In this anniversary episode of Guardians of the Data, Kraig Faulkner of InfoLock flips the script and puts Ward Balcerzak in the guest seat. Ward takes on his own signature question: What is the biggest challenge organizations are facing when it comes to data security?
From there, Ward and Kraig dig into why data security continues to be overlooked, how organizations can think differently about people, process, and technology, and what the rise of AI means for the security strategies organizations are building today.
They also get into AI use cases, agentic AI, identity, governance, and the changing role of the SOC with Ward offering plenty of candid perspectives along the way.
If you missed the original episode, this is a conversation worth revisiting.
Takeaways:
Name an owner for data security. If it is just another hat someone wears, it will get treated like one. Give that person real focus, budget, and people.
Start with people and process before you buy the tool. Governance, auditability, and documentation can matter more than technology. A shiny platform without a program behind it is just a pretty report.
Define your AI use cases before you measure AI risk. Without knowing what AI will do and what data it can touch, risk scoring is guesswork. Build KPIs around whether it actually made things faster, cheaper, or better.
Treat agentic AI like any other solution you bring in. Run it through an architecture and security review, and get a handle on your non-human identities. Give it a UAT environment before it ever touches prod.
Level up your people instead of cutting them. Let AI take over the menial L1 work, then point your analysts at the initiatives you never had time for. Humans in the loop are not going anywhere.
"Governance, auditability, process documentation, it's all huge. It's even more important than technology half the time." - Ward Balcerzak
Connect with Ward and Kraig:
Ward’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ward-balcerzak/
Kraig’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kraigfaulkner/
Ways to Tune In:
Transistor: https://guardiansofthedata.show/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5gZXInkb12Qrs2Lyv0hstQ
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guardians-of-the-data/id1826819323
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0754cdde-f1c4-4f6c-92a2-e263f7840eb8/guardians-of-the-data
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-guardians-of-the-data-285972170/