AI for SOC Automation: A Blueprint for the New world of Incident Response

The nature of Security Operations is changing. As cloud environments grow in complexity and data volumes explode, traditional approaches to detection and response are proving insufficient. This episode features an in-depth conversation with Kyle Polley, who leads the AI security team at Perplexity, about a modern blueprint for the Security Operations Center (SOC).

The discussion centers on a necessary architectural shift away from traditional SIEMs, which were not built for today's scale, toward a "data lake infrastructure built for detection and response". Kyle explains how this model provides the scalability needed to handle modern data loads and enables a more effective incident response process.

A cornerstone of this new model is the use of centralized AI agents. The conversation explores how these agents can be tasked with performing in-depth alert investigations, helping to reduce analyst burnout and allowing security teams to focus on more proactive, high-impact work. This approach moves beyond simple automation to create a system where AI augments and enhances the capabilities of the human team.

Guest Socials -⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kyle's Linkedin

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If you are interested in AI Cybersecurity, you can check out our sister podcast -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AI Cybersecurity Podcast

Questions asked:

(00:00) Introduction to Kyle Polley & The Future of SOCs(01:03) The Core Argument: Why You Must Build Your SOC Before Compliance(03:34) Beyond the Certificate: The Difference Between Being Compliant vs. Secure(04:20) Today's #1 AI Threat: The Challenge of Prompt Injection(06:00) The Architectural Flaw: Handling Untrusted Data in AI Systems(08:20) The "Security Data Lake": Moving Beyond the Traditional SIEM(15:00) The Future is Now: A Centralized AI Agent for Automated Investigations(20:06) Will AI Take My Job? How AI Elevates, Not Replaces, the Security Analyst(25:20) Redefining "Shifting Left" with Personal AI Security Agents(31:00) Can AI Reason? How Modern AI Agents Intelligently Query Logs(37:05) Rethinking Incident Response Playbooks in the Age of AI(41:00) The MVP SOC: A Practical Roadmap for Small & Medium Companies(46:08) Final Questions: Maintaining Optimism, Woodworking, and Tex-Mex(50:08) Where to Connect with Kyle Polley

Resources spoken about during the episode:

Easy Agents: an open-source framework

How to give every department their own AI Agent