Unlocking Automatic Defense Through AI with Former TikTok Global CSO Roland Cloutier

On the 16th episode of Enterprise Software Defenders, host Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and special guest host Steve Ward (Former CISO at The Home Depot and TIAA) talk with Roland Cloutier, former Global Chief Security Officer at TikTok. Roland is a seasoned cybersecurity expert who has led security programs at major organizations, including EMC, ADP, and, most recently, TikTok. Roland's journey from military aerospace defense to becoming a top CISO offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of cybersecurity and the critical role of AI in enhancing security operations. In this conversation, Roland shares his thoughts on the evolution of cybersecurity in the AI era, the transformative impact of AI on security operations, and a glimpse into the future of converged security programs.

Quick hits from Roland:

On AI’s ability to assist enterprise security posture management: “Why do I have really smart people doing things like writing scripts that go across logs? That is insanity. We're going to get to deeper insight faster through AI. So as a practitioner, we're going to have better weapons to understand what's going on to apply defensive postures quicker.”

On AI copilot’s enabling safer code creation: “There's massive hope in the use of AI around code defense. Code is going to be created differently and it'll be created with AI and with constructs. Therefore we have the opportunity to put security control capabilities or quality measures in capabilities at the time of code. It's going to automatically do privacy by design and security by design in a way we’ve never seen before. So from a compliance perspective, we're going to be able to operate as businesses in a much better way.”

On the true impact of auto defense capabilities: “AI is going to now show up and code is going to be generated by the time someone thinks about it. But it doesn't have to go in a queue for us to check. We don't have to wait till something gets checked in. We can instrument the AI with our capabilities that says to automatically remove any OS pipe turning, and tell us what you did. Think about the modeling capabilities on a per second basis it can provide when it evaluates code.” 

Recent Book Recommendation: The Mission, The Men, and Me by Pete Blaber

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Enterprise Software Defenders is a show where top security executives share how moves to the cloud have created an evolved threat landscape that requires new tools to protect against cybercrime. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/

Enterprise Software Defenders is produced by Josh Meer.