AI in Cybersecurity: Phil Venables (Formerly Google Cloud CISO) on Agentic AI & CISO Strategy

Jun 6, 2025

Join Phil Venables, former CISO at Google Cloud and a cybersecurity expert with over 30 years of experience, as he dives into the intersection of AI and cybersecurity. He discusses the evolution from predictive AI to Agentic AI, emphasizing practical applications in organizations. Phil outlines three key pillars for CISO control: software lifecycle risk, data governance, and operational risk management. He also shares insights on leveraging AI to address workforce skill shortages and the expanding role of CISOs in navigating digital risk.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Early Examples of Agentic AI

Agentic AI is in early prototyping across many enterprise activities like customer support and personal assistants.
It can autonomously use tools to achieve goals in personal and business management tasks.

ANECDOTE

Phil Venables' Cybersecurity Journey

Phil Venables began his career as a software engineer in diverse industries and built one of the first internet-facing banks in 1995.
He later became Goldman Sachs' first CISO before joining Google Cloud as CISO.

INSIGHT

AI's Expanding Role in Security

AI value spans predictive, generative, and agentic AI with growing automation in security and business activities.
Securing AI adoption also requires helping businesses safely integrate AI for wide organizational use.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Dive deep into the evolving landscape of AI in Cybersecurity with Phil Venables, former Chief Information Security Officer at Google Cloud and a cybersecurity veteran with over 30 years of experience. Recorded at RSA, this episode explores the critical shifts and future trends shaping our industry.

Caleb, Ashish and Phil speak about

The journey from predictive AI to the forefront of Agentic AI in enterprise environments.
How organizations are transitioning AI from experimental prototypes to impactful production applications.
The three essential pillars of AI control for CISOs: software lifecycle risk, data governance, and operational risk management.
Current adversarial uses of AI and the surprising realities versus the hype.
Leveraging AI to combat workforce skill shortages and boost productivity within security teams.
The rise of "Vibe Coding" and how AI is transforming software development and security.
The expanding role of the CISO towards becoming a Chief Digital Risk Officer.
Practical advice for security teams on adopting AI for security operations automation and beyond.

Questions asked:

(00:00) - Intro: AI's Future in Cybersecurity with Phil Venables

(00:55) - Meet Phil Venables: Ex-Google Cloud CISO & Cyber Veteran

(02:59) - AI Security Now: Navigating Predictive, Generative & Agentic AI

(04:44) - AI: Beyond the Hype? Real Enterprise Adoption & Value

(05:49) - Top CISO Concerns: Securing AI in Production Environments

(07:02) - AI Security for All: Advice for Smaller Organizations (Hint: Platforms!)

(09:04) - CISOs' AI Worries: Data Leakage, Prompt Injection & Deepfakes?

(12:53) - AI Maturity: Beyond Terminator Fears to Practical Guardrails

(14:45) - Agentic AI in Action: Real-World Enterprise Deployments & Use Cases

(15:56) - Securing Agentic AI: Building Guardrails & Control Planes (Early Days)

(22:57) - Future-Proof Your Security Program for AI: Key Considerations

(25:13) - LLM Strategy: Single vs. Multiple Models for AI Applications

(28:26) - "Vibe Coding": How AI is Revolutionizing Software Development for Leaders

(32:21) - Security Implications of AI-Generated Code & "Shift Downward"

(37:22) - Frontier Models & Shared Responsibility: Who Secures What?

(39:07) - AI Adoption Hotbeds: Which Security Teams Are Leading the Way? (SecOps First!)

(40:20) - AI App Sprawl: Managing Risk in a World of Custom, AI-Generated Apps