In this episode, Dave and Dharm are joined by Alice Violet, founder of Alice Violet Creative and host of the Cyber Made Human podcast, for a wide-ranging and refreshingly human conversation about the current state of cybersecurity. Based in the heart of the UK’s cybersecurity ecosystem in Cheltenham, Alice brings a unique perspective shaped by her journey from luxury travel marketing to senior roles at Sophos and, ultimately, to building a specialist agency focused on cyber and complex technology. Her core belief is simple but powerful: cybersecurity is no longer a niche technical concern. It is a leadership issue, a commercial issue, and fundamentally a human one. The discussion explores why cybersecurity has remained opaque for so long, and how fear-based messaging and jargon have actively held the industry back. Alice argues that recent high-profile outages and breaches have forced cybersecurity into the mainstream, making it unacceptable for senior leaders to plead ignorance. Yet she is equally critical of scaremongering, advocating instead for education, clarity, and a reframing of cyber as both protection and opportunity. Dave and Dharm probe how CEOs should think about cybersecurity without becoming technologists themselves, why CISOs must learn to communicate in business language, and why even the most sophisticated technical defences can be undone by human behaviour. From ransomware-as-a-service to AI-powered impersonation scams, the conversation makes clear that many of today’s biggest risks sit outside the data centre. The episode also tackles quantum computing, Q-Day, and the growing anxiety around encryption, separating genuine long-term risk from headline-driven panic. Alice offers a pragmatic, optimistic view: technology will evolve, but so will the countermeasures, provided organisations stay informed rather than paralysed. AI features prominently, both as an accelerator for attackers and as a productivity tool for defenders, marketers, and content creators. Across marketing, cybersecurity, and leadership, the group converge on a shared view: AI works best as a co-pilot, not a replacement for experience, judgement, or human connection. Throughout the episode, one theme consistently surfaces. Cybersecurity only becomes effective when it is made understandable, relatable, and embedded into culture. Or, as Alice puts it, humans may be the weakest link in cyber, but they are also the strongest defence. This is an essential listen for fintech leaders, CEOs, CISOs, marketers, and anyone navigating a world where digital trust is central to business survival.
