Watch Now

Show Notes

At Black Hat 2024, we sat down with Kayla Williams, Chief Information Security Officer at Devo, to discuss her career journey, the role of AI in cybersecurity, and the pervasive issue of burnout among SOC analysts. Through her research with Wakefield Research, Kayla and her team discovered that 83% of IT professionals are burnt out due to stress, lack of sleep, and anxiety. IT and Security burnout leads to breaches.

For the past 4 years, Devo has been hosting SOC Analyst Appreciation Day, a virtual event where they shower SOC analysts with the love, appreciation and recognition that they deserve.

 

Impactful Moments:

00:00 - Introduction

01:25 - Kayla Williams, Chief Information Security Officer at Devo

01:38 - How Kayla Became a CISO

03:06 - Challenges and Rewards

04:23 - Burnout in Cybersecurity

04:31 - 83% of IT professionals are Burnt Out

09:38 - How AI Fits into the SOC

09:59 - Key Use Cases for AI in Cybersecurity

15:07 - Insider Threat and Employees Stealing Company Data

18:14 - Non-Traditional Paths into Cybersecurity

21:00 - Future of Cybersecurity and AI

22:31 - Advice for Aspiring CISOs

 

Links:

Connect with our guest, Kayla Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylamwilliams1/

Check out Devo: https://www.devo.com/

Check out our upcoming events: https://www.hackervalley.com/livestreams

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional:

https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio

Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some swag: https://store.hackervalley.com

Continue the conversation by joining our Discord: https://hackervalley.com/discord

Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/

Recent Episodes

Jul 31, 2025

The Future of Cyber Talent Is African with Confidence Staveley

The world’s youngest continent is also its most untapped resource. Confidence Staveley, Founder of CyberSafe, makes a powerful case for why Africa’s youth are the answer to global cybersecurity ...

Jul 24, 2025

Compliance Isn’t the Enemy with Jeff Man

Is compliance just a checkbox, or the backbone of real security? Returning to the show with decades of hard-earned insight, Jeff Man makes the case that compliance, especially PCI-DSS, isn't ...

Jul 17, 2025

What Makes a Great CISO? A Playbook from Gary Hayslip

What separates a great CISO from a great one? In this powerhouse conversation, Ron invites friend and cybersecurity leader Gary Hayslip, CISO at SoftBank Investment Advisers, back on the mic to ...

Jul 10, 2025

Confidence, Coaching, and the S-Word with Mel Reyes

Want to stand out as a leader? According to our guest Mel Reyes, you need to dress like you mean it and speak like you’ve got nothing to prove. In this episode, Mel shares how he built ...

Jun 26, 2025

Purple Teaming Is the New Job Security with Maril Vernon

Cybersecurity isn’t just red or blue anymore... it’s purple, white, and deeply human. Maril Vernon, award-winning ethical hacker and Senior Solutions Architect at NetSPI, returns to the Hacker ...

Jun 19, 2025

The AI Gold Rush in Cybersecurity with Chris Cochran

The new cybersecurity pioneers aren’t chasing alerts, they’re building with AI. But what happens when tools meant to assist begin making decisions for us? And what skills do we lose when ...

Jun 12, 2025

The AI That Tried to Escape with Ron Eddings

What happens when AI refuses to be replaced? This episode kicks off with a chilling real-world example of an AI threatening blackmail—and only gets more intense from there. Host Ron Eddings ...

Jun 5, 2025

Zero Trust Isn’t a Tool — It’s Everything with George Finney

What if Zero Trust isn’t a framework, but the only viable cybersecurity strategy—more about people than products? In this episode, George Finney, CISO at the University of Texas System and ...

May 29, 2025

Your Two-Year Edge Starts Now with Marco Figueroa

You won’t be replaced by AI—you’ll be replaced by someone using it better. Returning guest Marco Figueroa is back with a frontline report on the AI agent boom. This isn’t a prediction—it’s a ...

May 22, 2025

Badge Cloning, Alarm Triggers & Getting Hired to Hack with Greg ...

Most people think red teaming is digital—until someone bypasses your locks, plants a Raspberry Pi in your server room, and walks out with your data. That’s not sci-fi. That’s White Knight Labs. ...

WORK WITH US

PODCASTS + SPEAKING + EVENTS

Are you the best kept secret in cybersecurity? Let's change that by partnering together for podcast ads, social campaigns, and your next event or keynote. Send us your details to get started.