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(1165)

Ep723: Omer Shirazi | Co-Founder and COO, EasySend

Ep723: Omer Shirazi | Co-Founder and COO, EasySend

Omer Shirazi, 32, is the Co-Founder and COO of EasySend, a no code platform that transforms any manual process into a digital customer journey . Omer Leads EasySend’s go to market teams globally, but still enjoys running a sales demo on his own every week or two. He is passionate about products, data and integrating innovative software solutions with business processes and human teams.

25 Jan 202221min

Ep722: Leor Ben-Yakov | Chief Innovation Officer TLV, Head of Partnerships & Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation

Ep722: Leor Ben-Yakov | Chief Innovation Officer TLV, Head of Partnerships & Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation

Leor is Chief Innovation Officer, Head of Partnerships and Ventures at Mitsubishi Corporation’s (MC) Tel-Aviv Office. Its history dating back to the 19th century, MC is one of the largest Japanese General Trading companies - active in virtually every industry. He joined MC’s new outpost to help effectively connect the vast footprint and resources of a global and traditional corporation with the innovative ecosystem that has developed in Israel. He is Israel’s advocate within the group, identifying synergetic opportunities for collaboration or investment in verticals such as AgriFoodTech, Industry 4.0, Mobility, CleanTech and others.

25 Jan 202221min

Ep721: David Siegel | Co-Founder, Solvd4

Ep721: David Siegel | Co-Founder, Solvd4

David Siegel is the co-founder of startup dispute mediation platform Solvd4, and a partner at Grellas Shah. David is an unusual startup lawyer in having done sophisticated legal work in both transactional and litigation matters: he is an accomplished startup lawyer and litigator who has extensive experience in handling a broad range of corporate, transactional, and intellectual property matters, including work on multi-million dollar financings and acquisitions, all in addition to having a deep expertise in handling complex intellectual property, corporate, and commercial litigation matters.

24 Jan 202220min

Ep720: Yoel Tzion Israel | Founder and CEO, WadiDigital

Ep720: Yoel Tzion Israel | Founder and CEO, WadiDigital

Yoel Israel is the founder and CEO of WadiDigital, the world's leading tech marketing agency, and Cyfluencer, the only B2B Tech Influencer Marketing Platform. Yoel is also the founder and host of the youtube channel Israel Unfiltered, a platform for Israeli news and culture. Yoel is passionate about sales, LinkedIn, entrepreneurship.

24 Jan 202220min

Ep719: Ronen Yochpaz | Vice President of Information Technology, Bank Hapoalim

Ep719: Ronen Yochpaz | Vice President of Information Technology, Bank Hapoalim

Ronen is an entrepreneur and information technologies expert, combines practical and theoretical knowledge in advanced technologies, with proven experience in leading complicated projects in innovative technologies.

21 Jan 202221min

Ep718: Timor Arbel-Sadras | CEO, LeumiTech

Ep718: Timor Arbel-Sadras | CEO, LeumiTech

Timor has recently joined Leumi Group as Leumitech’s CEO. LeumiTech is the banking arm for high tech companies. Timor has over 20 years of experience in the high tech industry and held a variety of senior management positions among them Managing Partner at Viola Credit and Chief Operating Officer of EverC, an Israeli fintech startup. At earlier part of her career, Timor was Strategy and Management Consultant at Valoris Consulting and worked with Europe’s large telecom operators. Timor also worked at Intel’s Design Center in Haifa in various project leader and project management roles in the Mobile processors division. Timor holds a BSc (Cum Laude) in Industrial Engineering from the Technion and an MBA from ESADE Business School.

20 Jan 202222min

Ep717: Renika Smiley | Founder and CEO, Generation NOW

Ep717: Renika Smiley | Founder and CEO, Generation NOW

Founder Renika J. Smiley first launched Generation NOW as a LinkedIn Networking Happy Hour Event, hosted at local bars. Her first events featured a diverse speaking panel and began with an audience of 40-75 young professionals in Igby's private second floor. Fortune 500 corporate offices soon replaced Igby’s when attendance grew to 200+.

19 Jan 202222min

Ep716: Maroua Ameziane | Executive Director, Youth SDG Action Campaign

Ep716: Maroua Ameziane | Executive Director, Youth SDG Action Campaign

Maroua is Sustainable Development Project Manager at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. She is in charge of sustainability community engagement as well. She has been mentoring young leaders and startupers (400+) for more than 5 years now. She is currently the Executive Director and youth mobilizer at Youth SDG Action campaign in Morocco with the sustainable development’s youth organization and was president and co-founder of World Merit Rabat, an international organization that works on the SDGs and youth empowerment where she always conducted projects for youth empowerment and provided impactful opportunities for her members.

18 Jan 202223min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
pengepodden-2
utbytte
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
finansredaksjonen
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
pengesnakk
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
rss-sunn-okonomi
okonomiamatorene
lederpodden
rss-rettssikkerhet-bak-fasaden-pa-rettsstaten-norge
rss-andelige-tanker-med-camillo
rss-markedspuls-2
rss-fa-makro
stinn-av-gryn