Watters Edge

On this episode of Watters Edge, John Watters sits down with Jim Trainor, Senior Vice President at LevelBlue and former Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, to explore how cyber threats are evolving in the age of AI. Jim draws on his FBI experience and major cyber investigations to discuss the growing overlap between criminal and nation-state actors, the widening gap between attackers and defenders, the importance ...

On this episode of Watters Edge, John Watters sits down with Robert Rodriguez, Chairman and Founder of SINET, to explore how cybersecurity is changing in the age of AI. After a 22-year career with the U.S. Secret Service, Robert transitioned into cybersecurity and became deeply involved in building communities that connect CISOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators. Robert shares his perspective on why cybersecurity needs to k...

Host John Watters sits down with Joel Molinoff, COO of iCOUNTER, to explore his unconventional path from banking at JPMorgan to the NSA, the White House, and eventually cybersecurity leadership in the private sector. Joel shares how those experiences shaped his approach to intelligence, risk, and operations, and explains why today's defenders need to rethink cybersecurity processes rather than simply use AI to make existing workflo...

Get an inside look at the evolution of cyber intelligence with Maggie McDaniel, whose career spans the CIA, Fidelity Investments, Recorded Future, and now iCOUNTER. From finding her first CIA job in a newspaper classified to helping shape modern cyber intelligence, Maggie shares how the industry has evolved from understanding threats to taking action against them.

You will learn why intelligence needs to answer the "now what," how a...

AI was the word of the week at Black Hat 2026, and this episode captures that in real time through a supercut of quick conversations recorded live on the floor. Voices from across the industry, including Cisco, SAP, Armadin, ICM Cyber, and former NSA leadership, weigh in on what stood out most this year, how they see the third wave of cybersecurity taking shape, and what they think the industry gets wrong.

A clear theme runs through...

Get an inside look at how information sharing became one of cybersecurity's most powerful tools with the man who helped build it from the ground up, Errol Weiss, Chief Security Officer of the Health ISAC. From his earliest days at the NSA to shaping FS ISAC in its infancy and now leading one of the most interconnected ecosystems in the world, Errol brings decades of hard won perspective on what actually keeps industries safe.

Yo...

Host John Watters welcomes longtime friend Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the former Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan guitarist turned civilian missile defense advisor, recorded live from Black Hat in Las Vegas. The conversation runs from Skunk's musical roots and the neuroscience of sound to his push for legal frameworks that let companies fight back against cyberattacks, closing on where AI-speed threats and offensive testing are taking netw...

Host John Watters sits down with longtime friend Jay Leek, Managing Partner of SYN Ventures, to trace his path from building computers in his family's business in West Texas to operating roles at Nokia, Equifax, and Blackstone, where he became the first CISO in private equity. Jay explains how those experiences shaped his move into full time investing, and shares how he evaluates founding teams, why timing now carries as much weigh...

Host John Watters sits down with longtime friend Kevin Mandia, CEO of Armadin, to dig into founding Mandiant, surviving the 2008 recession, and the APT1 report that put Chinese nation state hacking on the front page and reshaped the threat intelligence industry. The conversation moves through the FireEye acquisition, the hard years of stepping into the CEO role, and the eventual sale to Google, before landing on why Kevin came out ...