Griffin Payne on relationships, AI-augmented pen testing, and trust in cyber hiring.

Thomas chats with Griffin Payne on the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast about his career from help desk to senior security roles including IBM X-Force Red and Protiviti, and his current work as Principal Platform Engineer at Autonomous Cyber.

Griffin describes startup life while working from home with three kids and explains Autonomous Cyber’s approach to AI-enabled offensive security as an augmented, collaborative tool that boosts testers rather than a “set-and-forget” automated pen test.

They discuss how commoditized offensive AI tools create noise and risk, token/rate-limit and cost challenges, and how AI is impacting bug bounty quality, hiring (fake applicants, deepfakes), and workplace communication.

Griffin emphasizes relationships and communication as key to career opportunities, alongside rigorous interviewing and skills.

Book recommendations include Dan Brown’s “The Secret of Secrets”

00:30 Linkedin and social media habits

01:40 Griffin career highlights

03:02 Day in the life at home

05:11 Autonomous pentesting boom

08:53 How their tool works

11:28 Bug bounty AI slop

14:14 AI and hiring trust issues

17:32 Deepfakes and interview cheating

19:52 Honesty in interviews

20:44 Networking opens doors

23:47 Help desk to red team

26:08 Visualization and momentum

28:26 Trust beats cold applying

29:58 Building the platform

31:17 Token limits and costs

33:05 AI needs fundamentals

35:55 Speed of AI attacks

38:00 Books and final thoughts

Nexo - Executive, GTM & Cybersecurity Recruitment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspropen/

Michael Greenlaw on AI, DevSecOps, and FedRAMP Automation: Speed, Risks, and the Need for Fundamentals

Tom and Michael discuss Microsoft’s strategy and licensing shifts pulling organizations toward Windows and Azure, and the frustration of incompatible cloud service naming across AWS/Azure/GCP. Michael describes using Claude to learn and build with LLMs rapidly, calling it “fast Google,” but warns about hallucinations, compounded errors in chained tasks, human limits in reviewing massive AI-generated code, poor handling of branching strategies, and the need for humans to own architecture and fundamentals.

They debate layoffs attributed to AI versus post-COVID overhiring and shareholder optics, and note AI’s growing impact on vulnerability discovery and exploitation.

Book recommendations: “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (Dale Carnegie), “The Trusted Advisor,” and “Thinking in Bets.”

00:00 Welcome and Intro

00:39 Career Path Update

01:25 Why Windows Again

05:41 Cloud Naming Frustrations

07:27 Keeping Up With Titles

09:12 AI Learning Acceleration

11:36 Curiosity in Hiring

15:39 Market Whiplash Era

19:11 FedRock and AI Experiments

22:19 Automating Workflows With RPA

24:31 AI Saving Lives Story

25:44 AI Pitfalls and Guardrails

31:09 Markets Overhyped AI

33:02 AI Errors And Whiplash

33:50 Why Juniors Still Matter

35:34 Overhiring Blamed On AI

38:11 Metrics Gaming And Talent

40:32 Shareholders And Productivity

42:28 AI Addiction And Frustration

47:08 Learning Boosts And Security Risks

51:58 Using AI With Responsibility

55:16 Scale Problems In Big Orgs

57:06 Books That Changed Everything

01:02:19 Closing Thanks And Wrap Up

Nexo - Executive, GTM & Cybersecurity Recruitment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspropen/

00:00 Welcome and introductions

00:39 Lindsay career snapshot

01:41 Threat intel at Human

02:37 New book launch

03:33 Malware needs context

04:42 Spotting real people online

08:25 AI as attack amplifier

09:45 Phishing at scale

11:50 Democratized hacking risks

15:18 Path to VP leadership

20:00 AI proof risk communication

21:53 Time boxing MIT MBA grind

23:13 Writing a book discipline

23:49 Small wins and purpose

25:15 Book writing deepens mastery

26:39 Communication skills through practice

29:15 Behind the scenes struggles

32:02 Mentors versus sponsors

34:41 Security community collaboration

35:48 Whats next and book teaser

37:46 Boat go faster mantra

39:49 Final thanks and wrap up

Recruiting in cybersecurity & AI: Relationships, what great candidates do, and fixing broken hiring processes

Thomas hosts the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast with Spencer Grant, lead recruiter at 7AI, discussing recruiting realities, relationship-driven hiring, and how top candidates stand out.

Spencer describes his career path largely shaped by following a strong manager and emphasizes providing a “three-star Michelin” candidate experience. They outline traits of great candidates: depth of technical understanding (the “whys”), outcome-focused thinking tied to business ROI and honesty paired with curiosity.

Spencer critiques broken application processes and advises proactive outreach after applying, strong interview preparation - company research, coding/system design readiness - and asking substantive questions.

They discuss AI’s impact on jobs, valuing human touch over automated screening, and Spencer’s Meta layoff and contracting path back to full-time.

Book recommendation: “The Mental Game: Winning the War Within Your Mind.”

00:00 Welcome and wins

00:47 Recruiter reality check

02:21 Spencer career intro

04:06 Relationships over tools

08:29 What makes candidates great

14:06 Curiosity and learning fast

19:03 Hiring process mistakes

23:37 Manual recruiting over AI

26:37 High touch candidate experience

27:43 AI expands security jobs

29:35 Layoffs and market cycles

31:52 Rebounding after Meta layoff

34:16 Contracting as a strategy

35:01 Office osmosis learning

39:04 Culture and knowledge sharing

42:04 Mindset book recommendation

46:54 Final thanks and wrap

Chad Fullerton on AI, Claude Code, and Staying Valuable in Cybersecurity Tom chats with Chad Fullerton, a former US Navy member and current VP of Information Security at ECI, about his career path, family life, and how AI is reshaping work.

Chad emphasizes fundamentals like caring, continuous learning, and maintaining a positive mindset, noting he consumes about 120 audiobooks a year.

He describes practical AI use cases such as using Claude to merge multiple pen test reports quickly, warns that deliverables and contracts will be reviewed by AI, and discusses token costs. He argues AI shifts value toward industry expertise, client-facing advisory skills, and automating small time savings at scale, not just coding, and advises professionals to adapt rather than fear disruption.

Book recommendations include Uniquely Human (Barry Prizant), Good to Great, and CISSP 11th Hour, plus Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy books.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:45 Meet Chad Fullerton

02:01 Day in the Life

03:18 AI Revolution Pace

04:37 Fundamentals and Growth

05:41 Learning Habits That Compound

09:39 AI in Security Workflows

11:55 Claude Code and Automation

18:43 Adapting to Disruption

20:42 Positivity and Hiring Signals

26:10 Layoffs and Reputation

27:41 LinkedIn Is Not Therapy

31:43 Clicks at Scale

34:01 Stop Being Cost Center

36:37 Advisors Beat Hoodies

40:14 Work Backwards Roadmap

42:21 Daily Learning Mindset

43:29 Books That Shaped Chad

47:29 Sales Outreach Done Right

49:08 Social Media Reality Check

49:56 Wrap Up and Next Time

Nexo - Executive, GTM & Cybersecurity Recruitment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspropen/

Dixon Wright on career growth, leadership paths, and using AI without losing expertise

Thomas chats with Dixon Wright about his career progression and what drives promotions, emphasizing hard work plus being in the right place at the right time.

Dixon discusses playing the long game, building subject-matter expertise before leading, and the importance of choosing work you enjoy rather than chasing compensation. He highlights the value of early consulting for transferable skills, professionalism, and in-person learning, and warns remote work and AI can weaken development and enable shortcuts.

They explore AI’s ROI, token costs, and how metric-driven cultures can reward low-value ‘activity’, arguing expertise is still essential to evaluate ideas and business impact.

Book/podcast recommendations include How I Built This, Radical Candor, The Advantage, Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, Slow Productivity, and Unreasonable Hospitality.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:30 Life as a Remote Dad

02:57 Career Growth and Promotions

05:31 Play the Long Game

08:32 Choose Passion Over Pay

12:49 Superstars vs Rock Stars

16:14 Why Consulting Builds Skills

20:09 AI Remote Work and Learning

22:57 AI ROI and Hidden Costs

35:03 Books Habits and Wrap Up

Mythos, Autonomous Pen Testing, and the Future of Self-Securing Software, with Mike Wilkes, Enterprise CISO at Aikido Security.

On the Cyber Security Recruiter podcast, Mike Wilkes discusses a busy week of CISO events at Google (Mythos/Glasswing gathering), the Harvard Club, and Meta’s OSAC cybersecurity committee, plus an NYSE TV interview about Aikido Security’s Series B and growth.

He explains Mythos Preview’s implications, including rapid vulnerability discovery (citing Firefox fixing 271 issues vs 20–30 historically), Anthropic’s restrictions, and the need for prioritization (EPSS) rather than chasing raw CVE volume.

Mike describes autonomous pen testing where a $7,000, two-week API test was replicated for $4 in 80 minutes, arguing the “harness” and orchestration matter most.

He emphasizes soft skills, listening, and translating security into business impact for boards, warns about privacy erosion, token-cost waste, supply-chain/model risks, and advocates small local models for privacy and resilience.

AI-Native Cybersecurity, MSP Automation, and What Education Must Change Next - with Manal Iskander

On the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast, the host speaks with Manal Iskander, founder of PCtronics , co-owner of Green Shack Marketplace, and Marketing Lead at Fugazi about how AI and cybersecurity are now inseparable and how she’s using an AI-native, agentic software stack (including SuperOps, NinjaOne, SentinelOne, Huntress, and SharePoint-based automation) to speed onboarding, triage tickets, and generate monthly security and operations reporting that drives recurring revenue plus project work.

She describes using a human-centered “double diamond” approach (discover, define, design, deliver) with governance and accountability to decide what to automate vs. keep human-in-the-loop, giving examples like overriding blocked logins for a traveling CEO. She discusses private equity buying MSPs based on MRR, her goal to build toward a much larger exit, and her July 30 keynote in Sacramento for California higher-education CTOs on standardized AI adoption, governance, curriculum shifts toward critical thinking, and risks like Anthropic’s “Mythos” zero-day tool.

Book recommendations mentioned: “Abundance,” “The Human Fork Encoded,” and “The 80-Year Theory.”

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:28 Keynote and AI Security

01:51 Manel Background Story

03:25 Restaurants and Balance

04:47 Building an AI Native MSP

07:25 PBS Show Origin Story

09:47 Tech as Human Extension

13:54 Human in the Loop Security

15:19 Double Diamond Workflow

19:58 Automated Reporting Engine

23:20 Private Equity and Exit Plans

24:41 Leaving Reporting Teams

25:30 AI Tools For Operations

25:52 AI Boom For Business

26:57 Education Adapts To AI

30:18 Governance For Universities

31:30 Mythos Zero Day Fears

32:48 AI Geopolitics And Money

37:06 Human Fork And Cycles

40:22 Future Work And UBI

42:23 Keeping Up With Pace

43:42 July Keynote Preview

46:46 Adoption Divide And Wrap