The Rise of AI in Cyber Defense Strategy | Harry Thomas, Frenos

In this episode of the Tesoro AI podcast, host Darius Gant interviews Harry, a former nurse turned cybersecurity expert and the founder of Frenos, an AI-native OT security posture management platform. Harry shares his unique career journey from the medical field to cybersecurity and AI, delving into his transition phases and the creation of Frenos. The discussion covers the implementation and benefits of AI in cybersecurity, the challenges of building AI models, and the differences between local and cloud-based large language models. Harry also provides insights into the future of AI technology and shares valuable advice for hiring AI talent. Tune in for an enlightening conversation on AI in cybersecurity and the evolving landscape of AI solutions.

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Founder Bio:

With over a decade of deep-rooted experience in cybersecurity, Harry Thomas stands at the forefront of the industry as an expert offensive penetration tester with a specialized focus on the industrial and healthcare sectors. Renowned for his strategic approach to securing critical infrastructure, Harry has mastered the art of OT/ICS passive monitoring, designing solutions that not only detect but also thwart sophisticated cyber threats.Harry is currently the CTO of Frenos, where he continues to leverage his extensive expertise in cybersecurity to lead the company's strategic direction and innovation. Under his leadership, Frenos is setting new standards in the development and implementation of advanced cybersecurity solutions, focusing on protecting critical industrial and healthcare infrastructures from emerging cyber threats.

Prior to his leadership at Frenos, Harry served as the Director of Product Research and Development at Dragos, where he led initiatives to integrate robust security practices into industrial control systems. He also played a pivotal role at AWS, leading the development of AI/ML-driven User Behavioral Analytics products that significantly enhanced security protocols across various platforms.

Time Stamps:

00:35 Harry's Journey from Nursing to AI

04:35 Building the Frenos Platform

08:40 Proactive Cybersecurity with AI

12:18 Challenges and Solutions in AI Implementation

15:12 Local vs. Cloud-Based LLMs

22:40 Cloud vs. Local Models: Key Differences

24:09 Building vs. Buying: Challenges in AI Development

27:48 Talent and Skills for AI Projects

30:12 Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Systems

32:16 Building a RAG as a Personal Project

35:49 Cost and Scalability in AI

39:22 Frenos Found Rising Journey

41:41 Future of AI Models

44:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Resources:

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Company website: http://frenos.io

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frenos-inc/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-j-thomas/