Yotam Segev

The Dual-Edged Sword of Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence has transitioned from a niche technical capability to a central pillar of global commerce. In the shadowy world of cybersecurity, this shift represents both a formidable defense mechanism and a terrifyingly efficient weapon. Yotam Segev, CEO of Cyera, characterizes AI as the ultimate catalyst for the next decade of geopolitical and corporate risk. While neural networks can identify anomalies at a speed humans cannot match, they simultaneously lower the barrier to entry for threat actors. Unskilled attackers now use generative tools to scale sophisticated, personalized phishing campaigns and automated exploits that once required state-level resources. The stakes are no longer just about digital hygiene; they are about the fundamental integrity of nations and multinational corporations. The Realities of Enterprise Adoption Despite the hyper-saturated marketing surrounding AI at global forums like Davos, the actual integration of AI within large enterprises remains in its infancy. Corporate structures are built for stability, not the frantic pace of consumer tech. While an individual might switch from Google to ChatGPT overnight, an enterprise requires years to navigate the regulatory, technical, and operational friction of a platform shift. This disconnect creates a dangerous vacuum. Security practitioners often find themselves defending against 'shadow AI'—employees who sneak unmonitored tools through the back door to increase productivity, inadvertently granting overprivileged access to sensitive corporate data. Data as the Proprietary Edge The modern economy runs on two engines: compute power, dominated by firms like NVIDIA, and proprietary data. For legacy enterprises, their specific data—customer behaviors, market insights, and internal intellectual property—is their only real competitive advantage against AI-native startups. If these organizations cannot securely harness this data, they are essentially fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. The challenge lies in classification. Human analysts cannot manually tag petabytes of documents to determine what is sensitive. Cyera addresses this by utilizing AI-native engines to perform automated classification at scale, essentially using the technology to protect the very resource the technology craves: data. Risk Mitigation in the Age of Constant Breach Cybersecurity is not a binary state of 'safe' or 'unsafe' but a continuous exercise in risk reduction. Defenders build layered architectures—similar to physical military defenses—designed to contain the impact of an inevitable breach. A security failure that results in a 'bad weekend' is a managed risk; a failure that leads to a 'bad year' via the leak of a total customer database is an existential crisis. As market valuations for firms like Wiz skyrocket and the broader industry approaches market caps exceeding $140 billion, it is clear that the global economy views security not as a cost center, but as a critical infrastructure requirement. The goal for leaders like Segev is clear: maintain the resilience of the gate as the barbarians outside get smarter, faster, and more automated.