The BetaKit Podcast Channel Tailscale's CEO has an idea "worth billions" for AI startups
Sep 29, 2025
Avery Pennarun, CEO of Tailscale and a pioneer in secure networking, dives into the emerging security challenges posed by AI agents. He discusses the dire warnings from CISOs about the risks of insecure data practices, likening the situation to a 'ticking time bomb.' Pennarun introduces the concept of Tailscale acting as 'air traffic control' for AI, managing traffic and ensuring safe operations. He also shares insights on the need for centralized controls and the importance of treating AI agents like interns to minimize risks.
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Mesh Networking Meets AI Agents
- Tailscale is a programmable mesh that connects devices, containers, VMs and more across firewalls using identity and encryption.
- The surge of AI agents means networks must support huge numbers of non-human 'seats' and new pricing/architecture thinking.
Data Silo Unlocking Is AI's Killer App
- Connecting internal data silos is the biggest immediate win for AI and explains rapid enterprise adoption pressure.
- The Model Context Protocol (MCP) simplifies integration by returning plain-text blobs that LLMs can consume and combine.
Public MCP Servers Are A Dangerous Shortcut
- Companies commonly expose MCP servers on the public internet as the easy integration path, creating huge attack surface and security risk.
- That ad-hoc practice is central to the 'Wild West' problem Avery warns about.