Techsplainers by IBM

IBM

Introducing the Techsplainers by IBM podcast, your new podcast for quick, powerful takes on today’s most important AI and tech topics. Each episode brings you bite-sized learning designed to fit your day, whether you’re driving, exercising, or just curious for something new. This is just the beginning. Tune in every weekday at 6 AM ET for fresh insights, new voices, and smarter learning. Visit podcast page: https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainers

  1. What is security lifecycle management?

    1d ago

    What is security lifecycle management?

    This episode of Techsplainers explores security lifecycle management as the overarching framework for managing nonhuman identities, credentials, services and devices across their full lifespan. Framed as the culmination of a broader series on machine identities and credential security, it shows how security lifecycle management brings together identity management, secrets management, certificate controls and secure networking into a more unified approach. The episode explains how security lifecycle management helps centralize and automate critical security functions such as onboarding and deprovisioning identities, assigning and adjusting permissions, rotating credentials, securing privileged secrets in vaults, scanning for exposed credentials and enabling secure service-to-service communication. It also examines how these capabilities support zero trust, least privilege and stronger visibility across dynamic environments shaped by DevOps, cloud-native infrastructure and ephemeral workloads. Listeners will also learn why fragmented app ecosystems, unmanaged secrets and inconsistent access controls create growing security gaps, and how security lifecycle management can help reduce identity-based attack risk without slowing down innovation or automated delivery pipelines. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/security-lifecycle-management Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Alice Gomstyn

    12 min
  2. What is certificate lifecycle management?

    2d ago

    What is certificate lifecycle management?

    This episode of Techsplainers explores certificate lifecycle management, the formal process of managing and securing digital certificates from discovery and issuance to monitoring, renewal, revocation and disposal. It explains how certificates work within public key infrastructure to authenticate nonhuman identities such as websites, servers, applications, devices and AI agents, and why they are becoming increasingly important as machine identities multiply across cloud, DevOps and AI-driven environments. The episode walks through what digital certificates contain, how certificate authorities issue them and the major certificate types organizations commonly use, including TLS or SSL, email and code-signing certificates. It also breaks down each stage of the certificate lifecycle and shows why certificate expiration is both a security feature and an operational challenge. Listeners will learn how certificate lifecycle management tools help automate discovery, create certificate inventories, support renewals and reduce the risk of outages, fraud and misuse. The discussion also highlights why CLM matters for observability, compliance and future cryptographic transitions, including preparation for post-quantum security standards. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/certificate-lifecycle-management Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Alice Gomstyn

    14 min
  3. What is secrets management?

    3d ago

    What is secrets management?

    This episode of Techsplainers explores secrets management, the practice of protecting credentials used by nonhuman identities such as applications, servers, containers, pipelines, bots and AI agents. It explains what counts as a secret, from API keys and service account credentials to SSH keys, certificates and tokens, why these credentials have become such valuable targets for attackers. The episode examines how secrets management supports DevOps and DevSecOps by helping organizations securely store, control, rotate and monitor sensitive credentials throughout their lifecycle. It also breaks down core capabilities such as centralized secrets vaults, dynamic secret creation, automated rotation, access controls, zero trust verification and audit logging. Listeners are guided through common best practices, including separating secrets by environment, avoiding hardcoded credentials, enforcing least privilege and continuously monitoring access events. Learn how strong secrets management helps organizations reduce risk while keeping modern automated systems running securely and efficiently. Find more information at: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/secrets-management Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Alice Gomstyn

    12 min
  4. A guide to agentic AI security

    4d ago

    A guide to agentic AI security

    This episode of Techsplainers explores why AI agents require a different security mindset than other nonhuman identities. Agentic AI behaves less like traditional software and more like a digital insider capable of making decisions, calling tools and taking action across systems. The episode walks through four practical security principles organizations can apply today. It explains why human oversight remains essential, how containment strategies such as sandboxing and least privilege can reduce risk, why the full machine learning lifecycle must be secured against threats like data poisoning, and how the action layer introduces new concerns around APIs, function calls and prompt injection. Along the way, the discussion connects benefits, risks and real-world governance considerations, helping listeners understand why trust in AI agents depends not just on model quality, but on access controls, monitoring and carefully designed operational guardrails. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/agentic-ai-security Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Alice Gomstyn

    9 min
  5. What is machine identity management?

    5d ago

    What is machine identity management?

    This episode of  Techsplainers introduces machine identity management, the practice of issuing, rotating and revoking the credentials that devices use to authenticate and communicate securely. It explains why machine identities have become a major cybersecurity priority as cloud adoption, SaaS, distributed systems, IoT devices and AI-driven automation continue to expand the number of nonhuman identities in enterprise environments. The episode clarifies the difference between machine identities and broader nonhuman identities, then walks through the most common machine identity risks, including visibility gaps, excessive permissions, credential theft, supply chain exposure and incorrect offboarding. It also explores the major credential types organizations manage, from TLS certificates and SSH keys to workload and IoT device certificates. Listeners are guided through the machine identity lifecycle, including discovery, issuance, rotation, renewal, revocation and deprovisioning, along with the technologies that support these processes, such as PKI, certificate lifecycle management, secrets management, PAM and HSMs. The episode also examines how machine identity management differs from traditional IAM and highlights its benefits for zero trust, compliance, uptime and security at scale. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/machine-identity-management Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Alice Gomstyn

    12 min
  6. What is AI in the supply chain?

    Jun 18

    What is AI in the supply chain?

    This episode of Techsplainers explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping the modern supply chain, from planning and procurement to logistics, inventory and shipment readiness. As the fourth episode in a week focused on supply chain operations and management, it introduces AI in the supply chain as a fresh lens for business leaders looking to improve resilience, visibility and efficiency. The episode explains how AI and machine learning process large volumes of supply chain data to support faster, more informed decisions. It walks through practical applications including route optimization, inventory tracking, procurement support, workflow automation and AI agents that can work across multiple business functions. It also examines how AI contributes to lower operating costs, real-time decision-making, reduced waste, better sustainability outcomes and stronger shipment performance. At the same time, the discussion addresses the real challenges of implementation, including startup costs, employee training, system complexity and risks related to bias, overreliance, privacy and security. The episode concludes with a step-by-step look at how organizations can prepare their supply chains for AI adoption through planning, prioritization, employee readiness and continuous monitoring. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-supply-chain Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Mimi Sun Longo

    12 min
  7. What is Supply Chain analytics?

    Jun 17

    What is Supply Chain analytics?

    This episode of Techsplainers explores supply chain analytics and how organizations use data to make smarter, faster decisions across increasingly complex global operations. The episode explains how analytics brings together information from ERP systems, warehouses, transportation networks, suppliers, IoT devices and market signals to create a clearer picture of supply chain performance. In logical flow, the discussion breaks down how supply chain analytics helps teams understand what is happening, why it is happening and what might happen next. It covers the four major types of analytics—descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive—and shows how each supports better planning, risk management and operational efficiency. The episode also looks at how AI is expanding analytics capabilities through demand sensing, digital twins, natural language interfaces and automated decision-making. Real-world applications include demand forecasting, supplier risk monitoring, transportation optimization, warehouse efficiency, sustainability tracking and end-to-end visibility. Along the way, the episode highlights both the benefits of better forecasting and resilience and the challenge of maintaining strong data quality across fragmented systems. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/supply-chain-analytics-use-cases Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Mimi Sun Longo

    11 min
  8. What is Supply Chain Management?

    Jun 16

    What is Supply Chain Management?

    This episode of Techsplainers introduces supply chain management and explains why it has become one of the most important strategic functions in modern business. The episode follows the full journey of goods—from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, inventory management, delivery and returns—showing how supply chain management connects suppliers, operations, logistics and customer demand into one coordinated system. Along the way, it explores the core approaches organizations use to improve performance, including lean, agile, resilient, green and digital supply chain strategies. It also examines the real-world pressures shaping today’s supply chains, from global complexity and disruption risk to rising sustainability expectations and the need for greater visibility. The discussion highlights how technologies such as AI, machine learning, IoT and analytics are transforming supply chain operations through better forecasting, smarter inventory decisions, real-time tracking and faster response to change. It also looks at the role of supply chain managers and the software platforms that support modern operations, including ERP, WMS and TMS tools. Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/supply-chain-management Find more episodes https://www.ibm.biz/techsplainers-podcast Narrated by Mimi Sun Longo

    10 min
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About

Introducing the Techsplainers by IBM podcast, your new podcast for quick, powerful takes on today’s most important AI and tech topics. Each episode brings you bite-sized learning designed to fit your day, whether you’re driving, exercising, or just curious for something new. This is just the beginning. Tune in every weekday at 6 AM ET for fresh insights, new voices, and smarter learning. Visit podcast page: https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainers

Information

  • Creator
    IBM
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    151
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © ibm2026
  • Show Website
    Techsplainers by IBM

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