How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Cybersecurity with Carmine Valente

AI is transforming how enterprises work—but it’s also transforming the threat landscape. In this episode of Business AI Playbook, Dominic talks with Carmen (AI & Data leader at Con Edison, formerly leading AI initiatives at Paramount) about what it takes to adopt AI responsibly in traditional, high-stakes industries.

We cover real-world security considerations (phishing, social engineering, expanded attack surface), plus the operating model that makes AI safer at scale: use-case-driven governance, cross-functional AI committees, and building internal alternatives so employees don’t need to rely on public tools.

🧠 Guest: Carmine Valente
🎙️ Host: Dominik

00:00 – Welcome + episode setup
00:23 – Carmen’s background (Con Edison, ex-Paramount)
01:44 – AI adoption & the expanding attack surface
04:13 – Why GenAI/LLMs became a new target
06:17 – Phishing, deepfakes, and tailored social engineering
10:33 – Security fundamentals + layered controls
12:14 – Fighting AI with AI: behavioral analysis + deception/poisoning
13:33 – IAM, vendors, and third‑party AI risk
14:50 – Step one: map how your org is actually using AI
17:06 – Continuous monitoring: user + network behavior analytics
20:54 – Security as an enabler (AI’s “cloud moment”)
24:34 – Use‑case driven AI committee (legal/compliance/privacy/cyber)
28:00 – Practical guidance for business leaders using GenAI
30:19 – How to educate teams using familiar examples
32:12 – Why “just block it” fails + lessons from shadow AI
36:03 – Building internal AI capabilities
37:27 – Agentic AI & why humans stay in the loop (for now)
41:33 – Key takeaways: awareness, adaptation, governance