AI Forces CISOs to Rebuild Defense Playbooks

Francis deSouza of Google Cloud on Fighting AI-Driven Threats With AI Anna Delaney (annamadeline) • March 24, 2026

Artificial intelligence has pushed cybersecurity leaders into a new era of defense, where attackers move faster, attack surfaces expand and regulators demand greater accountability. CISOs must rebuild their playbooks for a threat landscape shaped by AI agents, new attack techniques and growing data risk, said Francis deSouza, chief operating officer and president, security products, Google Cloud.

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That transition has changed the security operating model itself. Human-led defense no longer keeps pace with AI-driven attacks, deSouza said.

"CISOs are bringing in AI tools, they are re-skilling their teams to make sure they're fluent on AI and that we're using AI-driven workflows and agents to be able to identify attacks more quickly and respond way more quickly than we ever have," he said ...