The Cybersecurity Futurist - Ep 172

Reimagining Cyber - real world perspectives on cybersecurity

In this episode, Rob Aragao sits down with futurist Heather Vescent to explore how strategic foresight can be applied to cybersecurity. Heather explains what it means to be a futurist—blending creativity with analytical research—and shares her journey from Silicon Valley to becoming a leader in foresight methodologies. She discusses her early work on the future of money, digital identity, and how that naturally led her into cybersecurity.

Together, they dive into topics such as spiral dynamics, scenario planning, and bias awareness, and how these tools help anticipate future threats and opportunities. Heather also breaks down the concept of agentic AI (digital employees), examining its potential as both an expanded attack surface and a defense enhancer. Finally, she previews her upcoming book, The Cybersecurity Futures Playbook, which translates foresight tools into practical frameworks for security professionals.

Listeners will walk away with new ways to anticipate threats, improve response readiness, and think differently about the future of cybersecurity.

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As featured on Million Podcasts' Best 100 Cybersecurity Podcast and Best 70
Chief Information Security Officer CISO Podcasts rankings.