3049: Strengthening Cyber Defenses: Delinea's New Chapter in Identity Management

[00:00:00] Are you or your business thinking of launching a podcast in 2025? Well, dreams are about to become a reality because I have three amazing options that will guarantee that you can make that happen. Option one, you record and I handle the rest. All you need is 30 minutes to go and record an episode. I'll take care of editing, setting up the RSS feed and publishing it across all major podcasting platforms.

[00:00:26] For just $2,000, you can work alongside me. I'll have you up and running with a season of 12 polished episodes ready to go live. So if you or your business are interested in getting a podcast live and you want to work directly with me, visit my website, techblogwriter.co.uk, email me techblogwriteratoutlook.com, send me a DM on any social platform such as LinkedIn, X or Instagram. I'm just at Neil C. Hughes on every single platform.

[00:00:54] Option two, if you're looking for extended end-to-end support, well, I've partnered with AI podcast dot ING. They provide everything from website management to promotional material and help improving engagement. And you can also get 25% off your first month with the code Neil C. Hughes and let them handle all the heavy lifting for you.

[00:01:18] But option three, if you want to do it all yourself, Lipsyn, the podcast host that I use for this show, they are offering up to two months of free hosting when you use the promo code TBW. For example, if you were to sign up on November the 1st, you can start 2025 strong and without paying anything till January the 1st, 2025.

[00:01:39] Whichever path you choose, I'm here to make sure that you start the new year with a podcast ready to take the world by storm. Let's do it together.

[00:01:48] What role does identity security play in an involving digital world, especially with the rise of AI powered threats and a shift to cloud infrastructure?

[00:02:02] And what does privileged access management mean or PAM?

[00:02:06] My guest name is Art. He is the CEO of Delinea, a company leading the charge in privileged access management.

[00:02:16] Delinea's recent acquisitions of FastPath and AuthorMise show their focus on addressing the complex challenges of cloud identity management and governance.

[00:02:26] But let's dig a little bit deeper. What do these acquisitions mean for the industry?

[00:02:30] How does my guest see the future of cybersecurity unfolding amid economic pressures and rising cyber threats?

[00:02:38] Well, enough scene setting for me. Let's dive into the future of identity security and the impact of industry consolidation with someone who's playing a critical role in shaping that very landscape.

[00:02:51] So a massive warm welcome to the show. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do?

[00:02:57] Yeah. So thank you for thank you for having me. My name is Art Gilliland and I'm the CEO of Delinea, which is a identity security company based here in California.

[00:03:08] But we have offices all over the place. Quick background. I've been in the cybersecurity space for about 25 years.

[00:03:16] Big companies like Symantec and HP and also really small, tiny companies like IonLogic and Skyboard, two companies probably never heard of, both acquired into those big companies, which is how I've sort of traversed both sides of that.

[00:03:31] And you mentioned the word acquired there. One of the things that put Delinea on my radar was you recently made two significant acquisitions with, I think it was FastPath and Automize.

[00:03:40] Can you tell me a bit more about why those companies were chosen, how they aligned with Delinea's broader growth strategy?

[00:03:46] Because I saw the headlines. I'd love to find out more about that.

[00:03:48] Yeah, it's exciting. Obviously, we play in the privilege access management space.

[00:03:55] So affectionately termed PAM in the market.

[00:03:59] And it's essentially what that technology does is it looks at your users, privileged users, and helps you sort of manage the passwords for these complicated users that really have like keys of the kingdom.

[00:04:10] And so what Automize and FastPath did is just added more capacity and more capabilities around that for more privileged users and more spaces.

[00:04:20] And so if you look at Automize in particular, that company helped us sort of expand more of our capabilities into cloud and SaaS applications.

[00:04:30] So a lot of our customers not only are operating their own infrastructure, but are moving a lot of their infrastructure into the cloud or taking advantage of SaaS applications.

[00:04:41] And so lots of identities that come up in those spaces.

[00:04:45] And so Optimize helps us find them and capture them and then also monitor our behavior.

[00:04:50] And then for FastPath, what else often happens in companies and technologies like SAP and NetSuite that are super regulated sort of areas or have a lot of compliance, you need to be able to control who's allowed to do what.

[00:05:06] And there's a real separation of duties in those applications.

[00:05:10] And so FastPath helps us manage and monitor and report on those and then gives a workflow for how companies report for audit reasons or manage over time and attest and certify that they're actually doing the right things.

[00:05:26] And so it's really sort of expanding the lifecycle of managing these identities.

[00:05:30] And that's what these two companies have helped us do.

[00:05:34] Fantastic.

[00:05:34] And every day on this podcast, I try and take a different area and demystify it for people out of the space.

[00:05:40] Many people probably heard of access management, but privileged access management or PAM has become increasingly critical for securing identities.

[00:05:49] So for anyone listening outside of this space, just to make sure we don't lose anyone, could you just give a quick overview of what PAM is?

[00:05:55] And also how these recent acquisitions enhanced the linear PAM solutions and the kind of additional capabilities that they bring to your customers.

[00:06:04] Yeah.

[00:06:05] So let me, I'll give sort of the way I think about identity in general and sort of break it into three parts because I think that's a simpler way to think about it.

[00:06:14] But, uh, so there's sort of three big areas and there's a lot more, but this is the way I simplify it.

[00:06:19] Cause it just makes sense to me, uh, is there's the, uh, authentication part of, uh, identity.

[00:06:25] So think about that as I am art and I can prove it.

[00:06:29] Uh, and so that's, uh, that's the authentication part.

[00:06:32] There's the authorization part of identity, which is what should art be allowed to do?

[00:06:38] So I've proven I am who I say I am now I need to decide what should I give art the permissions to do in the environment.

[00:06:45] And then the last part is the governance part of identity, which is tell me everything that art has access to.

[00:06:52] And what are all the things that art has touched in the last six months?

[00:06:56] And so PAM is really focused on the middle part of that, that authorization part.

[00:07:02] What should art be allowed to do?

[00:07:04] And in particular, it's, uh, has historically been, uh, zero, like focused on your, what's called a privileged administrative user, meaning the person who logs into the systems that control the rules in your environment.

[00:07:19] So that could be your firewalls, uh, uh, or your active directory, which decides sort of what connects to what things.

[00:07:27] And so those users have special power in an organization.

[00:07:31] And so you don't want them to be able to make changes in your environment without being audited or managed.

[00:07:37] And you want to make sure those passwords get changed a lot.

[00:07:40] Uh, and that's really because the adversaries are stealing passwords and logging into environments.

[00:07:47] And so you want to make sure that if they do that, they're really controlled and constrained into what they can do damage for.

[00:07:53] And so privilege management has grown up around authorization in particular, and in particular around that, uh, that privileged users.

[00:08:03] Now, the second part of your question, which is, uh, what did Optimize bring?

[00:08:09] And I'll start with that.

[00:08:10] And then I can talk about FastPath.

[00:08:12] Yeah.

[00:08:13] Optimize, uh, it was very focused on, uh, understanding all of those privileged users access to cloud and SaaS infrastructure.

[00:08:23] And so when you think about what's happening in, uh, enterprises today, a lot of enterprises are trying to take advantage of the flexibility and speed and affordability of using cloud environments.

[00:08:37] And so whether they're moving applications that they manage into Amazon or Azure or Google, uh, there's a lot of rules that get set in that.

[00:08:46] Um, same thing with using SaaS applications.

[00:08:50] So where you actually renting an application in the cloud.

[00:08:53] Um, and so being able to find all the identities, find all the interconnections between those, because now SaaS applications are talking to other SaaS applications and those connections need identities.

[00:09:04] Uh, so FastPath or Optimize was really good at finding them all.

[00:09:08] They scan, they find all these identities.

[00:09:11] So you have visibility, which is one of the big problems that happens for identity security people.

[00:09:15] When you move into the cloud is being able to see all those identities.

[00:09:19] Uh, and then our technology is able to vault them and manage them and audit them.

[00:09:25] And so that's a big part of what we do.

[00:09:27] Uh, but the, the other really exciting thing that Optimize did is it watches and manages the behavior of those identities.

[00:09:35] So watching the behavior for two things.

[00:09:38] One is the sexy one.

[00:09:39] I can find the bad guys when they're in my environment.

[00:09:42] Uh, that's, uh, identity threat detection and response.

[00:09:45] ITDR is what the industry talks about.

[00:09:48] Uh, so it does that.

[00:09:49] But, but the real value that I've seen when I talk to customers is actually monitoring, uh, good users behavior.

[00:09:57] Um, because in that case I can say, look, Art may have, uh, permission to do 15 things with his identity, but he only really ever uses five of them.

[00:10:07] And so what it allows it.

[00:10:09] And so what that is, is I'm over provisioned in the environment.

[00:10:12] And so you can massively reduce the risk of my identity being stolen.

[00:10:16] And if you say, look, Art only uses five of those things, let's just get rid of the eight other things.

[00:10:21] He doesn't use and just, and just manage the five.

[00:10:24] And so that, uh, that sort of posture management or security posture management is super powerful.

[00:10:29] Uh, and so that's Optimize.

[00:10:31] So cloud threat detection, posture management.

[00:10:35] The other, uh, the other part of, uh, the acquisition that we made was FastPath.

[00:10:40] And so FastPath was really more on the governance side of it.

[00:10:44] And so remember I said authentication, I am where I can prove it authorization.

[00:10:49] What should art be allowed to do?

[00:10:50] Which is the core of what Delinea and also what, uh, uh, optimize helped expand into cloud.

[00:10:55] And otherwise FastPath really moved us into the governance side of it.

[00:11:01] And so, uh, of identity.

[00:11:03] And so what the governance does for our customers is two things.

[00:11:07] One is it, uh, helps them control that separation of duties that I talked about, uh, in, in these,

[00:11:13] in these core applications.

[00:11:15] But what it also, uh, brings to our PAM provider, our PAM customers is the ability to attest to

[00:11:23] and manage what rights I should have.

[00:11:26] So remember when I said posture management for Art, he has, you know, 15, he only uses five.

[00:11:31] So we need to get rid of the nine, uh, or the 10 that he doesn't use.

[00:11:36] Um, and so there's a, there's a workflow around removing those things and having my manager decide is

[00:11:43] that it does he have the right ones or not.

[00:11:45] And you want to manage those sort of that process around it.

[00:11:48] And so those two capabilities, that separation of duties and those critical applications,

[00:11:53] and then managing that workflow and being able to report on the posture of my users is the

[00:11:59] capabilities that fast pad.

[00:12:02] And as we've said that Deline has made two big acquisitions.

[00:12:05] And I was also reading before you came on the podcast today, you believe there's going to be

[00:12:09] further considered consolidation in the tech industry.

[00:12:12] So I've got to ask, uh, what factors do you think are driving this consolidation and how are

[00:12:17] you positioning yourself in this evolving landscape with so many big changes right now?

[00:12:22] Yeah, I think there's, I think there's two really big ones to be honest, Neil.

[00:12:26] It's, uh, one of them is, uh, just the cyber, uh, attackers.

[00:12:31] So the adversaries are just super sophisticated and what ends up happening when you have multiple

[00:12:37] technologies, they're, uh, sort of scattered through is there's gaps between those products

[00:12:41] that are, uh, that you try to close with integration, but oftentimes the complexity of all those integrations

[00:12:48] and interconnections of those tech, not individual technologies.

[00:12:52] Uh, those are the gaps that the bad guys attack.

[00:12:55] And so what you see in the industry in response to that is, uh, this thing about creating platforms

[00:13:01] and those platforms are adding more and more capabilities to try to make those cracks more

[00:13:06] seamless or, or, or essentially build a bigger, uh, bigger foundation, uh, in certain categories.

[00:13:12] And so I think that's one of the reasons why you see consolidation and security space in

[00:13:17] general.

[00:13:18] I think the other reason is just money.

[00:13:20] Uh, and it's, it is budget.

[00:13:23] Uh, it is the fact that the economy is, uh, is putting a lot of pressure on organizations

[00:13:28] to reduce their spend and become more efficient.

[00:13:32] And so platforms, uh, while they may be, you know, you spend more on any one individual company,

[00:13:39] what it helps you do is have, instead of having to have three different, uh, administrators

[00:13:46] understanding and learning three different products, you're able to sort of learn one product

[00:13:51] and it takes care of three problems.

[00:13:52] And so these platforms help to sort of limit the amount of resources that you have to dedicate

[00:13:58] to a certain area.

[00:13:59] And so it becomes more efficient and more cost effective, uh, for customers.

[00:14:04] And so I think those, those are kind of the two big reason there's an industry reason, which

[00:14:07] is security adversaries becoming more effective at finding the gaps.

[00:14:11] And so platforms make those, those gaps less visible or less attackable.

[00:14:16] And then on the other side is just that becomes more cost effective and you're managing only one

[00:14:21] vendor.

[00:14:22] You are able to have a single admin.

[00:14:24] And so it really sort of makes your operation of these technologies more efficient.

[00:14:29] And as a company that has acquired two, two big companies recently, especially in a period

[00:14:35] of economic uncertainty, what do you think are the biggest challenges for companies seeking

[00:14:39] to grow through acquisitions, especially in the cybersecurity space?

[00:14:44] Or, and how do you, at Delineia, plan to maybe navigate some of these challenges?

[00:14:48] Because it can be, so it's a tricky balance and notoriously difficult sometimes, isn't it?

[00:14:54] Yeah.

[00:14:54] You know, I think when, when you look at it and trying to figure out what it is that's going

[00:14:58] to drive your strategy, uh, I think the biggest things you have to think about, at least for

[00:15:02] hours, uh, is what is the problem you're trying to solve?

[00:15:06] And so talking to customers and, and really understanding what it is they're trying to do.

[00:15:11] And so a lot of what drives Delineia strategy, honestly, is our customers, uh, interaction with

[00:15:17] our products and, uh, and what they're asking us to solve.

[00:15:21] So that's kind of part one of what you need to think about and how we think about it.

[00:15:24] I think the second part of it is really more operational.

[00:15:28] Um, and it's about how, uh, how are we going to integrate?

[00:15:33] What is the strategy for integration?

[00:15:35] How capable, uh, is the technology we're buying is, does it fit with the architecture that

[00:15:41] we have?

[00:15:42] Uh, because part of what you want to do is you don't want to just buy a product and we own

[00:15:47] it and then it's still two products sitting next to each other.

[00:15:49] Uh, because then the gaps don't get closed, right?

[00:15:52] So the member of the, the reason you want to consolidate is to create the less gaps for

[00:15:57] your customers in terms of the security attack.

[00:16:00] And so a lot of it is, is there an architectural melding?

[00:16:03] And then is there a cultural fit with the company you're acquiring?

[00:16:07] Uh, cause that can also create a lot of drama for the, for the ones.

[00:16:11] And so when we were acquiring both, uh, uh, uh, authorized and fast path, those were kind

[00:16:17] of the three things is our, do, are our customers asking us, is there a good architectural

[00:16:21] fit and then is there a good cultural fit?

[00:16:24] And I think what we found is we spent a lot of time, uh, creating a very flexible platform

[00:16:30] at Delineia from a core architecture perspective.

[00:16:33] And so with Authomize, we were able to integrate and have Authomize be natively delivered to

[00:16:39] our customers in the platform in about four months, uh, which is extraordinarily fast.

[00:16:44] And so, uh, customers that were Delineia customers prior to the acquisition to today are able to

[00:16:51] take advantage of the Authomize capabilities natively in the products.

[00:16:55] You don't see a Delineia and then an Authomize interface.

[00:16:59] You actually see one interface that has all those capabilities.

[00:17:03] Um, and that's so from January to it was really July when we were able to do that, uh, in,

[00:17:09] in a production way.

[00:17:10] And then in, uh, with the fast path team, that is also going to be natively in the product.

[00:17:15] We closed that in April.

[00:17:16] I expect to see that, uh, it natively in the technology that our customers are dealing with

[00:17:21] in Q4 of this year.

[00:17:23] So in the next couple months or so.

[00:17:25] And so that focus on sort of architectural integration, uh, is the other thing and, and

[00:17:31] custom and companies that are just looking for expansion of revenue or expansion of,

[00:17:36] uh, profitability.

[00:17:37] And so they acquire these things more as a financial exercise.

[00:17:41] Um, I think that adds less value to the customer.

[00:17:44] It makes those companies look better on paper.

[00:17:47] Um, but I think long-term growth and expansion of those, uh, capabilities with our customers,

[00:17:53] just more complicated.

[00:17:55] And there is what 4,000 miles between us both today.

[00:17:59] And I'm curious from your, from your perspective, how do you see the UK's technology and cyber

[00:18:04] security sectors maybe benefiting from market consolidation, particularly with Delinea's

[00:18:09] growing presence through strategic M&A?

[00:18:12] What's your vantage point there?

[00:18:14] Yeah.

[00:18:15] So, I mean, uh, so Delinea, uh, has, uh, has been growing really effectively in Europe.

[00:18:20] And I think the reason for that is, and in particular in the UK, which is one of our

[00:18:24] strongest markets in, uh, in, in Europe.

[00:18:28] Uh, and that's, it's really because of the, there's the same kinds of challenges that

[00:18:32] are happening in Europe, obviously there's a lot of, uh, a lot of disruption that's going

[00:18:36] on in the world.

[00:18:36] And, and, and so that some of that disruption is, uh, geopolitical and geopolitical challenges

[00:18:44] often accelerate, uh, espionage and cyber attacks that happen in that way.

[00:18:48] And so there's that pressure.

[00:18:50] And then economics also impact, uh, cyber crime and, you know, to a certain extent, I mean,

[00:18:57] the reality is, is when the economies are good, crime is high.

[00:18:59] When the economy is bad, crime is high.

[00:19:01] And so crime is kind of always high.

[00:19:03] Um, but in general, those two factors sort of external, the, are creating a lot more sort

[00:19:09] of cyber risk for companies, uh, internationally.

[00:19:13] And in particular in the UK, I think the other thing that is, is there is just economy.

[00:19:18] And so the pressure that the economy is putting on UK companies to become more efficient and

[00:19:23] more effective, uh, drives that.

[00:19:25] So for us, it's, uh, there's not a lot of difference in my mind between the problems that our customers

[00:19:32] face, uh, in the U S or Asia, or, uh, in, in this case, the UK in those two sort of major

[00:19:39] sector things.

[00:19:40] And so what we, what we focus on is really spending time talking to them.

[00:19:45] And so next week I'm going to be in Paris, uh, with our European customers at an, uh, at

[00:19:49] our customer advisory board.

[00:19:51] Um, well, we'll be talking a lot about these problems, but I expect them to be very similar

[00:19:56] to the, the things that we see in the U S right now.

[00:19:59] Well, look, uh, and something else we're seeing in our news feeds more and more is identity

[00:20:04] security becoming, uh, incredibly important, uh, central to cyber defense.

[00:20:10] In fact, how are you seeing the industry evolving, especially in addressing emerging

[00:20:16] threats in this increasingly interconnected and maybe even AI world that we find ourselves?

[00:20:21] What are you seeing here?

[00:20:23] Oh, most definitely.

[00:20:24] So, I mean, if you look at sort of, again, back to the sort of first principles, what's

[00:20:28] happening in our customer environments, they are moving, uh, they have, they are managing

[00:20:32] their infrastructure, but they're also, uh, taking advantage of cloud and SAS.

[00:20:37] They're taking advantage of, uh, remote work, uh, after COVID, a lot of folks are working

[00:20:42] remotely all over and connecting into the environment.

[00:20:45] They're taking advantage of, uh, consultants and third parties that have access to their

[00:20:50] environment to, you know, create flexibility in their cost structure.

[00:20:54] And what that means is there's a massive amount of infrastructure that's connecting outside

[00:20:59] and that they're a lot of their infrastructure is actually rented from someone else, which

[00:21:05] means they don't have the control over all of the system level policies that they used

[00:21:11] to.

[00:21:11] And so in, as you think about that, then the places they still have control is around their

[00:21:18] users, whether those users are humans or machines, uh, or non-human, uh, and the data

[00:21:24] that they, uh, that they use.

[00:21:26] And so as you look to the future of security, identity security and its interaction with data

[00:21:33] is going to be sort of a core place where they're going to set policy.

[00:21:36] And so I think that is, uh, one, one of the reasons why identity security is starting to

[00:21:42] rise up.

[00:21:42] I think the other, uh, the other thing that we see is, uh, it's the, it's one of the,

[00:21:48] the human area is one of the weakest parts of the security cyber defense side.

[00:21:53] Um, and in particular with the, uh, with AI coming in where the attacks on humans, the attack

[00:21:59] on sort of phishing and trying to trick you into giving up credentials, uh, clicking here

[00:22:05] and typing yourself into a website or something, the adversary doesn't really need to break

[00:22:10] into the firewall or break into the environment anymore.

[00:22:13] They, they essentially just steal credentials and log in.

[00:22:17] And so the level of sophistication that has to be added to identity security, uh, the sort

[00:22:23] of firewalls in between, or the storm breaks in between identity and what you're allowed

[00:22:28] to do and multiple sort of gates that you would have to go to is, is really the only way that

[00:22:33] companies ultimately are going to be able to protect themselves.

[00:22:35] Um, because the adversary is just so good at stealing that initial credential and then

[00:22:40] they use it to try to elevate privileges.

[00:22:43] And so I think that move to the cloud is driving, uh, identity growth and identity relevance.

[00:22:50] And then I think the sophistication of the adversary in particular, as AI becomes more necessary

[00:22:55] and they're using AI, uh, we're going to have to fight them with more AI and more capabilities

[00:23:01] in, in the identity security space.

[00:23:03] And we've spoke a few times today about how Delinea has expanded significantly through MNAs, but

[00:23:10] I'm curious from a personal side here, what lessons have you learned from integrating new

[00:23:15] companies into ecosystems?

[00:23:17] And how do you ensure that seamless transition for both your teams and your customers?

[00:23:22] Yeah.

[00:23:22] Back to the word balance again, it's something that we don't automatically think of, but it's

[00:23:26] a critical part of everything, isn't it?

[00:23:28] Yeah.

[00:23:29] I think, I mean, there's obviously that starts with the things that we talked about sooner

[00:23:32] around sort of strategy and making sure that it's driven by customers.

[00:23:35] And then the real focus on that integration, uh, and not just the business integration, which

[00:23:41] is important too, but the technology integration.

[00:23:44] So what you're bringing to market is actually delivered seamlessly for customers.

[00:23:49] I think there's that part of it that is, uh, that's super critical and you need to zero

[00:23:54] in on that.

[00:23:55] I think just personally, what is necessary is, uh, a lot of, a lot of leadership teams

[00:24:03] do the strategy part and then pass the integration part deeper in the organization.

[00:24:08] And I think what, one of the lessons learned for me is that, uh, the executive leadership

[00:24:13] needs to be actively involved in the decision-making and the process of integration.

[00:24:18] Cause when you do that, uh, you make decisions faster and you're involved in the details and

[00:24:23] really understand it.

[00:24:24] I think the other thing that's a lesson learned is really making sure you bring the existing

[00:24:29] customers for the acquired parties along for the ride.

[00:24:33] Um, and that even if you are making compromises and profitability or revenue in the, in the

[00:24:39] near term for those existing customers, you want them to become delineate customers.

[00:24:44] You want them to feel that transition.

[00:24:45] You want to bring them in because that is a lot of the value that you're acquiring is

[00:24:49] these customers.

[00:24:50] And then finally, but probably most importantly is, uh, the human side of the acquisition.

[00:24:56] A lot of what in technology you're buying are people, uh, and their IQ and their, their

[00:25:02] experience.

[00:25:02] And so that onboarding and that engagement and that integration of the, the acquired

[00:25:09] companies teams into the culture of delineate into the, the values that we talk about and also

[00:25:14] into the roles that you want them to play within the larger organization.

[00:25:19] I think those, those are, those are the three things I think that are probably the most

[00:25:23] important that I've thought about as we go through this process.

[00:25:27] And finally, I mean, looking ahead, where do you go from here?

[00:25:30] What's next with delineate growth plan?

[00:25:33] I understand you probably can't share too much, but is there anything you can talk about, about

[00:25:36] how you foresee the future of identity security, how that's shaping the cyber security industry

[00:25:42] as a whole too?

[00:25:44] Sure.

[00:25:45] Sure.

[00:25:45] I think, look, I think what, what you saw us do really is to, to build more capabilities

[00:25:50] around authorization.

[00:25:51] Like I, I really believe that that part of the identity space, uh, is the core of what's

[00:25:58] going to add the most value.

[00:25:59] What should art be allowed to do in the environment, whether it's your environment internally or your

[00:26:04] environment now sort of delivered through SAS and cloud.

[00:26:07] And so, uh, adding more capabilities and more capacity there is, uh, absolutely something

[00:26:13] that will be focused on.

[00:26:15] And so there's features, there's capabilities in that for SAS and cloud and third parties

[00:26:19] and all of those that will be built into it.

[00:26:21] Um, I think the, the other area is, uh, is around understanding the workflow and automating

[00:26:28] and having more context in the decisions.

[00:26:31] And then finally, I think, uh, AI.

[00:26:33] Look, I think the, uh, if you look at what's, uh, happening in AI, I'm a huge buyer of AI.

[00:26:39] I don't think it's a fad.

[00:26:40] I don't think it's, uh, uh, uh, you know, just the sort of buzzword to your, it really

[00:26:46] is massively changing the way technology is going to be used in environments.

[00:26:51] And it's the, even the small features we've added so far into the products or AI driven

[00:26:57] audit capabilities that we've added in the product.

[00:27:00] It massive cost savings for our customers.

[00:27:03] Uh, you know, like 95% reduction in resources required to do certain things.

[00:27:08] I mean, just massive amounts of productivity gains for customers.

[00:27:12] And so I think as the adversary attacks that our systems need to be smarter and more automated

[00:27:19] in the way that they, uh, respond.

[00:27:21] And I think those are going to be areas of pretty huge investment for us already, but also,

[00:27:26] uh, you know, we'll be looking at, uh, potential acquisitions that help add capabilities in those

[00:27:31] categories.

[00:27:33] Fantastic.

[00:27:34] And we started the podcast today talking about your insights, your origin story, and a big

[00:27:39] thank you for sharing those insights.

[00:27:40] But before I do let you go, I'm going to ask you to leave one final gift for everybody

[00:27:45] listening with great power comes great responsibility to add to our Amazon wishlist.

[00:27:50] What would you like to add and why?

[00:27:54] Yeah.

[00:27:54] I mean, I think, uh, I, I know what there's, uh, you know, one I've read a lot of different

[00:27:58] sort of leadership books and business books.

[00:28:01] And the reality is that some of those are pretty boring.

[00:28:03] Um, but, uh, the, the one that I've, uh, uh, one of the, one of the stories that I think

[00:28:08] is just so inspiring and kind of just really amazing is, uh, is a book called endurance,

[00:28:13] uh, by Alfred Lansing.

[00:28:15] And it's a, it's a story about, uh, a ship captain and an explorer, a polar explorer, uh, called

[00:28:22] Ernest Shackleton.

[00:28:23] Uh, and so it, back in like 1914 or so, he, uh, took a ship, uh, the endurance, which is

[00:28:30] where the book's name comes from into Antarctica and when wanted to be the sort of the first

[00:28:35] person to sort of march to the South pole and really deliver that, uh, sort of success

[00:28:41] for, for the team.

[00:28:42] And, uh, they were about, I would say like half a day or, you know, four hour journey

[00:28:48] or something away from sort of the part in his ship got caught between two ice flows.

[00:28:53] Um, and so they got trapped there and ultimately the boat got crushed between these two ice flows

[00:28:58] and they had to live there.

[00:29:00] And, and so it's a story of how he led his team through that despair, uh, this, this 27

[00:29:08] folks through despair, but then also traverse like 850 miles across the ice flows and all

[00:29:14] of the different sort of crazy things that happened for them to get to back to civilization so that

[00:29:20] he could come back and rescue his team.

[00:29:22] And, and so it was a story about how he led through that.

[00:29:25] Uh, and then also just this insane heroism to do that.

[00:29:30] And, and the fact that he was able to not only rescue all these people, but they all survived.

[00:29:35] Nobody died.

[00:29:36] And this is like 1915 out in the middle of nowhere in the ice and the story of that.

[00:29:41] And it's, you know, I, uh, it's super inspiring to me and as a sort of leadership lesson and

[00:29:46] as a lesson in honesty and transparency and then hope, uh, I just, I just think it's a

[00:29:52] great book and I, it's really interesting read.

[00:29:54] And so that would be with the one I would suggest.

[00:29:57] Wow.

[00:29:57] A great choice.

[00:29:58] I'm going to be checking that out.

[00:29:59] It's with winter's just around the corner in here.

[00:30:02] So I'm going to read that with a glass of Shackleton whiskey.

[00:30:06] What could possibly go wrong?

[00:30:08] So I will check that out.

[00:30:09] I'll add it to the wishlist for everyone listening, but for yourselves, I mean, for anyone listening,

[00:30:13] wanting to find out more about Delinea and everything we talked about today or connecting

[00:30:18] with you or your team, where would you like to point everyone?

[00:30:20] Oh, definitely just come to the Delinea website.

[00:30:23] It's www.delinea.com.

[00:30:26] Uh, and there's tons of information there.

[00:30:28] And if you want to speak more directly, then obviously you can reach out to us through the

[00:30:31] website and we'll, uh, we'll get back to you.

[00:30:33] Well, we covered so much in a short amount of time today from the acquisitions, the state

[00:30:38] of the market, Delinea's growth plan for the future, further consolidation, and even leaving

[00:30:44] us with a fantastic book that I'm quite excited to check out if I'm honest with you, but more

[00:30:48] than anything, just thank you for sharing your insights today.

[00:30:51] Neil, thank you very much.

[00:30:52] I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.

[00:30:54] So as we've heard today, the future of cybersecurity isn't just about technology.

[00:30:59] It's about creating integrated, efficient solutions, solutions that can evolve as threats

[00:31:04] become more sophisticated.

[00:31:06] And I think Art's insights on identity security and the delicate balance between growth and

[00:31:12] M&A integration, I think collectively they offer a clear roadmap for navigating this complex

[00:31:18] landscape.

[00:31:19] From the challenges of cultural integration to the role of executive leadership, I think

[00:31:24] today's conversation leaves me with quite a few valuable lessons, but how will companies

[00:31:30] adapt their security strategies in the face of these growing threats?

[00:31:34] And what role will AI and cloud solutions play?

[00:31:37] And the answers, as Art suggests, might just shape the future of the entire industry.

[00:31:43] But remember, you know where to find me, techblogwriteroutlook.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, just at Neil C. Hughes.

[00:31:50] Pop me a quick message, let me know your thoughts, any questions, feel free to fire them over.

[00:31:54] But we're out of time now, so thank you for listening today.

[00:31:58] And until next time, don't be a stranger.

[00:32:02] Bye.