How Microsoft Integrates AI Into Security | Binil Pillai
Plus, why your strategy isn't sticking, how to fast track to management, and what to focus on if you're worried about AI.
In the past year, ransomware attacks have been up almost 300%, with over 50% targeting small businesses. To help mitigate this increase, Microsoft is launching their new Security Copilot, and I sat down with their SMB Security Strategy Head, Binil Pillai, to learn more.
We dive into the importance of SMBs assessing their security posture, how to leverage AI for efficient threat detection and response, and the role of Microsoft's partner ecosystem in providing comprehensive security solutions. The episode concludes with advice for SMB leaders on starting their security assessments and the benefits of integrating AI into their cybersecurity strategies.
“Overall, ransomware attacks have been up almost 300 percent in the past year and over 50 percent targeting small businesses. The economic cost of these attacks for small and medium business can be catastrophic. With over 60 percent of small businesses not being able to operate after they have been experienced a cyber attack.”
Episode Highlights:
01:39 Why is SMB security a priority for Microsoft?
07:34 Key security challenges for SMBs
09:26 How can SMBs leverage AI within security?
16:28 How VPs of Engineering can use new tech to deal with threats
20:25 Microsoft Security Copilot
24:30 Where is the best place to learn about Microsoft's security strategy?
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. Why Your Strategy Isn’t Sticking
If you’ve ever tried to implement a new strategy that sounded great on paper, but fell short during implementation, you may need to evaluate from a contextual mindset instead of an operational one.
In this new article from the Harvard Business Review, Andrea Belk Olson discusses how you can shift your mindset to identify hidden obstacles that can get in the way of your strategy’s success.
Read: Why Isn’t Your Strategy Sticking?
2. How to Fast Track to Management
According to
, 3 steps fast tracked him to become a Director of Engineering in a little more than 3 years:Be the go-to person for your manager
Become known outside your team
Ask for the promotion
He walks through how he applied each of these steps in his promotion from dev to team lead, and again from team lead to director.
Starting Your Engineering Metrics Program (Sponsor)
A robust metrics program provides holistic visibility into engineering health, predictable project delivery, and a great dev experience. But it’s not always obvious how to build the right software metrics program for your business.
On April 30th and May 2nd, LinearB will be hosting a workshop where you’ll learn how to:
Decide the right engineering KPIs for your organization
Benchmark against industry standards
Gather actionable insights to identify improvement opportunities
Leverage goals to alleviate bottlenecks
Enable your team with workflow automation
3. What to Focus on if You’re Worried About AI
A couple of weeks ago, Cognition announced the first AI software engineer Devin and we highlighted developers concerns about job security following the rollout.
shared his thoughts on how AI will affect software engineers, and how you should shift your focus to develop irreplaceable skills.“If you’re worried about wasting time on replaceable skills, focus on learning higher-level behaviors. This means improving your directional thinking, ability to influence, and high-level tech planning to name a few examples.”
4. Leading 650 Engineers & Co-Founding Kubernetes - Brendan Burns
We’re throwing it back to our first episode with someone from Microsoft – featuring their CVP and Kubernetes co-founder Brendan Burns.
Three years ago, Dan sat down with Brendan to learn how he manages an organization with 650+ engineers, and the founding story of Kubernetes.
Upcoming Events
An Engineering Leader’s Guide to Reporting Up
April 17th | Online
Highlights: Effective reporting can help you plan strategically, own your goals, and advocate for what your team needs. LeadDev’s upcoming workshop will help you feel more prepared, confident, and ready to showcase engineering’s impact.
Starting Your Engineering Metrics Program
April 30th, May 2nd | Online
Highlights: In this workshop, LinearB will walk you through how to drive an average 47% reduction in cycle time via your engineering metrics program and provide you with free resources and tools to get started.