In this conversation, I speak with Mike Privette. Mike is the CISO and Cybersecurity Economist at Return on Security. We discuss:- The economic impact of COVID-19, the shift from prioritizing growth to operational efficiency, and the subsequent market crash and rebound in 2024. - The rise of AI in application security, the importance of trust and safety, and the potential for AI to enhance personal digital sovereignty.  -The changing dynamics of startups, venture capital, and private equity in the cybersecurity space.  Among many other topics. Introduction and Guest Welcome (00:00)Return on Security's audience (01:53)Economic trends in cybersecurity & COVID-19 (05:59)Shift towards operational efficiency in cybersecurity companies (09:39)Current cybersecurity trends and rebound effects (13:23)Application Security and AI (15:05)The Evolution of AI Security Companies (16:09)Trust and Safety in Cybersecurity & Discussing Deepfake videos (17:03)Validation of Ground Truth (19:18)Personal and corporate security from AI (20:31)Continuous Defender and AI Filtering (21:31)Validation of True Content to combat misinformation (23:23)AI for News Reports and Corporate Communications (26:16)The Future of AI Security (27:11)The trend of personal digital sovereignty (31:03)Private equity vs. VC vs. startups (33:36)Operational efficiency and the future of startups (36:29)Cybersecurity industry trends and data science (43:36)The Universal Dashboard concept (45:15)Sharing knowledge and connections (45:42)Check Out Return on Security (45:58) Become a Member: https://danielmiessler.com/upgrade See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.