The Future of Security Operations

Brex's CISO Mark Hillick on avoiding tool bloat and learning from high-severity incidents

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Mark Hillick, CISO at Brex. Mark’s experience in the security industry spans more than two decades. He started out as a security engineer at Allied Irish Banks before advancing through companies like MongoDB to become Director and Head of Security at Riot Games. His book, The Security Path, features over 70 interviews with security professionals on their career journeys.
In this episode:
[02:06] His early career journey - from a mathematics background to building early online banking systems[03:32] What’s kept Mark excited about security for over two decades[04:40] The compound benefits of growing within a company over time[07:20] Mark’s leadership style - defined by transparency, directness, and genuine care for his teammates[12:45] Communicating the business trade-off between risk and return[16:45] Reflecting on the team’s response to major incidents at Riot Games[21:00] The unique challenges of securing gaming platforms[26:30] How Mark approaches strategy and planning in the fintech space[28:08] The case for building strong, partnership-driven vendor relationships[31:13] Creating space for creativity - without spreading the team too thin[34:35] Empowering his team to speak openly - even if it means calling him out[36:35] The inspiration behind Mark’s books Digital Safety for Parents and The Security Path[40:20] Connect with Mark
Where to find Mark:
LinkedIn
Brex
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn
Tines
Resources mentioned:
The Security Path - click here to redeem a free copy for podcast listeners (first come, first serve)
Digital Safety for Parents - click here to redeem a free copy for podcast listeners (first come, first serve)
Mark's talk during his time at Riot Games in 2016

Ofgem’s Mollie Chard on driving resilience through diverse hiring practices

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Mollie Chard. Mollie’s career spans 10+ years in technical SOC and leadership roles at organizations like the UK’s Met Office, Capgemini, and OVO. She’s recently accepted a new role as Head of Cyber Guidance & Monitoring at Ofgem, the UK’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. A passionate advocate for diversity, she’s also the Chief Advisor for Women in Cybersecurity UK and Ireland.
In this episode:
[02:00] Mollie’s journey from arts graduate to security leader
[04:00] Her previous role developing emerging security talent for CIS UK
[05:00] Tips and techniques for hiring diverse talent
[11:20] The problem with management being the default career path
[15:25] The biggest tech mistake that budget-strapped companies make
[19:23] Solving unique systems and operational technology challenges in the energy sector
[21:30] The ethical considerations and impact of AI for security and other industries
[27:30] Making space in boardroom discussions for diversity and how it can enhance resilience
[32:00] How to stay aligned when working with remote or dispersed team
[35:00] What Mollie thinks cybersecurity will look like in five years
[37:00] AI as a threat to human cognitive abilities within and beyond security
[42:40] Connect with Mollie
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the orchestration, automation, and AI platform that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. 
Where to find Mollie:
LinkedIn
Medium
Substack
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn
Tines
Resources mentioned:
Capslock Bootcamp
UK Department for Work and Pensions's Disability Confident employer scheme
More career growth tips from Mollie on the Trident Talks podcast

The Trade Desk's Joe McCallister on salary negotiation and leading without micromanaging

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Joe McCallister. Joe’s journey in security is truly unique - in less than a decade, he pivoted from selling BMWs to his current role as Senior Manager of Cybersecurity Operations at The Trade Desk. He’s also led impactful initiatives in risk management, threat hunting, and incident response at Synoptek.
In this episode:
[02:18] Transitioning from selling BMWs to leading a security team
[06:14] Moving from practitioner to manager and leaning into the role of the "communications guy"
[09:52] Balancing security team priorities with company goals
[11:40] The threats that keep Joe up at night
[14:06] How The Trade Desk's rapid growth has affected day-to-day operations
[16:10] Ensuring security stays top of mind for other business units
[19:32] Practical tips for strengthening collaboration with IT and other teams
[22:13] Joe’s approach to hiring and building a resilient team
[26:30] Enabling his incident response team to thrive, even when he's not there
[30:58] Joe’s top three leadership principles
[33:22] Tips for salary negotiation, both as a practitioner and a manager
[39:58] Navigating imposter syndrome and anxiety
[42:37] How AI is fueling Joe’s optimism for the future of SecOps
[44:29] Connect with Joe
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the orchestration, automation, and AI platform that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. 
Where to find Joe:
LinkedIn
Rocky Mountain Information Security Conference (May 28 - 30, 2025)
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn
Tines
Resources mentioned:
Colorado=Security Annual Salary Surveys & Resources

LastPass's Christofer Hoff on navigating incidents while rebuilding the security org from scratch

The Future of Security Operations podcast is back for a sixth season, and, to kick it off, Thomas is joined by Christofer Hoff.
Christofer has over 30 years of experience in network and information security architecture, development, engineering, operations, and management, including security leadership roles at Bank of America, Citadel, and Juniper Networks. He’s currently Chief Secure Technology Officer at LastPass, a unique role that combines the duties of CSO and CTO, while also serving on the board at FIDO Alliance.
In this episode:
[02:00] How blogging landed Christofer his first couple of jobs in security
[06:50] Taking a more holistic approach to security through collaboration
[09:40] Rebuilding LastPass's security org from scratch
[12:03] Reflecting on incidents - what LastPass did right
[16:12] Communicating with customers and the broader community during incidents
[20:15] Navigating tech debt as a security leader
[23:55] The biggest challenges AI has produced for his team
[25:16] How LastPass uses an AI working group for decision-making
[29:00] The evolving challenges of browser security
[35:05] Passkeys, passwords and the future of secure authentication
[41:40] Tips on hiring and structuring effective security teams
[46:47] How LastPass creates efficiency through automation
[50:38] The biggest changes he'd like to see in security
[54:44] Connect with Chris
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the orchestration, automation, and AI platform that powers some of the world’s most important workflows.
Where to find Christofer Hoff:
LinkedIn
Chris's Rational Survivability blog
Where to find Thomas Kinsella:
LinkedIn
Tines
Resources mentioned:
Chris on Google’s Cloud Security Podcast
LastPass Security Incident Summary

Afni's Brent Deterding on deploying MFA for 10,000 employees and becoming "the Happy CISO"

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Brent Deterding. Brent has over 25 years of experience in security, both on the vendor side and now as a security leader. He spent a big part of his career with cloud-native security analytics platform SecureWorks, and he’s currently the CISO of Afni, a global provider of contact center solutions in the U.S., Philippines, and Mexico.
Brent and Thomas discuss:
- His unconventional path to becoming a CISO
- Building a security team with zero attrition
- Removing the burden of stress in incident response
- Strategies for risk prioritization
- Facing off against cybercriminal group Scattered Spider
- Why prioritization and leadership are among security's biggest challenges
- Being dubbed "the happy CISO" after reporting high levels of job satisfaction
- Brent's four security non-negotiables
- The right way to approach CISOs as a security vendor
- Measuring success when you're metrics-averse
- What the SOC will - and should - look like in five years
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Brent Deterding:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-deterding/
Afni: https://www.afni.com/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
How to connect with me as a vendor by Brent Deterding on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7146566282128076800/
In this episode:
[01:56] Brent's unconventional path to becoming a CISO
[04:10] Finding the right fit at Afni
[06:09] Separating his identity from his job and removing the burden of stress
[10:22] Why Brent sees risk prioritization and leadership as security's biggest challenges
[13:02] Brent's first steps as CISO at Afni including deploying MFA across 10,000 employees
[16:29] Going up against threat group Scattered Spider
[17:43] Brent's custom risk frameworks
[23:03] Measuring success as someone who's metrics-averse
[26:19] How Brent developed his unique leadership style
[29:13] Supporting his team to do their best work
[31:55] Brent's tips for security vendors
[36:07] Using AI for resilience and protection
[39:20] What security could and should look like in five years
[42:53] Connect with Brent

Ask Sage's Nicolas Chaillan on moving the DOD to zero trust and deploying Kubernetes in space

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Nicolas Chaillan. Nicolas is a security leader who has held several high-profile roles in US federal agencies including Chief Software Officer for the US Air Force and Space Force, Special Advisor for Cloud Security and DevSecOps at the Department of Defense (DOD), and Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Chief Architect for Cyber.gov at the Department of Homeland Security. He is also the founder of no less than 13 companies, including Ask Sage, a GPT-powered platform that brings Generative AI capabilities to government teams.
Nicolas and Thomas discuss:
- Building the US government's first zero trust implementation
- Putting Kubernetes on jets and space systems
- The challenges of bringing new technologies to the federal government
- How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
- The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
- How cross-team collaboration helped him create meaningful change at the DOD
- The future of AI in security
- The inspiration behind his AI-powered platform, Ask Sage
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Nicolas Chaillan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaschaillan/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NicolasChaillan
Nic's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7jKHaxWS8W_4rcKGg7X9w
Ask Sage: https://www.asksage.ai/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
Making An Impact: Nicolas Chaillan, CEO Magazine: https://www.theceomagazine.com/executive-interviews/government-defence/nicolas-chaillan/
In this episode:
[02:20] Becoming a self-taught coder at 7 and founding his first company at 15
[05:02] Shipping 187+ technology products as a founder, in verticals as varied as healthcare, retail and banking
[07:08] The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
[08:40] His latest product, generative AI platform Ask Sage
[11:30] The challenges of bringing a new product to the US government
[13:45] Building the first zero trust implementation in the government as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security
[15:20] Advocating for new technologies at federal agencies
[19:40] Deploying Kubernetes on 50-year-old hardware on the F16 jet at the Department of Defense
[22:02] Dealing with pushback and internal resistance to change
[24:50] Recruiting internal help to establish force-wide DevSecOps at the DOD
[29:00] Becoming Federal Chief Technology Officer at Qualys
[30:30] Reflecting on the changes he implemented while working for the US government
[33:12] Deciding which companies to work with as an advisory board member
[36:40] How the threat landscape will continue to evolve for US federal agencies
[40:50] TikTok as a channel for misinformation and national security weapon
[44:18] Nicolas' predictions for the future of security
[47: 10] Connect with Nicolas

The NFL's George Griesler on securing the Super Bowl and reducing risk through collaboration

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by George Griesler. George has been working in cybersecurity since 1997, when he assumed the role of Senior Network administrator at the United States Golf Association (USGA), eventually advancing to Director of Information Security. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Cybersecurity at the National Football League (NFL), where he works to secure events like the Super Bowl, which in 2024 was the most-watched telecast ever.
George and Thomas discuss:
- What security operations looked like in 1997
- Protecting the secrets of regulation golf equipment at the USGA
- The shift in security and privacy needs at live sports events
- Securing scents, flavors, and other chemical formulations at IFF
- Preparing for Super Bowl LXXVIII in the wake of the MGM Resorts cyber attack
- The Super Bowl threat profile, from scoreboard hacking to stadium credentials
- Collaborating with cybersecurity experts from CISA, the FBI, Caesars Palace, and the MGM Grand.
- Aligning security operations with physical security
- The reality of working on high-pressure events
- The benefits of knowledge sharing with other teams working on live sports events
- The importance of relationship building across internal security teams:
- The potential of automation, orchestration, and AI in incident response
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find George Griesler:
NFL: https://www.nfl.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgegriesler/
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
A Cyberattack Shuts Down MGM Resorts In Las Vegas And Other Cities: https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2023/09/12/a-cyberattack-mgm-resorts-las-vegas/?sh=c1b5096505c0
The 1,000-ton screen bringing Super Bowl LVI to the lucky fans inside the stadium: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/sport/super-bowl-lvi-samsung-infinity-screen-sofi-stadium-tech-spc-intl/index.html
In this episode:
[01:50] What infrastructure management and incident response looked like in 1997
[03:30] His projects at the United States Golf Association (USGA), including securing a golf handicap information network
[06:05] Witnessing the digital transformation of live sports events
[08:40] Securing flavors, scents and other chemical formulations at IFF
[13:20] Building a threat model for large OT environments
[15:30] Increasing security awareness and culture across the organization
[17:45] Moving to the NFL
[21:20] How George's team prepare for the Super Bowl
[24:10] Partnering with cybersecurity experts at CISA, the FBI, and local partners in Las Vegas like Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand.
[27:00] The Super Bowl's threat profile, from scoreboard hacking to stadium credentials to online identities of individual players
[29:20] Inside the NFL's Super Bowl command centre
[30:40] Ensuring the team is supported to handle high-pressure events
[32:55] Knowledge sharing with security teams on other live sports events, from The Olympics to the World Cup
[37:00] Reducing risk through collaboration across the security team
[38:35] AI as a defender tool and attacker tool
[41:50] The future of the SOC
[43:15] Connect with George

Barracuda's Adam Khan on AI-driven XDR and plugging the cybersecurity skills gap

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Adam Khan. Adam is a cybersecurity and technology leader with over 25 years of experience working at Fortune 500 companies. He has a proven track record of building and managing global security teams, leading engineering, infrastructure, application, and product, and is currently VP of Global Security Operations at Barracuda.
Adam and Thomas discuss:
- Building discipline and resilience by working on SRE teams
- How a well-known DDoS attack changed his career path
- Using automation to reduce alert fatigue
- Strategies for plugging the security skills gap
- The potential of AI-driven XDR
- How cyber attacks are evolving in the age of AI
- Lessons learned from researching the history of cybersecurity
- Empowering teams to do their best work
- Creating a culture of continuous learning
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Adam Khan:
Adam's website: https://www.adamkhancyber.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkhan-cyber/
Barracuda: https://www.barracudamsp.com/ and sales@barracudamsp.com
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
Resources mentioned:
2023 Global Cyber Threat Report by Adam Khan: https://www.adamkhancyber.com/post/2023-global-cyber-threat-report
Adam's five-part cybersecurity history series on smartermsp.com: https://smartermsp.com/author/akhan/
DarkReading: https://www.darkreading.com/
BleepingComputer: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
In this episode:
[02:10] Switching from site reliability engineering (SRE) to SecOps
[03:40] How the DDoS attack on Amazon, eBay and Priceline in 2008 piqued his interest in security
[04:37] Building discipline and resilience by working on SRE teams
[09:05] Navigating Barracuda's acquisition of SKOUT
[10:22] How growing companies can benefit from a external XDR platform
[11:50] Prioritizing the alerts that matter most to customers
[13:03] Using automation to enrich threat intelligence and root out false positives
[14:50] The potential of AI-driven XDR
[16:40] How cyber attacks have evolved as adversaries use AI tools like FraudGPT and WormGPT
[19:30] Adam's three key takeaways from researching the history of cybersecurity
[23:20] Strategies for tackling the talent shortage
[25:15] Empowering teams to do their best work
[28:10] How Adam stay on top of the latest security trends
[31:35] The importance of making mistakes
[32:20] Promoting a culture of blameless incident reviews
[34:40] Predictions for the future
[35:50] Connect with Adam

Reddit’s Matt Johansen on renouncing superhero culture and what comes next after “shift left”

In this week’s episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Matt Johansen. Matt is a security veteran who has helped defend startups, the biggest financial companies in the world, and everything in between. Alongside his day job as Head of Software Security at Reddit, he teaches companies how to protect against cyber attacks, and coaches entrepreneurs and CISOs that need help with infrastructure, application, cloud, and security policies. He also writes Vulnerable U, a weekly newsletter that talks about embracing the power of vulnerability for growth.
Thomas and Matt discuss:
- Moving from a large security team at Bank of America to a small one at Reddit
- Embracing scrappiness and doing more with less
- Overcoming sunk-cost fallacy
- Why the 2014 Sony hack was a pivotal time for AppSec
- Running the threat research centre at White Hat
- What he looks for when hiring in AppSec, the SOC and beyond
- His decision to start creating content about mental health in security
- Moving past imposter syndrome
- Renouncing superhero culture
- Paved paths and guardrails, and what comes next after "shift left"
- Lessons learned from Reddit's 2023 security incident
- The power of automating incident response
 
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
 
Where to find Matt Johansen:
Vulnerable U newsletter: https://vulnu.mattjay.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattjay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjohansen/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vulnerable_matt
Reddit: https://www.redditinc.com/
mattjay.com: https://www.mattjay.com
 
 
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Tines: https://www.tines.com/
 
Resources mentioned:
The Tech Professional's Guide to Mindfulness by Matt Johansen: https://www.mattjay.com/blog/the-tech-professionals-guide-to-mindfulness
Matt's piece on developer experience in the Vulnerable U newsletter: https://vulnu.mattjay.com/p/vulnu-003-courage-quit
Reddit's post on a February 2023 incident: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/10y427y/we_had_a_security_incident_heres_what_we_know/
Collaborative Incident Response Best Practices: Don't Rely on Superheroes by Matt Johansen: https://www.mattjay.com/blog/superhero-incident-response
Threat modeling depression by Matt Johansen: https://www.mattjay.com/blog/threat-model-depression
 
In this episode:
[02:14] Going from long-time Reddit user to employee
[04:50] Running AppSec at Reddit
[07:30] Being the internet's punching bag and boxing gloves
[10:30] Building a team from scratch at White Hat and lessons learned from the 2014 Sony hack
[15:10] Matt's approach to hiring
[21:15] His decision to create content about mental health in security
[23:20] Turning his Twitter network into his IRL network
[27:55] Moving past imposter syndrome
[30:00] Tools for safeguarding your mental health in incident response
[36:20] Preserving work-life balance for his teams at Reddit
[39:15] Moving past "shift left", and paved path to production and guardrails
[47:40] Lessons learned from a February 2023 incident at Reddit
[51:20] Renouncing superhero culture
[52:20] Automating incident response
[54:12] Connect with Matt
 

Twilio's Prima Virani on democratizing security and tackling burnout through automation

This week on The Future of Security Operations podcast, Thomas is joined by Prima Virani. Prima is a security engineer who worked across industries as varied as oil and gas and Fintech before becoming Principal Security Engineer at Twilio. With over a decade of experience spanning infrastructure security engineering, incident detection and response, and forensics, she's also shared insights at countless security conferences around the world, including SecTOR Canada and Agile India.
In this episode, Prima and Thomas discuss:
- The unique challenges of working in forensics
- Her transition to detection and response and cloud security
- Building a security detection framework at Segment
- Reducing mean time to resolve through automation
- Using data to prioritize which processes should be automated
- Merging teams and technologies when Segment was acquired by Twilio
- Joining the securing platform engineering team at Twilio
- Designing a challenging and varied career in security
- The influence of mentorship on career growth
- Democratizing security through knowledge sharing
- How security will change in the next five years
The Future of Security Operations is brought to you by Tines, the smart, secure workflow builder that powers some of the world’s most important workflows. https://www.tines.com/solutions/security
Where to find Prima Virani: 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/secnerdette?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/primavirani/
Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/en-us
Where to find Thomas Kinsella: 
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thomasksec
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kinsella/
Resources mentioned:
Hosting Fleet on AWS EKS by Prima Virani: https://segment.com/blog/hosting-fleetdm-on-aws-eks/
Fleet Device Management: https://fleetdm.com/
In this episode:
[02:22] Prima's introduction to cybersecurity career opportunities as a teenager
[06:30] The shift from forensics to detection and response
[09:15] Gaining experience in vulnerability and patch management, and network security
[14:15] Building a security detection framework at Segment using SOCless
[18:10] Using automation to reduce alert noise and improve response times
[20:30] The impact of automation on security team burnout
[22:50] Merging security teams, practices and technologies during Twilio's acquisition of Segment
[25:30] Moving to the securing platform engineering team at Twilio
[27:40] Growing her knowledge of AWS, Kubernetes and GCP
[32:40] Prima's plans to embrace machine learning in detection engineering
[34:20] The importance of mentorship and knowledge sharing in career growth
[37:30] Prima's all-time favorite projects, including hosting FleetDM on AWS EKS
[39:36] The future of security operations through Prima's eyes
[42:01] Prima's advice for security practitioners
[43:58] Connect with Prima