Why the U.S. Locked Down Fable and Mythos: AI, National Security, and the Workforce Squeeze
The U.S. just barred foreign nationals from accessing two advanced AI models — Fable and Mythos — citing national security. Around the same time, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance warned that AI-enabled cyberattacks are "months, not years" away. In Season 5 of ShipTalk, host Adam and co-host Martin dig into whether that warning is already overdue — and what it means for the people actually defending software.They're joined by Assaf, a longtime security leader (and Adam's former boss) and author of Lessons from the Front Line: Insights from a Cybersecurity Career. The conversation moves from the headlines to the harder truth underneath them: AI adoption is climbing, yet more than half of security and IT workers are considering leaving their jobs — burned out, under-resourced, and worried AI is coming for their roles. Assaf's take is contrarian and sharp: the real failure isn't AI, it's leadership translation and a training pipeline we're quietly demolishing. As Adam puts it, "this is not a security problem, it's an engineering problem."A candid, news-driven look at AI, national security, and the security workforce squeeze — and a surprisingly optimistic read on where it all goes next.Listen on: Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTubeTimestamps:00:00 Cold Open: AI Cyberattacks Aren't Months Away — "We're Already There"00:53 Welcome to ShipTalk: Today's Two Headlines01:35 Are We Already Using AI Without Realizing It?02:41 Five Eyes Warns AI Cyberattacks Are "Months, Not Years" Away04:31 Harness by the Numbers: Half of Security Pros Want to Quit05:25 Meet the Guest: Assaf Keren (ex-PayPal & Qualtrics CSO)06:14 "Secure by Design, But For Real This Time"08:46 The ISSA Survey: Why Security Jobs Keep Getting Harder10:01 The "Triple Whammy" Burning Out Security Teams11:49 Have We Been Here Before? Cloud & the Changing SOC Role13:32 The Contrarian Take: AI Could Make Security Better15:41 The Real Failure: We're Demolishing the Training Pipeline18:41 Weak Leadership, or a Security Translation Problem?22:05 Trust: The CISO's Real Business Function23:20 What Teams Get Wrong About AI + Software Delivery24:37 Debrief: Adam & Martin's Takeaways26:31 Wrap-Up: Stop Talking, Start Shipping
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