AI & the Fifth Domain of Warfare: A Talk with Eyal Balicer, Cybersecurity Innovator & Thought Leader
20MinuteLeaders14 Sep

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.

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