The rapid growth of AI-enabled applications is reshaping how companies operate and employees achieve their jobs. However, this transformation also introduces new frontiers of security challenges and calls for a comprehensive and proactive approach from IT and security leaders. In a new sponsored Cybercoup podcast, security executives from Lenovo and Sentinelone discuss how this evolving landscape requires organizations to protect AI across the technology stack, including employees’ computers and devices.
Nima Baiati, executive director and general manager of cybersecurity solutions at Lenovo, says the unprecedented pace of AI advancements, which believes capabilities are doubling every five to 12 months, forces organizations to reevaluate their business models, drive processes and increase security. “Customers are looking at AI in terms of speeding up software development, especially in the QA space. They see that. How can we better protect our organization, especially when we have a distributed workforce?” he says.
Melissa K. Smith, Vice President of Technology Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Sentinelone, reflected this sentiment and emphasized that the future of cybersecurity is “really AI-powered.” Smith also highlighted Sentinelon’s commitment to embedding AI in every layer of the security stack, aiming to make security operations “fundamentally faster and scalable.”
An important, but often overlooked aspect of AI security is the endpoint itself, namely a personal computer or laptop. “Outside this decentralized workforce, what we saw during the pandemic is that we are beginning to see the fact that endpoints are new networks. Wherever data resides, it’s networks.”
Protecting your endpoints is paramount as important files and intellectual property become increasingly inhabited by your devices. For example, Lenovo AI PCS offers the advantage of running many AI models locally, increasing speed and agility for both users and security. Baiati also outlined OS protection such as multi-layered security approach across supply chain security, BIOS security and firmware resilience, and OS above-OS solutions such as data encryption and identity management.
This is where the strategic partnership between Lenovo and Sentinelone appears. “The endpoint is still in the table stakes, right? It’s still a bullseye,” Smith says. Knowing this gap, she highlights the advantage that Lenovo PCs are pre-installed on Sentinelone’s singularity platform, which includes purple AI features. “These SOC analysts really provide the ability to monitor and protect these endpoints in the box,” Smith says.
Ultimately, this collaboration provides customers with comprehensive end-to-end coverage, from supply chain integrity to endpoint protection. Baiati emphasized that the partnership combines “commercial endpoints during breeding” with “cybersecurity capabilities during breeding” to place organizations that will maintain their position today and mitigate risk in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
Going forward, both organizations are working on the concept of “safety by design” and integrate security into every stage of technology and platform development. Furthermore, as AI continues to undergo significant changes, deepening third-party integration and continuing evolution of combined products is important. “Cybersecurity is now a board-level conversation and it’s about simplifying it,” Smith says. “And we must move forward with these relationships and partnerships that bring together both worlds of technology.”
Listen to the entire podcast conversation now.
The podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for Cyberscoop and was taken over by Lenovo and Sentinelone.
