Passwordless Security in the Age of AI: A Conversation with Slavik Markovich, CEO of Descope

Passwordless Security in the Age of AI: A Conversation with Slavik Markovich, CEO of Descope

Cybersecurity is once again at a critical crossroads—this time, driven by the explosive growth of AI technologies. During a recent visit to Descope’s Palo Alto office, I sat down with CEO Slavik Markovich, a veteran in the cybersecurity space whose past ventures, Demisto (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) and Sentrigo (acquired by McAfee), shaped much of the modern security landscape. Our conversation centered around how AI is radically reshaping digital identity.


Slavik and his team—collaborators for nearly three decades—launched Descope with a bold mission: eliminate passwords altogether. “Passwords are the worst of both worlds,” he noted, “hard for humans to remember and easy for computers to crack.” As AI supercharges phishing and other attack vectors, traditional passwords only grow more inadequate.


Instead, Slavik advocates for passkeys—phishing-resistant, cryptographic keys stored locally and authenticated via biometrics, without ever exposing the biometric data. It's a fundamentally more secure and seamless approach to authentication.


Descope’s innovation doesn’t stop there. As AI evolves into “agentic” form—digital agents acting on behalf of users—the company is tackling a new security frontier. These agents don’t fit neatly into existing models of user authentication or machine-to-machine trust. “The industry is shifting toward agentic AI,” Slavik explained, “and that’s expanding the scale and complexity of identity management.”


One surprisingly common challenge they’re solving is the "confused agent problem," where digital agents unintentionally act with higher privileges than intended. Descope positions itself as the intermediary—managing progressive authorization, mediating between users, agents, and applications, and ensuring secure, compliant interactions.


For CISOs and enterprise leaders, this shift presents both urgency and opportunity. AI is no longer an emerging edge case—it’s embedded in tools and workflows across organizations. Security teams must act swiftly to secure agent-driven interactions and identity touchpoints or risk falling behind.


At Clarity, where I focus on AI-powered threats like deepfakes and next-gen phishing, I see firsthand how vital identity management has become. It’s no longer just a login issue—it’s the first and most critical line of defense. Security solutions must be both robust and frictionless, balancing user experience with airtight protection.


Slavik also shared a personal insight that stood out to me: “We prioritize having fun. We’ve built multiple companies together because we genuinely enjoy the journey.” That mindset resonates. The best cybersecurity innovations come from passionate teams that love solving hard problems, not just building defenses.


The identity revolution is already underway. Organizations that embrace passwordless, agent-aware authentication now will dramatically improve both their security and user experience. Those that delay will face rising vulnerabilities and growing user frustration.


Our industry isn’t just evolving—it’s undergoing a full-scale transformation. Proactively embracing agentic AI, passkeys, and adaptive identity strategies is not just smart—it’s essential. Those who lead will define the future of digital trust. Those who don’t may find themselves struggling to catch up in a threat landscape redefined by AI.

Avsnitt(1170)

Ep147: Stav Erez | Partner at Labs/02

Ep147: Stav Erez | Partner at Labs/02

Stav is a partner at Labs/02, a stage fund and Incubator backed by the leading equity crowdfunding platform OutCrowd, India’s Reliance Industries, the Hebrew University and the Israel Innovation Authority. Previously she was an entrepreneur focused on building startup accelerators and co-founder of SifTech, the first entrepreneurship center and accelerator program in greater Jerusalem. She also founded Jnext, which aims to strengthen and empower the technological ecosystem in Jerusalem.

27 Sep 202022min

Ep146: Jacob Shulman | Chief Financial Officer of JFrog

Ep146: Jacob Shulman | Chief Financial Officer of JFrog

Jacob is a financial expert with over 25 years of experience in driving the hyper growth of multinational enterprises, guiding global operations and supporting expansion into international markets, leading major corporate mergers, optimizing financial operations and overseeing corporate governance and compliance. He scaled multiple enterprises, raised over $750 million in venture capital and completed over $1.5 billion in acquisitions.

26 Sep 202022min

Ep145: Benny Czarny | Founder and CEO of OPSWAT

Ep145: Benny Czarny | Founder and CEO of OPSWAT

Benny is the CEO and Founder of OPSWAT, a cyber security company that provides critical infrastructure protection (CIP) solutions for over 1,500 customers across a wide range of industries, including energy (protecting most US nuclear power generation and research facilities), financial services, government agencies, healthcare, transportation, networking, and telecommunications. Benny bootstrapped OPSWAT and has transformed the company into a global operation with 300+ employees and 10 offices without any external capital investment.

25 Sep 202023min

Ep144: Dana Look Arimoto | Founder and CEO of Phoenix⁵

Ep144: Dana Look Arimoto | Founder and CEO of Phoenix⁵

Dana Look-Arimoto is the Founder and CEO of Phoenix⁵, a leadership and executive coaching company that helps corporations and leaders transform at an accelerated rate. She is a 2018 SIA Global Power 150 for Women in Staffing, coach, international speaker, author of Stop Settling, Settle Smart, and the host of the “Settle Smarter” podcast. Dana is using her knowledge from leading teams and companies for two decades in the staffing industry to evangelize her new mindset, method, and movement to redefine work-life balance.

24 Sep 202023min

Ep143: Cecile Blilious | Head of Impact and Sustainability at Pitango Venture Capital

Ep143: Cecile Blilious | Head of Impact and Sustainability at Pitango Venture Capital

Cecile is the Head of Impact & Sustainability at Pitango Venture Capital, Israel’s largest VC, where she is responsible for adapting the worlds of ESG and the SDGs to the framework of mainstream venture capital. Previously, she was the Founder and Managing Partner of Impact First Investments, Israel's first impact investing company, and was one of the initiators of the Al-Bawader private equity fund, the first investor in Arab-founded startups.

23 Sep 202024min

Ep142: Sandor Valner | CEO of Network Bankers

Ep142: Sandor Valner | CEO of Network Bankers

Sandor is the CEO of Network Bankers, a tech-enabled investment bank matching capital providers and capital users through a global network of over 30,000 CEOs. Through the founding and leading of two successful investment banking businesses and a real estate management group, as well as board member of publicly traded companies, he led the advisory process on over $20B of M&As. Sandor holds an MBA from Stanford Business School and a Masters in AI from Stanford.

22 Sep 202021min

Ep141: Itai Sadan | Co-Founder and CEO of Duda

Ep141: Itai Sadan | Co-Founder and CEO of Duda

Itai founded Duda, a professional website builder for web designers, agencies and SaaS platforms. He started the company from his garage in Mountain View, CA, with his high school friend, Amir Glatt, who is now CTO. Duda currently has over 800,000 websites hosted on its platform. Previously Itai held business development, product and engineering positions at companies such as SAP and Amdocs.

21 Sep 202021min

Ep140: Amy Vetter | CEO and Keynote Speaker at The B3 Method® Institute

Ep140: Amy Vetter | CEO and Keynote Speaker at The B3 Method® Institute

Amy is the CEO of The B3 Method Institute and Drishtiq Yoga, a keynote speaker, and corporate board member. She is the author of the book, Business, Balance & Bliss: How the B3 Method Can Transform Your Career and Life, and the host of the Breaking Beliefs podcast. Her speaking programs encompass one-of-a-kind topics on digital transformation, mindfulness, leadership, employee engagement, company culture, change management and innovation.

20 Sep 202021min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

badfluence
framgangspodden
varvet
uppgang-och-fall
rss-jossan-nina
rss-svart-marknad
rss-borsens-finest
bathina-en-podcast
24fragor
lastbilspodden
avanzapodden
affarsvarlden
svd-tech-brief
fill-or-kill
dynastin
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
rss-dagen-med-di
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
borsmorgon
tabberaset