and investors shape the future of AI across six verticals.
AI Insiders: Cybersecurity
Acceleration Amid Turbulence.
The AI buildout is moving at full speed. Markets are volatile. Exploit timelines have collapsed to zero. And security for AI clocked in at just 2.6% of total cyber funding in 2025.
This invite-only salon brings together 150 security leaders, AI founders, and investors to confront what's real, what's hype, and where the next wave of cyber defense is actually heading.
AI Insiders is not a conference. It's a vertical intelligence network. Each edition is laser-focused on one sector. This one: Cybersecurity.
Why This Day Matters
Everyone is talking about AI threats. But the real questions are harder:
If time-to-exploit is now zero, what does your vulnerability management strategy work at all?
AI is reshaping identity, access, and trust at every layer. What's the framework for accountability at the boundaries where human agency ends and AI agency begins?
Security for AI captured just 2.6% of cyber investment funding last year. Where is the money actually going, and where should it be going?
The industry is moving fast under pressure. What needs to accelerate, and what needs to cool down?
If you're building, buying, funding, or defending AI systems, this is the room where those answers take shape.
Agenda
2:00 PM - Arrival & Networking Curated matchmaking, craft drinks, and light bites.
2:30 PM - Opening Remarks
Julie Tsai, Bhavya Gupta, Sharat Ganesh, Merve Isler (Marvelous).
2:40 PM - Keynote: Paul Calatayud.
Acceleration amid Turbulence. The AI buildout, the security gap, and what leaders need to do now.
3:00 PM - Intelligence Briefing: The AI Threat Landscape
Yair Saban (AIR Security). What organizations must do right now to stay ahead.
3:15 PM - Panel 1: "Where the Money Is"
Moderated by Caleb Sima.
Featuring: Matan Lamdan (Striker Venture Partners), Niv Hoffman (AIR Security), Brooke Motta (RAD Security), David Hahn (Ballistic Ventures)
3:55 PM - Panel 2: "Is Your Agent Human?"
Moderated by Sharat Ganesh (WitnessAI). Featuring Ian Ahl (Permiso Security), Emil Larson (AIUC), Mahesh Lambe (Project NANDA (MIT)), Daniel Miessler (Unsupervised Learning)
4:35 PM - Fireside: "Leading for Security and Privacy through Uncertainty"
Michelle Dennedy, Julie Tsai, Bhavya Gupta.
5:05 PM - Startup Showcase
A Top 6 CyberSecurity x AI startups. 5 minutes each. Rapid-fire demos to 150 fintech decision-makers. https://aiinsiders.us/showcase
CodeZero - Reed Clayton
ResembleAI - Saqib Muhammad
Aira Security - Mohan Kumar
Zania - Shruti Gupta
VulNow - Cassie Crossley
Dash Security - Amol Mathur
5:35 PM - Closing Remarks
6:00 - 7:30 PM - Networking Reception
Drinks and conversation continue in the Chorus Theater lobby.
8:00 - 10:00 PM - [Limited Capacity] VIP Speakeasy by AIR (speakers, partners, and select guests only)
An intimate evening with the people who shaped the conversation. By invitation only.
Speaker Highlights
Paul Calatayud (CircleRock Capital) is Partner at CircleRock Capital and one of the most decorated security executives in the industry, having served as Chief Information Security Officer five times across Palo Alto Networks, UnitedHealth Group, and Aqua Security. A practitioner-turned-investor, he brings rare operational depth to the intersection of AI and enterprise security, making him one of the most credible voices on where the market is heading and why.
Michelle Dennedy is a pioneering author and AI ethics leader whose work has shaped the global conversation on data privacy, governance, and responsible AI deployment. A former Chief Privacy Officer at Cisco, Sun Microsystems, and Juniper Networks, she co-authored The Privacy Engineer's Manifesto and has spent decades helping organizations build systems that earn trust at scale.
Caleb Sima (WhiteRabbit Ventures) is a Founding General Partner at WhiteRabbit Ventures and a serial entrepreneur with deep roots in offensive and applied security. A former Chief Security Officer and founder of multiple security companies, he brings a builder's instinct and operator's lens to the challenge of securing AI systems and agentic infrastructure.
Matan Lamdan (Striker) is a venture capital investor at Striker focused on the emerging AI security landscape. He brings a sharp investment thesis around the tools and platforms needed to defend AI-native systems as attack surfaces evolve faster than traditional frameworks can adapt.
Niv Hoffman (Air) was Co-Founder and CTO of MOAK — Mother of All KEVs — a company building the comprehensive known exploited vulnerabilities intelligence layer for the AI era. With deep technical expertise in vulnerability research and exploit intelligence, he is redefining what it means to track and operationalize threat data at machine speed.
Ian Ahl (Permiso) is Chief Technology Officer at Permiso, a cloud identity security company built to detect and respond to identity-based attacks across hybrid environments. A former threat intelligence leader and applied security researcher, he brings hands-on expertise in adversary tactics and identity threat detection to the conversation about AI-driven attacker behavior.
Emil Bender Lassen (AIUC-1) is Standards Lead at AIUC-1, where he is working to establish the first comprehensive standards framework for AI use cases in critical infrastructure. With a background spanning policy, compliance, and technical architecture, he is helping shape the governance rails that will determine how AI is evaluated, certified, and trusted in high-stakes environments.
Brooke Motta (CEO / RAD Security) is a dynamic leader in the cybersecurity industry who has scaled companies from seed to IPO. Brooke recognized the exponential growth in Kubernetes adoption as an opportunity to provide real-time security products as enterprise teams look to scale. Her decades of skilled leadership include executive positions at Sonatype, Wallarm, Bugcrowd and Rapid7.
Mahesh Lambe, Project NANDA (MIT) is a research initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology focused on Networked Agents and Decentralized Architecture — building the foundational protocols and trust frameworks for multi-agent AI systems. The project addresses core questions around how autonomous agents communicate, coordinate, and operate safely across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries.
Daniel Miessler (Unsupervised Learning) is the Founder of Unsupervised Learning and a cybersecurity veteran of more than 25 years, having led security and risk programs at Robinhood, Apple, and the OWASP Foundation before turning his focus to the intersection of AI and security. His newsletter and podcast now reach over 700,000 followers, making him one of the most recognized independent voices in cybersecurity and AI — and one of the sharpest on where the two are converging.
David Hahn (Ballistic Ventures) is CISO Operating Partner at Ballistic Ventures and a five-time security leader across some of the most demanding industries, having served as VP & CISO of Hearst, Chief Security Officer of Silicon Valley Bank, and Group Information Security Officer at Wells Fargo, plus leadership roles at Intuit and CDK Global. A practitioner-turned-investor, he brings a rare buyer's-seat perspective to advising Ballistic's portfolio and connecting the CISO community, making him a grounded voice on what security leaders actually need.
Air is a leading AI security company bringing cutting-edge expertise to the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Their leadership will deliver a keynote on the evolving threat landscape and what organizations must do to secure AI-native environments.
Who's in the Room
50% CISOs & security leads: budget holders and frontline operators making the decisions in Fortune 500 and high-growth companies
30% Founders & operators: builders shipping AI-native defense, identity, and infrastructure tools
10% Investors: enough capital in the room to spark deals, not enough to turn the night into a pitchfest
10% Media & analysts: narrative makers who amplify signal and cohere the story while keeping privileged conversation off the record
Access
Private, invite-only. Request waitlist access; every name is vetted for trust and impact.
Learn more: https://aiinsiders.us
Sponsorship: https://aiinsiders.us/partnerships
Past Partners: AWS, Silicon Valley Bank, Swissnex, Verizon Innovation Lab
Past media coverage: Reuters, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, Morningstar
Past speakers and partners from: a16z, Greylock, Menlo Ventures, Ballistic Ventures, Rain Capital, CRV, FBI, Stanford, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, DeepMind, and more.
Past events: https://lu.ma/agenticai | https://lu.ma/csecurity
Attendance & Registration
Limited to 150 curated attendees
Government ID or passport required for entry
Must be registered and approved
Venue policies apply
Code of Conduct: All speakers and guests are expected to engage respectfully and professionally.
Explore our vision further at: https://aiinsiders.us
and investors shape the future of AI across six verticals.