Dell Technologies doesn’t keep a secret on Enterprise AI’s ambition to lead global billing, but for President and Chief Security Officer John Scimone, security is the fundamental pillar of all innovation.
“Our security strategy is to essentially put security into the product from the start, from a time when it’s literally a design, development, manufacturing, delivery, supply chain and even post-natal ideas,” Scimone said in an interview at Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas.
Build safe AI from design to deployment
AI Factory is at the heart of Dell’s AI vision. A set of hardware, software, and services are designed to enhance AI workloads across the edge, data centers and cloud. In Scimone, the real differentiator is that security is embedded. “If you look at the AI factory and how it is designed, it was designed with zero trust principle in mind,” he explained. “We actually have every stage, from developer endpoints to data pipelines. The model is protected at every stage of the lifecycle with world-class encryption and access management.”
Security is not an afterthought or add-on, but is woven into every layer, from trusted hardware routes on servers and laptops to managed security services for customers through the supply chain. “Each product line in the factory has security throughout the stack, ensuring that every element is trusted and truly guaranteed from design to delivery,” he explained.
AI as both an opportunity and a new threat
Scimone admits that the AI boom is a double-edged sword. AI provides the power to transform industry and increase productivity, but also opens new pathways for cybercriminals. “In the AI era, data is increasingly the most valuable asset of a business, so most companies are reluctant to entrust their assets to third parties,” he said, noting that the transition to AI workloads has shifted for more tightly controlled.
With the rise of large-scale language models and agent AI, Scimone says cybersecurity experts must rapidly evolve their strategies. “These architectures provide new opportunities for criminals to exploit and abuse their platform,” he said. “As we are as excited as we are, criminals are equally excited. We need to keep in mind what they will do to use this technology and cause harm.”
Still, Scimone is “cautiously excited” about the possibility of AI empowering security teams. “I’m good at dealing with a lot of complexity, I’m good at significantly increasing human productivity,” he said. “As we reach an autonomous world, the greater the degree of productivity gives us a great opportunity to gain more value from all our team members.”
AI at the Edge: New risks, new opportunities
The increasing importance of the edge and the advent of AI PCs with dedicated neural processors bring both new risks and new defenses. “The outcome today is that we have the safest PCs in the world and a big reason why our customers do business with us,” says Scimone. However, when customers move valuable data and models to endpoints, each device becomes a more attractive target.
“The security priorities for endpoints are already very high today, but they’re only growing significantly in the AI world,” he said. However, the same AI hardware that drives the new features could also enhance defenses. “As the power and capabilities that are present in AI PCS with NPUs will be improved, this opens up all new opportunities for further security,” Scimone added, pointing to collaborations with software partners who are making the most of this process.
End-to-end security as a differentiator for Dell
In Scimone’s case, Dell’s approach sets it apart in the busy security market. “Most security buddies sell slices, a solution that solves the slices in question. That’s not Dell’s approach,” he said. “We are very focused on security as a team sport. We provide end-to-end services and submit a wide range of talented partners to our customers.”
Importantly, security is not an afterthought. “It’s not a conversation about selling security. It’s a conversation about selling technology, selling the results that it produces. And we were hoping that security would be delivered in a way that was integrated with it,” he explained. “We are not a security technology company. We are a secure technology company.”
Be ahead of compliance and innovation
Global regulations on advances in AI and cybersecurity have led Dell to treat compliance as “unnegotiable” according to Scimone. The company has a dedicated team that continuously monitors the Global Rule Book and ensures that internal policies are kept up to date. “Legal compliance, regulatory compliance is an unnegotiable topic. We follow the rules of every region of the world where we operate,” he said.
But he asserts that security and compliance should not slow innovation. “One of the biggest risks of AI is people’s fear of AI. In fact, I’m worried that it won’t move fast enough,” he said. “Possibility is huge for a better society to transform society, change healthcare, change education. I don’t think we need to move slowly to be safe. Dell focuses on how we accelerate the pace of innovation, how we can accelerate the pace of adoption, but we focus on doing it in a responsible, safe way.”
A positive outlook for AI and security
Ultimately, Scimone remains optimistic that AI could be a force forever. “This is a unique, strategic inflection point, and this incredible new capabilities offered by AI gives organizations the opportunity to secure themselves more,” he said. “At the end of the day, higher trust in the technology means they can use it to do good for their companies.”
“For me, it’s a real privilege to make the lives of cybercriminals difficult. I feel very fortunate to be part of Dell’s mission. I can help my customers succeed and do more for my own customers.”
