This week I'm breaking down one of the most important conferences in the tech world. RSAC 2026 is happening right now in San Francisco, and even if cybersecurity isn't your world yet, I think this one is worth your attention. We get into how a single room of cryptographers (the people who figured out how to keep your data private using math) in 1991 became a 40,000-person global institution, why AI has completely taken over the conversation this year, and the three trends that are going to be defining headlines for the next decade.

This is the patch:

• why RSAC is the one conference the whole industry actually pays attention to
• agentic AI: who owns it when no one does
• post-quantum cryptography and why the time to prepare is now, not later
• CTEM: the shift away from checking for threats every few weeks to having a live, always-on view of where you are exposed

We close with the lifestyle segment, and this one is for my listeners who are constantly on the move for work. I get into why I stopped bringing a carry-on and never looked back, why this Korean skincare product is my ultimate travel companion, and why a trench over a TNA butter set is the only airport outfit you will ever need.

All views expressed are my own.

Lauren Wilson was one of my very first friends in tech. She took me under her wing, showed me the ropes, and now she's doing something I think is genuinely rare: she spent eight years at one of the biggest companies in the world, left it all behind, and went to teach and coach the next generation at the University of Alabama. On top of having an MBA in business analytics, Lauren is also a certified career coach, and one of the most grounded people I know.

This is the kind of career conversation I wish I'd had at 22.

This is the patch:

• how to actually break into tech when your degree has nothing to do with STEM
• imposter syndrome: why it never fully goes away and how to stop letting it run the show
• your personal board of directors and why the people on it need to know they're on it
• being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and why embarrassment is just the price of entry

We close with the lifestyle segment where Lauren talks about the non-negotiables that make her feel like herself: the coffee ritual, the morning walks, the music that carries her through every mood. We take a little country music detour (Nashville will do that to you), and she gives a very heartfelt shoutout to her brother's artist, Logan Mize.

All views expressed are my own.

Chelsea Squires is an AI and data leader at Slalom, a consultancy that believes the best technology outcomes start with people, not the other way around, and one of Forbes' top ranked management consulting firms in 2025. She spends her days helping companies move past the noise and actually implement AI in ways that stick. She also happens to spend her weekends building Claude-powered apps to manage her skincare routine. Both require the same thing: knowing exactly what you're working with.

This episode is about what it actually takes to use AI well.

This is the patch:

• The problem: why adoption is the hardest part of any AI rollout and what most companies are getting wrong
• The method: reframing AI not as a time-saving tool but as something that gives you your mental bandwidth back
• The routine: how Chelsea built a personal Claude-powered skincare app and what it reveals about where this technology is actually headed

In the lifestyle segment we talk about fashion as a form of confidence, dressing with intention, and the shoe that put her foot quite literally in the door.

All views expressed are my own.