AI hype has outpaced AI reality—but that doesn't mean the risks are hype too. This session cuts through the AGI doomsaying to focus on what's actually happening: AI is reshaping the cybersecurity threat landscape faster than most organizations can respond. 

Johnson outlines three concrete problems reshaping enterprise risk. First, agents, MCP servers, and AI-to-AI connections are creating attack surfaces that are ephemeral, unpredictable, and present everywhere from cloud to edge—breaking assumptions built into current defense tools. Second, AI asymmetrically empowers attackers: generative models produce attacks far faster than defenders can validate responses, and only one attack needs to succeed while every defense must hold. Third, the operational model of cybersecurity—prioritize and patch methodically—is collapsing under exponential, increasingly critical, AI-chained vulnerabilities. 

Using the real-world case of Anthropic's Claude Mythos and Project Glasswing as a lens, Johnson examines how even the most sophisticated organizations are struggling to keep pace, and why throwing more money or people at the problem won't work. She closes with a practical roadmap: cross-functional tiger teams, unified identity management spanning AI and human actors, zero-trust as architecture rather than philosophy, and continuous wargaming—concrete steps organizations can take now, ahead of looming regulatory deadlines like the EU AI Act. 

Speaker: Johna Till Johnson, CEO, Nemertes

Johna Till Johnson is CEO and Founder of Nemertes, where she sets strategic direction and works with key clients. Under her leadership, Nemertes has emerged as a leading trusted advisor to Fortune-50 and other world-class organizations. Prior to founding Nemertes in 2002, Ms. Johnson served as chief technology officer (CTO) at Greenwich Technology Partners, a global consulting and engineering firm. Prior to that, she led the Global Networking Strategies Service business unit of META Group. Prior to that, as Senior Technology Editor she oversaw the lab-testing program at Data Communications magazine, providing testing and assessment of up to 16 emerging technologies per year. She also has designed and developed security, speech-synthesis, and free-space laser products at companies including Mosler Security Systems and Digitus Corp. Ms. Johnson holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering/computer science (BSEE/CS) from The Johns Hopkins University, has conducted graduate work in nuclear and particle physics at the University of Rochester, speaks three languages, and has published a science fiction novel. She is an avid urban kayaker and novice sailor.