Marco Ciappelli sits down with cybersecurity evangelist and thought leader Theresa Lanowitz at the end of day one on the expo floor for a conversation that cuts through the noise — from shadow AI and leadership accountability, to brand identity, to why most companies here can't articulate a message above the fray. Plus: a Peloton story that accidentally became the best explanation of brand loyalty you'll hear all week.
Marco Ciappelli sits down with cybersecurity evangelist and thought leader Theresa Lanowitz at the end of day one on the expo floor for a conversation that cuts through the noise — from shadow AI and leadership accountability, to brand identity, to why most companies here can't articulate a message above the fray. Plus: a Peloton story that accidentally became the best explanation of brand loyalty you'll hear all week.
Chapters:
- Judge Sentences CEO to 8 Hours on the RSAC Floor
- End of Day One: Setting the Scene
- Who Is Theresa Lanowitz
- The Binary View of AI: Love It, Fear It, or Find the Gray
- Leadership's Role in the AI Transformation
- Shadow AI: The Insider Threat Nobody Is Naming
- Why Some Companies Still Say No to AI
- Fighting With Your LLM (We All Do It)
- AI Slop and the Brand Differentiation Problem
- The Peloton Story: What Real Brand Loyalty Looks Like
- RSAC 2026: Everyone Sounds the Same
- Where Is Agentic AI Actually Going
- Integration, Orchestration, ROI: The Real Questions
- Make AI Your Own
What's actually covered: → Why agentic AI is dominating RSAC 2026 — and why it all sounds the same → Shadow AI: the insider threat nobody is calling an insider threat → What strong brand presence actually looks like (hint: it's not a circus tent) → Why fear — not budget — is the real reason companies still say no to AI → Integration, orchestration, ROI: what comes after the hype → The one message that matters: make AI your own 🔗 More from RSA Conference 2026: itspmagazine.com/rsac
Marco Ciappelli: So, have you read the news today? There is...
Theresa Lanowitz: I happen to see a little bit of it.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, apparently weird stuff is happening.
Theresa Lanowitz: A lot of interesting stuff. I think the headline's really interesting.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, right. You want to read it? "Judge Sentences CISO and CEO to eight hours on RSA Expo floor." A punishment!
Theresa Lanowitz: It should be the RSA Conference floor, but yes, it's a punishment for a security breach.
Marco Ciappelli: Can you imagine? That's a big punishment.
Theresa Lanowitz: That is eight hours of pitches. But if you read the article, the funny thing is the CEO was seen enthusiastically engaging in a conversation with a vendor that does exactly what they do.
Marco Ciappelli: He found the solution that he was looking for.
Theresa Lanowitz: Yeah, securing Agentic AI. That's probably what his company did.
Marco Ciappelli: And that does whatever you want it to do. You either love it or not. Well, this is the end of Day 1 of the expo, but Day 2 of the conference. It's Tuesday. We've had a lot of conversations on the floor, and now I'm getting a moment with you. First of all, let's start with: who is Theresa?
Theresa Lanowitz: I am Theresa Lanowitz, a cybersecurity evangelist and thought leader.
Marco Ciappelli: Let's talk about marketing. We left the other chat with what I call a binary view of AI—people either love it or hate it. I say the truth is in the gray area between the one and the zero. What do you think?
Theresa Lanowitz: I agree. AI is a sea change, much like the cloud and the internet were before it. It's accelerating everything, including the speed of the adversary, but we have to ask: is it of good quality? You have to bring AI in safely with guardrails and domain expertise. You can't just take a finance specialist and have them market an electric car using only AI tools. You still need human intervention.
Marco Ciappelli: What is the role of leadership in driving this transformation?
Theresa Lanowitz: Leadership has to be very involved. Without guidance, you end up with "shadow AI," where employees with good intentions put confidential information into public models just to get work done faster. It's the new version of "bring your own device" (BYOD) or shadow IT.
Marco Ciappelli: How do you react to leaders who say "no" to AI because it's too dangerous for a corporate environment?
Theresa Lanowitz: It's like saying you won't have an internet presence. Smart and safe AI use is a competitive advantage. The rejection is usually driven by fear—fear of AI taking jobs. Generative AI made AI mainstream, but it still has a lot of learning to do. I actually fight with the models I use on a daily basis.
Marco Ciappelli: Which one do you use?
Theresa Lanowitz: I use Claude. It's often very deferential and apologetic if I point out a grammatical error.
Marco Ciappelli: I use Claude and ChatGPT. I find I'm still on my tiptoes with Claude, working with it but not expecting it to do all my work.
Theresa Lanowitz: Exactly. It's great for brainstorming and proofreading, but you need the domain expert to define "good" versus "AI slop."
Marco Ciappelli: Good can mean many things. In branding, it's about what belongs to your brand.
Theresa Lanowitz: It's how a brand personifies itself. Take Peloton—a brand we both love. During the pandemic, I bought a bike, and it's one of my best purchases. I recently visited their New York studio and the staff engaged me about my favorite instructors and my experience without ever trying to sell me a shirt. When I bought something anyway, the clerk said, "Thank you for being the best part of Peloton." That personification of the brand creates loyalty.
Marco Ciappelli: That's the opposite of what we see on the expo floor, where everything is just a giant, blended advertisement for "Agentic AI."
Theresa Lanowitz: Very few organizations here can articulate a message above the fray. They lack their own data and a disruptive point of view. Strong branding should make you think differently.
Marco Ciappelli: Where is the industry going with this AI trend?
Theresa Lanowitz: As a former analyst, I see this as a massive shift. We need to see how AI actually works for the business through integration with legacy applications, responsible implementation, and secure data. It's also about orchestration and, ultimately, cost—what does the ROI look like?
Marco Ciappelli: So it's not just "one AI," but AI you customize for your specific goals. Try it, experiment, and make it your own.
Theresa Lanowitz: Definitely.
Marco Ciappelli: This was fun. Thank you for spending time with us. Visit marcociappelli.com for more, and stay tuned for more from the RSA Conference.