In this episode, Trey Ford joins the No Trust podcast team at Black Hat in Las Vegas to discuss how cybersecurity is evolving as AI accelerates software development, vulnerability discovery, and the speed of both attack and defence. Drawing on decades of experience across offensive security, vulnerability research, and the Black Hat community, Trey shares his perspective on how the industry has changed, why the next 18–36 months could bring a significant increase in vulnerabilities, and why AI will allow us to make both good and bad decisions at machine speed. The conversation explores AI-generated code, vulnerability management, open-source security, human oversight, patching pressure, and why strong foundations in networking, troubleshooting, debugging, and systems thinking will become even more important as AI takes on more of the traditional technical workload. The episode also looks at the changing career path into cybersecurity, the importance of being able to think beyond individual technologies and vulnerabilities, and why Black Hat remains as much about people, relationships, and community as it is about research and technology. Key Takeaways: • Black Hat is about the people and community as much as the research and technology. • Go to Black Hat with a purpose, but leave enough space for unexpected conversations and connections. • The smaller vendors, startups, and researchers are often where you find the most interesting innovation. • AI will let us work at machine speed, but it will also allow us to make bad decisions at machine speed. • Human oversight, challenge and validation will remain critical as AI becomes more autonomous. • The next 18–36 months could bring a significant increase in vulnerabilities as AI accelerates software development. • Faster exploitation means organisations will increasingly have to balance the risk of patching quickly against the risk of waiting. • Cybersecurity professionals need strong foundations in networking, systems, troubleshooting and debugging, not just specialist skills. • The future belongs to people who can think across systems and understand how technology, security and business connect. Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms. What is the Zero Trust Forum about? It’s about empowering zero trust security professionals with strategies, architecture, and real world journeys to secure the digital future, the right way! Follow the Zero Trust Forum on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/zero-trust-forum/. Follow Jaye Tillson on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/jaye-tillson/ Follow John Spiegel on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/john-spiegel-2011543/
