Every spring, we’re guaranteed a few things – leaves on trees, sunnier days… and the gathering of the most security-focused minds descending upon San Francisco. That’s right – it’s the security industry’s time to shine at RSA 2023, and this year’s theme is spot on. “Stronger Together” is a tremendous recognition of the unique power of this industry to learn from each other and collaborate, not compete. To establish best practices together, not apart. To be a collective force reckoning against threats, not a singular entity in a silo.
With this theme in mind and knowing that as a technology consultancy, Hotwire is only as strong as the media we partner with to tell our clients’ stories, we spoke with security reporters, influencers and analysts planning to cover this year’s conference. For these veterans, it certainly isn’t their first RSA rodeo, so these perspectives are invaluable and emphasize what is top-of-mind heading into this year’s event.
Don’t Lean into the Hype
We know this is the golden rule for any event or conference, especially when you plan to interact with media. For the security industry, this is the biggest moment of the year, so schedules are especially tight, and desires are high for brands to get in front of journalists to share their latest news, products, and perspectives. You simply cannot show up and hope for the best, so the time is nigh to carve out strategies and approaches.
For example, Alan Shimel of Tech Strong TV advised that instead of written content this year, he’s prioritizing video interviews and plans to stream content all week. He’s expecting AI to be the underlying buzz of the event and conversations to include ChatGPT. However instead of leaning into the hype, Alan mentioned he’d like to hear from brands at a higher-level and wishes companies would speak to “how security is front and center in digital transformations.”
Will Townsend, security analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, echoed Alan, wishing companies attending RSA 2023 would better address “business outcomes and ecosystem cooperation,” which absolutely leans into this year’s conference theme of greater collaboration and synergies creating better collective outcomes. Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst of ZK Research, agrees, recognizing the “push to consolidate security vendors as security platforms become more common.”
But AI Still Front of Mind
AI has been covered ad nauseum across the last year despite being a newer concept for most. There’s curiosity, yet caution – conflicting messages and narratives are omnipresent highlighting the opportunity for AI juxtaposed with its downfalls and dangers. For journalists, AI technology will absolutely be something they are looking to cover but deciphering which brands are jumping on the jargon bandwagon versus those implementing strategies and solutions that will move the needle and make a difference will be front of mind.
Chris Preimesberger, a contributing writer and editor to several high-profile tech outlets, specifically said that while he’s expecting content to cover tried-and-true topics such as zero trust and shift left strategies, he’d ideally like to hear how companies “are planning to use AI models to get ahead of hackers and cut them off before they do harm.”
Zeus supplemented this sentiment, “AI will be big as that’s being used to bring more analytics to security. I’m expecting to see something around AI-based threat response as a way of bringing a new approach to it. Responsible AI should be another hot topic as every vendor has not jumped on the generative AI bandwagon, so ensuring it’s been done responsibly is important.”
See You There?
For those in the security industry, RSA remains a must-attend event. We know firsthand the chaos – and opportunities – that await brands as they pass through the threshold of the Moscone Center. Are you attending? On the fence about attending? Drop us a line – we’d love to discuss how you can maximize everything the conference has to offer and stand out, not just at RSA but ongoing.