ClearTech Loop: In the Know, On the Move

ClearTech Research / Jo Peterson
  • 5.0 (1)
  • TECHNOLOGY

ClearTech Loop is a fast, focused podcast delivering sharp, soundbite-ready insights on what’s next in cybersecurity, cloud, and AI. Hosted by Jo Peterson, Chief Analyst at ClearTech Research, each 10-minute episode explores today’s most pressing tech and risk issues through a business-focused lens.  Whether it’s CISOs rethinking cyber strategy or AI reshaping risk governance, ClearTech Loop brings clarity to a shifting landscape—built for tech leaders who don’t have time for fluff.  We cut through hype. We rethink assumptions. We keep you in the loop.

  1. AI Security Is a Risk Leadership Problem First with Gerry Gadoury

    4D AGO

    AI Security Is a Risk Leadership Problem First with Gerry Gadoury

    In this episode of the ClearTech Loop podcast, Jo Peterson sits down with Gerry Gadoury to talk about what AI security leadership actually requires as the threat landscape changes faster and the business pressure around AI keeps rising.  This is not a conversation about one more security tool. Gerry brings the discussion back to risk judgment, executive alignment, and the human side of security leadership. As AI lowers the barrier for attackers and accelerates the pace of change, security leaders need to focus on real risk, not theoretical panic, while helping the business make better decisions under pressure.  Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Key Quotes  “Do real risk assessments. Don't look so much for the Boogeyman. Look for the person actually knocking on your door.” “When you mandatorily push it downhill, I think people are going to resist.” “The AI landscape changes fundamentally by quarter.” Three Big Ideas from This Episode  Real risk matters more than theoretical panic  AI security starts with identifying what is likely, material, and relevant to the business instead of getting lost in every hypothetical scenario. Security cannot just be pushed downhill  Runbooks and playbooks matter, but they do not replace executive alignment. Security works better when leaders understand the concerns, reduce resistance, and align around outcomes before a crisis hits. The CISO role is becoming more business critical  As AI changes the risk environment, CISOs need to think more like risk officers by balancing technical controls, business priorities, and leadership judgment. Additional resources  Destination Employer: Attract, Recruit, and Retain the Top Talent in Your Market by Gerry Gadoury: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR352P8M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_MCV88SEER4A2FGQQ6H73 NIST AI Risk Management Framework and AI Resource Center: https://airc.nist.gov/ ClearTech Loop Season 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2248577  🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    11 min
  2. Cybersecurity Is a Social System with Fernando

    MAR 2

    Cybersecurity Is a Social System with Fernando

    In this episode of the ClearTech Loop podcast, Jo Peterson sits down with Fernando Montenegro to talk about what the CISO role actually looks like right now as generative AI spreads across the enterprise.   This is not a conversation about one more security tool. Fernando frames AI as a forcing function that exposes the social structure of an organization, including incentives, accountability, influence, and how decisions get made. The CISO role has become a bridge role, and the job is more political, more collaborative, and more consultative than it used to be.   Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Zach Lewis Buzzsprout https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Key Quotes  “They are the translator of security issues to non security decision makers.”  “One of the ways to bring these silos down is to have empathy for the other side, if you will.”  “You solve all of this at the design stage, at the initiation stage, not down the line when people want to release the production.”  Three Big Ideas from This Episode  AI forces cross functional alignment  AI makes silos expensive. When teams have to work together to make AI work, security cannot stay isolated and expect trust to show up later.  Embed security by showing up early  There is no perfect universal checklist. The workable move is being there at the beginning, removing friction early, and helping the initiative flourish before deadlines turn everything into a showdown.  The CISO is a translator role now  CISOs are playing multiple games at once across the board, the CIO, legal, customers, regulators, and internal teams. Translation is a core operating requirement, not a soft skill.  Episode Notes and Links  Listen: In the Player Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0H4x1-Hu-44 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/   Additional resources  The Futurum Group, Fernando Montenegro profile https://futurumgroup.com/fernando-montenegro/  AI and organizational risk management resources, NIST AI Risk Management Framework https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework  2017 Transformers paper: “Attention Is All You Need” (2017) by Ashish Vaswani, Noam Shazeer, Niki Parmar, Jakob Uszkoreit, Llion Jones, Aidan N. Gomez, Łukasz Kaiser, Illia Polosukhin. https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2017/file/3f5ee243547dee91fbd053c1c4a845aa-Paper.pdf  ClearTech Research and ClearTech Loop https://cleartechresearch.com/ 🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    20 min
  3. Security Is an Environment with Miri Rodriguez

    FEB 26

    Security Is an Environment with Miri Rodriguez

    What CISOs miss when security only lives in features  AI security is still getting framed like a technology problem: new tools, new controls, new dashboards, and new rules. In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson talks with Miri Rodriguez, Cofounder and CEO of Empressa.ai, about why that framing keeps breaking in the real world.  Miri brings a people first lens to AI adoption and security. She argues that security is not just something you install. It is an environment people are willing to enter. When the environment does not feel secure, adoption either slows or goes underground, and then security teams are left trying to govern what they cannot see.  This conversation connects three practical leadership threads: using GenAI upstream to understand real adoption patterns, embedding security and privacy without slowing innovation by designing for humans, and building governance that becomes habit instead of paperwork.  Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Key Quotes “The opportunity is massive when you think about security as an environment, not just a technology or a feature.”  “The features don’t matter. If you can’t tell me why the features are important in my space.”  Three Big Ideas from This Episode  GenAI beyond the tool stack Generative AI can help security leaders widen the lens on adoption. Before policies and controls, leaders need to understand where people hesitate, where they take shortcuts, and why the secure path gets avoided. Inclusion is a security control Speed without inclusion creates blind spots, and blind spots become risk. Security and privacy do not have to slow innovation, but they do have to be designed in a way people can understand and follow. Governance is behavior If governance does not translate into day to day habits, it is just documentation. Training format matters as much as content, and security sticks when people see it as personal responsibility, not corporate paperwork. Additional Resources  AI Foundations for Women (Empressa AI) https://empressa.ai/ai-foundations-for-women/ Most Tools Weren’t Built with Women in Mind, AI Is Just the Latest https://empressa.ai/2025/04/03/most-tools-werent-built-with-women-in-mind-ai-is-just-the-latest/ IABC Catalyst, Building Your Brand With Microsoft Senior Storyteller Miri Rodriguez https://www.iabc.com/Catalyst/Article/building-your-brand-with-microsoft-senior-storyteller-miri-rodriguez About the Guest Miri Rodriguez is Cofounder and CEO at Empressa.ai, an AI and storytelling strategist, bestselling author, and Microsoft alum. She focuses on ethical innovation, inclusion, and building trustworthy AI environments where women can connect, learn, and thrive. She is also the author of Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story.    🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    16 min
  4. AI, Cost, Control, and Relevance with Margaret Dawson, CMO, SUSE

    FEB 24

    AI, Cost, Control, and Relevance with Margaret Dawson, CMO, SUSE

    AI is getting embedded into everything, security workflows, engineering workflows, and customer facing products, often faster than organizations can govern it. The upside is real. The risk is in the assumptions leaders are making while they chase speed.  In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Margaret Dawson, Chief Marketing Officer at SUSE, for a slightly different conversation than our usual guest mix. Same three questions, but through a CMO lens shaped by decades of enterprise buying cycles.  Margaret breaks down how security leaders can use generative AI to move beyond tools and tech, what it actually takes to embed security and privacy without slowing innovation, and how CMOs should talk about AI without getting trapped in AI washing. The throughline is practical: productivity gains are real, but cost, control, and credibility are not automatic.  Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/   Key Quotes  “The mistake that we’re making as leaders is we are assuming that the integration of AI is an automatic reduction in cost.” — Margaret Dawson  “Until all of a sudden, the CFO got a million dollar cloud bill.” — Margaret Dawson  “Consumers get smarter, very, very fast, especially BtoB Tech customers, and they start to know what’s real and what’s not.” — Margaret Dawson  “Being very specific on what it is doing for your product, for that customer, tying it back to the business outcome.” — Margaret Dawson  “People trust their peers more than any vendor or anyone else.” — Margaret Dawson  Three Big Ideas from This Episode  AI adoption fails when leaders treat it like automatic margin  The board level narrative is tempting, but dangerous. AI can improve productivity, but assuming it instantly reduces cost is how organizations create governance debt and business continuity risk. Speed is possible, but only with guardrails  Embedding security and privacy is not what slows innovation. Confusion, rework, and incidents slow innovation. The answer is clear boundaries, clear accountability, and controls that keep pace with adoption. In marketing, relevance and proof beat hype  Buyers calibrate fast. AI messaging has to be specific, tied to outcomes, and backed by customer evidence. Credibility is built peer to peer, not through louder claims. Resources Mentioned  The Secret to Digital Transformation is Human Connection by Margaret Dawson: https://devops.com/the-secret-to-digital-transformation-is-human-connection/ INTERVIEW: SUSE CMO Margaret Dawson on AI, Kubernetes & Open Source | KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUcEl3hfvG8  ClearTech Loop: AI Security Needs Better Execution with Zach Lewis: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2248577 🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    18 min
  5. AI Security Needs Better Execution with Zach Lewis (CIO/CISO | Author, Locked Up)

    FEB 12

    AI Security Needs Better Execution with Zach Lewis (CIO/CISO | Author, Locked Up)

    AI security is getting marketed like it requires a brand-new playbook—new frameworks, new job titles, new spend.  In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Zach Lewis (CIO/CISO and author of Locked Up) for a practical reset: AI doesn’t erase the fundamentals—it punishes you faster when you ignore them. Zach breaks down where GenAI is already helping security programs today (especially tabletop exercises and prioritization), what it actually takes to embed security and privacy into AI models without slowing innovation (data classification, access controls, segmentation, documentation, least privilege), and why adoption fails when leaders treat AI like a tool rollout instead of a behavior change.  The takeaway is simple and actionable: get the foundations right, use AI to reduce friction where it matters, and build a culture where AI augments people rather than creating fear.   Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/   Key Quotes  “Strong AI security… starts with doing the basics well.” — Zach Lewis   “One of the best use cases I found for it was tabletop exercises.” — Zach Lewis   “You had a billion alerts… and you’re like, which one’s important?” — Jo Peterson   Three Big Ideas from This Episode  1) AI security is data discipline + access discipline  Before you talk tools, talk foundations: classify data before it touches a model, segment critical workloads, gate access by role and sensitivity, document prompts/sources/model versions, and enforce least privilege with ongoing testing and validation.   2) GenAI can make readiness more real (tabletop exercises)  Instead of running the same scripted scenario every year, GenAI can generate realistic incidents, inject curveballs, and help teams identify missed actions—turning tabletops into a real maturity-building loop.   3) Adoption is a leadership problem, not a platform problem  AI initiatives stall when people are afraid or unsupported. Training, shared use cases, and visible wins (time saved, friction removed) create a safe environment where AI augments work rather than threatening it.   📘 Zach’s book: Locked Up: Cybersecurity Threat Mitigation Lessons from a Real-World LockBit Ransomware Response   https://www.amazon.com/Locked-Cybersecurity-Mitigation-Real-World-Ransomware/dp/1394357044  Resources Mentioned   ClearTech Loop with Michael Machado AI Risk is Mostly Not New:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2248577/episodes/18535354-ai-risk-is-mostly-not-new-with-michael-machado   Locked Up by Zach Lewis is available: https://www.amazon.com/Locked-Cybersecurity-Mitigation-Real-World-Ransomware/dp/1394357044 NIST AI Risk Management Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework MITRE ATT&CK Framework: https://attack.mitre.org/    🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    11 min
  6. Governance Is a Catalyst in AI Security with Stefano Righi (AMI)

    FEB 10

    Governance Is a Catalyst in AI Security with Stefano Righi (AMI)

    AI is speeding up both attackers and defenders. The goal is not speed alone. The goal is speed with trust.  In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Stefano Righi, Chief Security Architect at American Megatrends, for a hot take conversation on what AI is changing inside security programs. Stefano breaks down how GenAI can move teams beyond reactive, tool centric security into anticipatory defense through predictive threat modeling, dynamic risk assessment, and orchestration. He also explains what secure by design means for AI systems, including privacy, adversarial resiliency, prompt injection, and data poisoning, plus why human oversight still matters. The conversation closes on firmware security below the operating system and why governance aligned to standards becomes an accelerator, not paperwork.  Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Key Quotes  “Governance may act as a catalyst, not as a brake to innovation, enabling innovation while ensuring trust.” — Stefano Righi “From the very start, we need to pursue secure by design for AI model… build privacy and adversarial resiliency into AI life cycles… mitigate risk like prompt injection and data poisoning without slowing innovation.” — Stefano Righi “Firmware runs under the operating system, and any attack that could happen at such layer could go undetected by any antivirus solution running in the operating system.” — Stefano Righi Three Big Ideas from This Episode  Governance accelerates trusted AI adoption  Governance is not paperwork. Done right, it enables innovation while ensuring trust, and it must be cross functional rather than owned by security alone. Secure by design has to include AI systems  Privacy and adversarial resiliency belong in the AI lifecycle from the start, with attention to risks like prompt injection and data poisoning, plus human oversight to ensure compliance and prevent misuse. Firmware is a visibility blind spot below the OS  Platform layers from microcode to BIOS to BMC to Root of Trust create real complexity, and attacks below the OS can bypass controls that security leaders rely on for visibility. Episode Notes / Links  🎧 Listen: In player above ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wXOf6erkQ6k 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Resources Mentioned  ClearTech Loop: The CSA AI Safety Initiative with George Finney https://cleartechresearch.com/the-csa-ai-safety-initiative-with-george-finney/  NIST AI Standards: https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence/ai-standards   OWASP guidance for AI: https://owasp.org/www-project-ai-security-and-privacy-guide/  CSA: How Generative AI is Reshaping Zero Trust Security https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/blog/2026/01/09/how-generative-ai-is-reshaping-zero-trust-security  🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    12 min
  7. From Tool-Driven Cyber to Adaptive AI Defense with Ryan Lutz

    FEB 5

    From Tool-Driven Cyber to Adaptive AI Defense with Ryan Lutz

    Cybersecurity has become a tool driven industry. Organizations buy platforms, stack controls, generate alerts, and ask humans to stitch it all together under pressure.   In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Ryan Lutz to explore what changes when AI becomes part of the security workflow. Not as another console, but as an adaptive capability that helps teams interpret signals faster, prioritize more intelligently, and respond with more consistency when the volume is too high for humans to manage alone.   The conversation focuses on three real-world themes:  Why the SOC is the best initial use case for AI augmentation, how leaders should think about the inherent exposure that comes with more AI and more code, and why Ryan’s research on AI malware matters for building adaptive defensive responses.   Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/   Key Quotes  “Cyber is a very tool driven industry… with the implementation of AI being generative, I think that we’re going to see AI being used more in a way that’s adaptive.” — Ryan Lutz   “In a setting like a SOC analyst… you have a ton of information coming in… millions of possible attack vectors… it’s very applicable to use AI… to generate a response very quickly and more efficiently.” — Ryan Lutz   “How should the CISO be thinking about AI adoption… from an organizational governance perspective, because you don’t want to be the Department of no.” — Jo Peterson   Three Big Ideas from This Episode  1) Adaptive beats tool-driven  AI helps security teams move beyond tool sprawl by accelerating interpretation, prioritization, and decision-making in high-volume environments.   2) The SOC is the natural first use case  SOC work is overwhelmed by inputs and possible attack paths. Ryan explains why AI can rank what matters, accelerate analysis, and suggest response paths quickly and efficiently.   3) Governance must guide adoption without killing innovation  More AI and more code creates more exposure. The leadership job is balance: govern the use and guide adoption without becoming the “Department of No.”   Episode Notes / Links  🎧 Listen: In player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-2mxfnCexjQ    📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/   Resources Mentioned  MITRE ATT&CK Framework https://attack.mitre.org/ NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework ClearTech Loop AI Only Works If Your Foundations Do: A Conversation with Dr. Anton Chuvakin https://www.buzzsprout.com/2248577/episodes/18211623-ai-only-works-if-your-foundations-do-a-conversation-with-dr-anton-chuvakin    🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    9 min
  8. From Reactive to Predictive in AI Security with Jen Waltz

    FEB 3

    From Reactive to Predictive in AI Security with Jen Waltz

    Cybersecurity has been trapped in a reactive cycle for years: a new threat emerges, a new tool gets purchased, and teams get overwhelmed by alerts.  In this episode of ClearTech Loop, Jo Peterson sits down with Jen Waltz (Chief Information Security Officer at IMAJENATIVE) to unpack how generative AI can fundamentally disrupt that cycle—shifting the focus from managing tools to achieving strategic outcomes.  The conversation goes beyond “faster alerts” and gets practical about what’s changing right now:  Moving beyond alert triage into predictive threat hunting, including simulating adversary behavior and generating TTP playbooks—especially when paired with threat intel and MITRE ATT&CK data. Upskilling SOC teams by using GenAI to reduce menial work, provide clearer remediation paths, and support more anticipatory defense postures. Embedding security, privacy, and governance early so “secure-by-design” becomes a business enabler, not a speed bump. Jen also gives a clear governance warning: as AI adoption accelerates, organizations must guide usage with approved tools and acceptable-use controls—especially to reduce the risk of sensitive data being dropped into consumer AI chat tools like ChatGPT.  If you’re responsible for security operations, AI strategy, or governance, this episode offers a grounded path for how to adopt GenAI without losing control.  👉 Subscribe to ClearTech Loop on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Key Quotes  “Cybersecurity has long been trapped in this reactive cycle… generative AI… can fundamentally disrupt the cycle by shifting the focus from managing tools to achieving strategic outcomes.” — Jen Waltz  “The CISO no longer is this superhero defender of the perimeter. You have to become a business strategist…” — Jen Waltz  Three Big Ideas from This Episode  1. GenAI can break the reactive cycle—if teams target outcomes, not tools  Jen frames GenAI as an opportunity to move beyond buying more technology and instead shift security programs toward strategic outcomes and anticipatory defense.  2. Predictive threat hunting becomes practical with TTP playbooks + MITRE ATT&CK context  Rather than only prioritizing alerts, Jen describes prompting GenAI to simulate adversaries and generate playbooks—then connecting that to threat intel and MITRE ATT&CK data to anticipate attacker evolution earlier.  3. AI governance is a leadership mandate—and the CISO role expands  Jen argues the CISO must operate as a business strategist balancing innovation enablement with risk governance. That includes guiding internal AI use with hardened, approved tools and clear controls—without shutting down creativity.  🎧 Listen: Buzzsprout player above ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EEf0eRdCfzg 📰 Subscribe to the ClearTech Loop Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/  Resources Mentioned  MITRE ATT&CK Framework: https://attack.mitre.org/resources/attack-data-and-tools/  NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF): https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework  ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS): 🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/playlist 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/

    17 min
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About

ClearTech Loop is a fast, focused podcast delivering sharp, soundbite-ready insights on what’s next in cybersecurity, cloud, and AI. Hosted by Jo Peterson, Chief Analyst at ClearTech Research, each 10-minute episode explores today’s most pressing tech and risk issues through a business-focused lens.  Whether it’s CISOs rethinking cyber strategy or AI reshaping risk governance, ClearTech Loop brings clarity to a shifting landscape—built for tech leaders who don’t have time for fluff.  We cut through hype. We rethink assumptions. We keep you in the loop.

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