Jake Moshenko, CEO and co-founder of AuthZed, dives into the challenges of securing AI interactions and the innovative solutions his company offers. He explains how AuthZed, inspired by Google's Zanzibar, addresses complex authorization issues for AI agents. The conversation highlights critical needs in permissions management and the fast-evolving landscape that developers face. Moshenko warns of potential pitfalls in current practices, urging companies to adopt more modern authorization strategies to protect data effectively.
Organizations must adopt robust security hygiene and authorization practices to manage user permissions as they integrate AI technologies.
The challenges of maintaining access controls in Retrieval-Augmented Generation pipelines highlight the need for advanced authorization models to protect sensitive data.
Deep dives
Transitioning to AI-Centric Discussions in Cloud Computing
The podcast highlights a significant shift in the tech industry as discussions transition from cloud computing to artificial intelligence (AI) as the centerpiece of development. In the new year, cloud computing enthusiasts are encouraged to explore the intersection of AI and cloud technology, particularly as AI becomes more mainstream for businesses. This change indicates a need for companies to reassess their approach to security hygiene when integrating AI into their operations. The hosts express excitement about the future and the potential impact of AI integration on cloud strategies throughout the year.
The Importance of Security in AI Implementations
As businesses begin to integrate AI into their technologies, ensuring proper security protocols and authorization measures becomes paramount. The conversation emphasizes that businesses should be aware of how to manage user permissions, particularly when introducing internal and external users to AI systems. It advises that businesses must implement robust security hygiene practices and explore the right types of authorizations to protect data and user information. This proactive approach to security can help organizations mitigate risks associated with the increasing use of AI.
The Role of Authorization in Scaling AI Solutions
The podcast discusses the evolving needs for flexible authorization systems, particularly as AI applications develop. As organizations begin to build their AI solutions, they must consider the authorization models that will enable scalable and secure interactions between users and AI agents. The hosts explore how advanced authorization can help delineate roles to prevent excessive permissions from being granted to these agents. Properly implementing authorization not only protects sensitive data but also enhances user experiences by ensuring users can only access the information they are permitted to.
Navigating Challenges in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
A significant point raised in the podcast pertains to the challenges associated with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines in AI. When data is moved into a vector database from other sources, there's a risk of losing the original access controls, which can potentially lead to unauthorized data access. The hosts stress the importance of maintaining context for any data being queried and suggest employing detailed authorization models to filter data appropriately. By implementing pre-filtering and post-filtering techniques, businesses can enhance security while maximizing the relevance of information returned by AI models.
Jake Moshenko (@jacobmoshenko, CEO of @AuthZed) talks about the challenges of securing AI interactions, as well as authentication best-practices for AI Agents and RAG patterns.
Topic 1 - Welcome to the show. Tell us about your background and why you decided to start AuthZed.
Topic 2 - AuthZed is based on technology from Google called Zanzibar. There’s an in-depth research paper, but give us some background on the types of problems it solves and why it was so appealing to you.
Topic 3 - Authorization is used for every application, but let’s talk about it in the context of AI or AI Agents. This is still a fairly new concept, but what authorization-related challenges do you expect GenAI or AI agents to create for developers and operators?
Topic 4 - Is this space moving so fast that people already realize they’ll likely need something more modern, like Authzed, or are there mistakes they are making today that are going to cause serious red flags soon?
Topic 5 - What is the typical path for companies or teams to adopt Authzed, and is it something that can start small and grow (or merge with other groups), or does it have to be centralized like at Google?
Topic 6 - What are some of the more important areas that people building and growing AI systems that need authorization should be keeping an eye on?