnonsecurity.com/p/2025-state-of-the-cybersecurity-market]

Why AI’s Real Impact Lies in How Leaders Respond—Not Just What It Achieves

Episode Summary Conor Sherman lays out the three pillars of the Zero Signal podcast’s AI philosophy: using AI as a growth engine rather than a cost-cutting tool, designing truly human-centered systems, and treating secure, observable AI as a moral obligation for leaders.   Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors who make this show possible. → Hampton North [https://hamptonnorth.com/]. Hampton North is the premium US based cybersecurity search firm. → Sysdig [https://www.sysdig.com/]. Secure the cloud the right way with agentic AI.   Guest Introduction Host Conor Sherman, a cybersecurity leader with fifteen years of experience building and leading security programs, walks solo through how AI is reshaping the world and what durable, responsible leadership looks like in this transition.   Chapters * 00:00 Introduction to Zero Signal Podcast * 01:23 The Courage to Grow in AI * 05:57 Human-Centered Systems in AI * 10:34 Secure AI is Responsible AI   Referenced Links & Resources * Stanford Digital Economy Lab – “The Turing Trap: The Promise & Peril of Human-Like Artificial Intelligence” [https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/news/the-turing-trap-the-promise-peril-of-human-like-artificial-intelligence/] * Goldman Sachs – “Will the $1 Trillion of Generative AI Investment Pay Off?” [https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/will-the-1-trillion-of-generative-ai-investment-pay-off] * Acemoglu & Restrepo – “Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor” [https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Automation%20and%20New%20Tasks%20-%20How%20Technology%20Displace.pdf] * MIT Sloan – “When humans and AI work best together—and when each is better alone” [https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/when-humans-and-ai-work-best-together-and-when-each-better-alone] * Stanford HAI – “A Human-Centered Approach to the AI Revolution” [https://hai.stanford.edu/news/human-centered-approach-ai-revolution] * Daniel Miessler – “Keep the Robots Out of the Gym” [https://danielmiessler.com/blog/keep-the-robots-out-of-the-gym] * MIT & Harvard study on overreliance on AI advice [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563224002206]   Call to Action Reflect on how your organization can use AI to create new work, design human-centered socio-technical systems, and build secure, observable infrastructure that earns and keeps trust over time.

The Rise of Agentic AI: Transforming Software Development - ft. Adam Arellano

Episode Summary Zero Signal hosts Conor Sherman and Stuart Mitchell sit down with Adam Arellano, former VP of Cybersecurity at PayPal and now Field CTO at Harness, to unpack the rise of agentic AI in software delivery and what it means for software engineers, security leaders, and the broader tech economy. They dig into real-world data on AI-generated code, the new attack surface created by agent skills, and how security and engineering teams can partner to ship faster while reducing risk.   Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors who make this show possible. → Hampton North [https://hamptonnorth.com/]. Hampton North is the premium US based cybersecurity search firm. → Sysdig [https://www.sysdig.com/]. Secure the cloud the right way with agentic AI.   Guest Introduction Adam Arellano is the Field CTO at Harness, focusing on AI for DevOps and automation, and previously served as VP of Cybersecurity at PayPal. In this episode he brings both security and engineering leadership perspectives to the rapid shift toward agentic coding and AI-augmented software delivery.   Referenced Links & Resources * Adam Arellano – LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamrossarellano/overlay/about-this-profile/] * AI Coding Becomes a Risky Norm as Use of AI Coding Assistants Takes Off and More Than 80% of Organizations Ship Vulnerable Code – BusinessWire [https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250814128211/en/AI-Coding-Becomes-a-Risky-Norm-as-Use-of-AI-Coding-Assistants-Takes-Off-and-More-Than-80-of-Organizations-Ship-Vulnerable-Code?utm_source=openai] * Generative AI Adoption and the Impact on Junior Employment – Harvard study [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5425555] * Agent Skills in the Wild: An Empirical Study of Security Vulnerabilities at Scale [https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10338] * GitHubArcanum-Sec/sec-context [https://github.com/Arcanum-Sec/sec-context]