At the Billington CyberSecurity Conference, senior leaders from industry came together to discuss the future of cybersecurity and the evolving strategies needed to protect government, critical infrastructure, and private sector organizations. Conversations ranged from the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence to the challenges of implementing zero trust and the importance of collective defense. Taken together, these interviews reflect the dynamic landscape of cybersecurity—where technology, governance, and collaboration intersect.
Scott Orton, CEO of Owl Cyber Defense, highlighted the concept of AI containment, a framework for managing probabilistic AI within deterministic legal and compliance structures. Unlike basic automation, true AI generates unpredictable, probabilistic outcomes—potentially leading to breakthroughs such as medical cures or novel defense strategies. But these outcomes must be constrained by frameworks similar to cybersecurity certifications, HIPAA rules, or defense compliance mandates.
Orton argued that containment should operate like a “container” around AI outputs, ensuring they stay within legal and operational boundaries without interfering with the AI’s ability to innovate. This approach preserves the transformative potential of AI while safeguarding against misuse. He emphasized the importance of rigorous testing, compliance, and control systems that are provable and independent from the AI itself.
The challenges, he noted, lie not in the technology alone but in determining who sets the rules, who enforces them, and how organizations can adopt frameworks without impeding innovation. For Orton, success will be measured when agencies and enterprises are able to reap the benefits of AI-generated strategies while maintaining compliance with established frameworks.
Tiffany Kim, Public Sector Sales Leader at Tines, underscored that zero trust is not a destination but a journey. Many agencies, she explained, have addressed initial pillars of zero trust but fall short when it comes to automation and orchestration—steps that are critical to accelerating adoption and sustaining progress.
Automation, she said, must become central to zero trust strategies, allowing agencies to reduce manual “muck work” and keep pace as technology evolves. Orchestration—linking processes and tools together—ensures these automated systems deliver meaningful protection.
Equally important is the human element. Kim emphasized the need for cross-team collaboration, cultural adaptation, and governance structures that embed documentation and compliance into daily workflows. She cautioned that technology alone cannot solve the zero trust puzzle; organizations must foster participation and accountability across teams.
Looking ahead, Kim expressed optimism that the integration of AI with automation and orchestration will “up level” agencies, enabling them to evolve continuously and stay ahead of adversaries. Agencies, she said, must adopt a mindset of self-reflection and milestone-based progress tracking to ensure they remain on course in the years to come.
Tom Stockmeyer, Managing Director for Government and Critical Infrastructure at Cyware, spotlighted the concept of collective defense. With the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) launching its Threat Intel Exchange Services (TIES) program after years of development, the federal government now has a pathway to rapidly share actionable intelligence across agencies.
Stockmeyer explained that no single agency or private company can fully defend itself against a nation-state attack. By banding together and sharing threat intelligence, agencies can stop adversaries from moving laterally across networks. He pointed to private sector models where thousands of companies share intelligence in near real time, reducing response times from hours to mere minutes.
If the federal government can replicate that speed, Stockmeyer argued, agencies will be far better positioned to defend against sophisticated cyberattacks and protect critical services. While today’s technologies already support this kind of information sharing, the future could see the rise of automated collective defense—and eventually AI-enhanced systems capable of creating a near-impenetrable shield.
Across all three conversations, a few unifying themes emerged:
AI as both risk and opportunity. From containment strategies to AI-driven automation, speakers underscored that AI’s role in cybersecurity is expanding rapidly and must be carefully managed.
Governance and compliance matter. Whether in zero trust adoption or AI containment, embedding documentation, frameworks, and oversight is essential.
Collaboration is the future. Cross-team participation within agencies and cross-sector intelligence sharing at the national level are key to strengthening cyber defenses.
The Billington CyberSecurity Conference underscored that the path forward in cybersecurity is not just technological—it is organizational, cultural, and strategic. Leaders must balance innovation with safeguards, speed with governance, and independence with collaboration to protect the systems that underpin national security and public trust.