7 Lessons for Securing AI Transformation
DarkReading.com reported “The road to AI failures is paved with good intentions and dodgy deployments. Many people are working overtime to lay down those bricks as organizations hurry to maintain relevance in an era of AI transformation.” The September 18, 2025 article entitled "7 Lessons for Securing AI Transformation From Digital Guru Jennifer Ewbank” (https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/7-lessons-securing-ai-transformation-former-cia-digital-guru) include comments about “Lesson 2: When AI Drives the Mission, It Better Be Trustworthy”:
One of the most transformative parts of Ewbank's digital innovation work was helping the CIA rethink where cybersecurity was placed within the organization. It had previously been positioned in the Office of Security, but she lobbied to pull the CISO role under her directorate's leadership to change the mindset to have cybersecurity completely baked into digital capabilities.
This was crucial because the CISO needed to be involved in the discussions at every step of the way to drive innovation in cyber threat intelligence and ensure the AI capabilities built to analyze it all were safe and reliable. Building a brain trust comprised of the CISO, CIO, and chief data officer made it easier to make rapid, risk-aware decisions.
"Our digital C-suite was a big stepping stone," she says. "The CISO was now at the table when systems and programs were being discussed and designed and not brought in at the end," she says.
Private-sector leaders should take this lesson to heart and bake cybersecurity into the fabric of AI technology deployments, Ewbank says. The damage potential is great when adversaries exploit AI, she says.
"I worry about the future of organizations and their AI systems that are being rapidly deployed without cybersecurity guardrails in place. I worry about the outcomes when cybersecurity is not sitting at the table as teams put together new capabilities," she says. "They shouldn't move without security."
Here are all 7 lessons from “former CIA deputy director for digital innovation” Jennifer Ewbank:
Lesson 1: Organizational Culture Is Key
Lesson 2: When AI Drives the Mission, It Better Be Trustworthy
Lesson 3: Intentional Education Tracks Can Bridge Tech Culture Silos
Lesson 4: Security Doesn't Own the Risk
Lesson 5: AI Resilience Rests in Boring Fundamentals
Lesson 6: Adversarial Thinking Matters
Lesson 7: Choose Imperfection Over Inaction
Good advice!