AI & the Fifth Domain of Warfare: A Talk with Eyal Balicer, Cybersecurity Innovator & Thought Leader

AI & the Fifth Domain of Warfare: A Talk with Eyal Balicer, Cybersecurity Innovator & Thought Leader

By Michael Matias, CEO of Clarity and Forbes 30 Under 30 alumCybersecurity has entered a new domain—literally. As Eyal Balicer put it in our recent conversation: “Cyberspace is now the fifth domain of warfare.” But in this domain, the battleground isn’t just code. It’s control.Eyal brings a rare vantage point to the AI-cyber nexus—he’s held senior cybersecurity roles in the Israeli government, Fortune 100 companies like Citi, and top-tier venture capital. Our discussion centered on a growing truth: with the rise of agentic systems—AI entities that can act, decide, and evolve—the mission of cybersecurity is changing.“We are shifting from a world where intelligence was a scarce resource to one where that is not necessarily the case; true agency is becoming the new elusive driver of prosperity and growth,” Eyal explained. “The systems we are now securing are not just automated—they are autonomous, highly competent, and opaque. Traditional defenses cannot keep up.”It’s a shift I’ve seen firsthand at Clarity, where we build proactive defenses against deepfakes and AI-generated phishing. Just like Shahar Peled told me about agentic AI revolutionizing offensive testing, Eyal sees these agents redefining global threat models. The challenge isn’t identifying known threats—it’s safeguarding systems that learn, adapt, and act independently.And that requires a new security architecture.“An AI agent can have fluid permissions, context-based roles, and evolving identity,” he told me. “Conventional IAM just does not cut it anymore.” In that sense, Balicer echoes voices like Ron Nissim and Alon Jackson, who both called for a redefinition of identity management in the AI age.But Eyal's view goes broader: geopolitical. He sees cybersecurity not just as a business enabler, but as a pillar of national resilience. From financial systems to defense infrastructure, the stakes have never been higher. “The future will require autonomous cybersecurity—not just automated, pre-defined playbooks, but real-time, adaptive agents who reason and defend at the edge, with varying degrees of human intervention.”We discussed how the regulatory map only adds to the complexity. “The fragmentation across jurisdictions makes cross-border cybersecurity brittle,” Eyal warned. His point was clear: the only viable strategy is proactive, agentic, adaptable security. Not static controls. Not red-alert dashboards.The recent acquisition of Wiz by Google, he said, is just the beginning. “This will eventually lead to an entrepreneurial Cambrian explosion in cybersecurity,” Eyal predicted. And much like Dorit Dor told me, the organizations that survive will be those that move fast—and let AI lead the charge.As we closed, his advice was blunt: “Ignoring this revolution is not an option. AI evolves daily. Your security safeguards and controls should not lag behind.”My takeaway? Eyal isn’t just talking about new tools—he’s laying out a new doctrine.Agentic AI isn’t coming. It’s here. And if we don’t secure it now, we risk losing control of the systems that already make decisions for us.The future of cyber isn’t just proactive. It’s autonomous. And it’s already reshaping the balance of power.

Episoder(1167)

Ep104: Ariel Tseitlin | Partner at Scale Venture Partners

Ep104: Ariel Tseitlin | Partner at Scale Venture Partners

Ariel is a Partner at Scale focused on investments in the cloud and security industries. He currently sits on the board of directors at Agari, BigID, CyberGRX, Expel, Honeycomb, PerimeterX, and Threat Stack. Previously, he was Director of Cloud Solutions at Netflix where he was responsible for creating and operating one of the most modern cloud infrastructures in the industry, accounting for a full third of all US downstream internet traffic at peak. Ariel holds an MBA with honors from Wharton.

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Ep101: Doron Simon | C-Level Executive, Investor and Advisor

Ep101: Doron Simon | C-Level Executive, Investor and Advisor

Doron is a C-Level executive with diverse experience in Strategy, M&A, GM and BD. He is an active investor and a strategic advisor with focus on growth, change management, funding and mergers and acquisitions. Most recently Doron was a Vice President at NICE and General Manager of NICE Satmetrix. Previously he was President of Tower Semiconductor USA, VP Marketing and Sales. Doron is a General Partner at J-Ventures.

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Ep103: Raymond Stern | Technology Executive, Mentor, and Investor

Ep103: Raymond Stern | Technology Executive, Mentor, and Investor

Raymond has worked as an executive and consultant to leading technology companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. He currently serves as an advisor to CEOs of high growth venture backed companies. Previously he held executive positions in The Boston Consulting Group (Partner), Intuit (SVP of Strategy & Corporate Development and CMO) and Yahoo! (SVP of Global Partnerships & Business Development). Raymond has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a MBA from Harvard University.

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Ep102: Ami Mac | Director of Translational Medicine at Stanford Genome Technology Center

Ep102: Ami Mac | Director of Translational Medicine at Stanford Genome Technology Center

Ami is the Director of Translational Medicine and Patient Relations at the Stanford Genome Technology Center.  She has served in the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) on the Leadership Council, has been involved in medical student and resident education nationally, and has written a guide to musculoskeletal ultrasound distributed by Sonosite.  She has expertise in analytics, advised multiple startups in business strategy, product development and marketing.

11 Sep 202022min

Ep131: Shiran Melamdovsky Somech | Program Managing Director at DriveTLV

Ep131: Shiran Melamdovsky Somech | Program Managing Director at DriveTLV

Shiran’s day job is the program managing director at DRIVE TLV and runs the commercialization program called fastlane. However, in the evenings she propels forward females in various aspects. Shiran was a managing partner of Yazamiyot, Israel’s leading community of over 5,000 members, and a volunteer at Saleet, an organization helping women at risk, working to integrate them into the hi-tech industry.

11 Sep 202021min

Ep100: Laura Lauder | Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund

Ep100: Laura Lauder | Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund

Laura is a social entrepreneur and venture philanthropist in Silicon Valley, focusing on Signature Initiatives that she has designed and launched with experts and other philanthropists. Her initiatives include the Center for Media and Democracy in Israel: (A ProPublica model in Israel), DeLeT: A Jewish Teach-for-America and a Jewish Teen Philanthropy program worldwide.. She serves on 11 nonprofit and foundation boards, is an avid cyclist and, in 2009, won a bronze medal in the Maccabi Games in Israel!

2 Sep 202023min

Ep99: Shmuel Shottan | SVP Storage Engineering at Hitachi Vantara

Ep99: Shmuel Shottan | SVP Storage Engineering at Hitachi Vantara

Shmuel is the SVP, Storage Engineering at Hitachi Vantara and was previously CTO and SVP Engineering of BlueArc, the leading provider of the most scalable and the highest performing network storage solutions (acquired by Hitachi). He previously led technology and strategy and 3 other startups that were acquired, and joined Quantum Technology Ventures as a general partner. Shmuel is passionate about mentoring, coaching, and advising young entrepreneurs.

2 Sep 202022min

Ep97: Lisandro Brill | Latin America Venture Capitalist

Ep97: Lisandro Brill | Latin America Venture Capitalist

Lisandro is one of the pioneers of the venture capital industry in Latin America (J-Ventures LP for Latin American Community, AxiaVentures, AltaVentures – México & USA -, OIKOS AgriFoodTech. He is focused on creating and investing in companies that improve the lives of people around the world, especially in developing areas, and his investments have amounted to multiple exits and IPOs. He holds a BA in Economics (Cum Laude) from University of Buenos Aires, and a MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

2 Sep 202021min

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