In this episode of TechnologIST Talks, IST CEO Philip Reiner is joined by Dr. Margaret Mitchell, a computer scientist and researcher focused on machine learning and ethics informed AI development. She currently serves as Chief Ethics Scientist at Hugging Face, where she studies ML data processing, responsible AI development, and AI ethics. In her previous role at Google, she founded and co-led Google's Ethical AI group, which seeks to advance foundational AI ethics research and operationalize AI ethics internally at Google. With Hugging Face, Margaret helps to contribute to IST’s AI Risk Reduction Initiative Working Group work developing technical- and policy-oriented risk mitigation strategies associated with AI foundation models.

Philip and Margaret sat down to discuss agentic, autonomous, and transparent models – and the pathway to truly secure AI.

“I think that we can do a lot of really great work with AI by having rigorous data curation that corresponds to specific kinds of use cases, and building models based on that,” Margaret said.

What’s the current state of AI agents in the marketplace? How autonomous are so-called autonomous models? And once you’ve identified a model’s vulnerabilities, how do you go about protecting against unauthorized actions? Join us for this and more on this episode of TechnologIST Talks.

Learn more about IST: https://securityandtechnology.org/

On January 16, 2025, the Biden administration released the capstone Executive Order “Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity.” In this bonus episode of TechnologIST Talks, Chief Strategy Officer Megan Stifel and Chief Trust Officer Steve Kelly are joined by Carole House, Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Policy at the National Security Council and a member of the office responsible for leading the drafting of the EO. Megan, Steve, and Carole walk through the main components of the order, talking about its implications for federal systems security, quantum, efforts to tackle cybercrime and fraud, and more.

“Software is such a prevalent root cause of so many of the supply chain attacks that we’re seeing and that have been occurring. It’s the next step of evolution. We are requiring software vendors to provide verifiable attestations of those software practices,” Carole said.

What prompted the drafting and release of this Executive Order? How does the EO address ransomware? And what should government–and industry–take away from its provisions? Join us for this and more on this episode of TechnologIST Talks.

Learn more about IST:

https://securityandtechnology.org/

In this special episode of TechnologIST Talks centered on the implications of AI in cybersecurity, IST CEO Philip Reiner is joined by Heather Adkins, a 22-year Google veteran and founding member of the Google Security Team. As VP of Security Engineering, she built the global team responsible for maintaining the safety and security of Google’s networks, systems, and applications. Heather is also a member of IST Ransomware Task Force Steering Committee, where she provides support, guidance, and oversight on ongoing RTF lines of effort. Philip and Heather sat down to discuss the implications of AI on the offense-defense balance.

“There are no rules, and no amount of laws and regulations that we put in place are ever going to impact how they use it,” Heather said.

How did Heather get started at Google? What did the threat landscape look like in 2002, and how has it changed over the course of her tenure? Join us for this and more on this episode of TechnologIST Talks.

Learn more about IST: https://securityandtechnology.org/

00:00 Introduction to Technologist Talks

01:10 Meet Heather Adkins: Google Security Veteran

01:55 AI and Cybersecurity: Offense vs Defense

04:06 The Evolution of Cyber Threats

12:10 AI's Role in Cybersecurity Operations

16:38 Challenges and Future of AI in Cybersecurity

38:06 Public-Private Collaboration in AI

40:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts