Thomas Richard chats with Michael Greenlaw, Founder & CEO, FedRock
The Cyber Security Recruiter PodcastShow Notes
Michael Greenlaw on AI, DevSecOps, and FedRAMP Automation: Speed, Risks, and the Need for Fundamentals
Tom and Michael discuss Microsoft’s strategy and licensing shifts pulling organizations toward Windows and Azure, and the frustration of incompatible cloud service naming across AWS/Azure/GCP. Michael describes using Claude to learn and build with LLMs rapidly, calling it “fast Google,” but warns about hallucinations, compounded errors in chained tasks, human limits in reviewing massive AI-generated code, poor handling of branching strategies, and the need for humans to own architecture and fundamentals.
They debate layoffs attributed to AI versus post-COVID overhiring and shareholder optics, and note AI’s growing impact on vulnerability discovery and exploitation.
Book recommendations: “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (Dale Carnegie), “The Trusted Advisor,” and “Thinking in Bets.”
00:00 Welcome and Intro 00:39 Career Path Update 01:25 Why Windows Again 05:41 Cloud Naming Frustrations 07:27 Keeping Up With Titles 09:12 AI Learning Acceleration 11:36 Curiosity in Hiring 15:39 Market Whiplash Era 19:11 FedRock and AI Experiments 22:19 Automating Workflows With RPA 24:31 AI Saving Lives Story 25:44 AI Pitfalls and Guardrails 31:09 Markets Overhyped AI 33:02 AI Errors And Whiplash 33:50 Why Juniors Still Matter 35:34 Overhiring Blamed On AI 38:11 Metrics Gaming And Talent 40:32 Shareholders And Productivity 42:28 AI Addiction And Frustration 47:08 Learning Boosts And Security Risks 51:58 Using AI With Responsibility 55:16 Scale Problems In Big Orgs 57:06 Books That Changed Everything 01:02:19 Closing Thanks And Wrap Up
Nexo - Executive, GTM & Cybersecurity Recruitment https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspropen/
More from The Cyber Security Recruiter Podcast
Recruiting in a whiplash market: Beth Wolfe on fraud, pay corrections, and building real connections Thomas chats with Beth Wolfe, Senior Director of Recruiting at Daxko, about today’s volatile hiring market, candidate trust issues, and recruiter best practices.
Gary Alterson on agentic SOCs, AI spend control, and building Sovereign AI
Protecting Student Data, Leading Security Teams, and Keeping Up With AI: Jeff Bailey on Security Leadership
00:00 Welcome and introductions 00:39 Lindsay career snapshot 01:41 Threat intel at Human 02:37 New book launch 03:33 Malware needs context 04:42 Spotting real people online 08:25 AI as attack amplifier 09:45 Phishing at scale 11:50 Democratized hacking risks 15:18 Path to VP leadership 20:00 AI proof risk communication 21:53 Time boxing MIT MBA grind 23:13 Writing a book discipline 23:49 Small wins and purpose 25:15 Book writing deepens mastery 26:39 Communication skills through practice 29:15 Behind the scenes struggles 32:02 Mentors versus sponsors 34:41 Security community collaboration 35:48 Whats next and book teaser 37:46 Boat go faster mantra 39:49 Final thanks and wrap up
Recruiting in cybersecurity & AI: Relationships, what great candidates do, and fixing broken hiring processes Thomas hosts the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast with Spencer Grant, lead recruiter at 7AI, discussing recruiting realities, relationship-driven hiring, and how top candidates stand out. Spencer describes his career path largely shaped by following a strong manager and emphasizes providing a “three-star Michelin” candidate experience. They outline traits of great candidates: depth of technical understanding (the “whys”), outcome-focused thinking tied to business ROI and honesty paired with curiosity. Spencer critiques broken application processes and advises proactive outreach after applying, strong interview preparation - company research, coding/system design readiness - and asking substantive questions. They discuss AI’s impact on jobs, valuing human touch over automated screening, and Spencer’s Meta layoff and contracting path back to full-time. Book recommendation: “The Mental Game: Winning the War Within Your Mind.”