The Balancing Act

Your enterprise may have hundreds of AI agents operating right now — and most security teams have no idea. As non-human identities multiply and agents gain the ability to connect to APIs, MCP servers, and sensitive data, the zero trust discipline organizations spent years building is quietly being bypassed. In this episode, Tim Currie sits down with Michael Caplan, CTO of In Balance IT, to unpack...

Most security teams can prove they're busy. Patching, scanning, phishing simulations, awareness training — the list is long. But ask them if they're actually better protected than they were last year, and the answer gets uncomfortable. In this episode, In Balance IT's VP of Security Strategy Ryan O'Halloran sits down with Field CISO David Malcom to dig into why so many security programs are anchor...

In this episode, Ryan O’Halloran and Chief Technology Officer Michael Caplan examine the specific economic pressures currently hitting enterprise IT environments. They discuss how a $600 billion capital expenditure wave from AI and cloud providers is consuming the global supply of NAND, DRAM, and hard disk drives, leading to 3–4x price hikes and 6–12 month lead times. The conversation provides a s...

Broadcom's VMware licensing changes have left many organizations facing up to 10x increases in renewal costs. How do you find a path forward without being held to "ransom"? In Episode 17 of The Balancing Act , Ryan O’Halloran (VP of Security Strategy) and Michael Caplan (CTO) dive into the reality of "VMware Freedom." They break down what happened to the vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus tiers...

AI-enabled attacks are no longer theoretical—they’re here. In this episode, Ryan O’Halloran of In Balance IT sits down with Shane Harsch of SentinelOne to break down the first large-scale AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign and what it means for today’s security leaders. They explore how attackers are accelerating the kill chain through automation, why human-speed investigation is no longer v...

In Episode 15 of The Balancing Act Podcast “Calling All APIs”, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) invites special guest Tim Erlin (VP of Product at Wallarm) to discuss the state of API security in the threat landscape and how incredibly important APIs are to generating business revenue. Ryan and Tim also cover the trends in protecting API’s and the relationship with AI that fi...

In Episode 14 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Michael Caplan (CTO at In Balance) discuss an overview of the latest developments on securing end users in the age of AI and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of performing security operations either in a traditional cloud proxy network (SSE) versus natively inside of the end users we...

In Episode 13 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and David Malcom (CEO at Malcom Risk Advisors) discuss an overview of what makes a strategic cybersecurity advisor aka a “Virtual CISO” a fit for your organization’s security compliance readiness and posture improvement needs. David and Ryan then provide insights into how to strategically evaluate a...

In Episode 12 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Michael Caplan (Chief Technology Officer at In Balance) discuss what’s driving the market to explore alternatives to VMware by Broadcom for data center virtualization and cloud computing. Michael then provides insights into how to strategically evaluate the competitive landscape and plan for a s...

In Episode 11 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Michael Caplan (Chief Technology Officer at In Balance) discuss an overview of artificial intelligence threats, protections and future of AI security in the current state of the IT landscape.

In Episode 10 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance), Michael Caplan (Chief Technology Officer at In Balance), and Abhishek Pathak (Founding Partner at Lucidity) explore the role of FinOps in optimizing cloud storage costs. The conversation centers on the often-overlooked challenge of overprovisioned and underutilized block storage in the cloud. Abhis...

In Episode 9 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance), Michael Caplan (Chief Technology Officer at In Balance), and Jason Cook (Field CTO at Rubrik) discuss the shift from focusing solely on preventing attacks to emphasizing robust recovery capabilities. They highlight the importance of secure backups, data analytics for threat detection within backups,...

In Episode 8 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Jeremy Smolik (Director, Solution Architecture, Americas at Crowdstrike) discuss the crucial role of combining human expertise with AI to tackle sophisticated cyber threats. CrowdStrike utilizes AI to streamline tasks for analysts and enhance decision-making, but the human element is still essent...

In Episode 7 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Jeff Warren (CTO at Netwrix) discuss Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), a modern approach to continuously discover, classify, and secure sensitive data across on-premises, datacenter and hybrid cloud environments. The speakers advocate for an automated security approach with enhanced visibi...

In Episode 6 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Jason Trunk (Field CTO at Island) dive into how the enterprise browser is addressing the challenges of securing BYOD, 3rd party contractors and M&A onboarding. They explore how the enterprise browser provides a secure endpoint, integrates seamlessly with zero trust networks, and includes adva...

In Episode 5 of The Balancing Act Podcast, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Craig Pfister (Global VP of Solutions Engineering at KiteWorks) discuss the complexities of data security in cloud computing, particularly regarding government access and the implications of the CLOUD Act. They explore the challenges posed by emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing, e...

In Episode 4, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Mick Leach (Field CISO at Abnormal Security) discuss key cybersecurity practices like strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and system updates. They explore the rise of sophisticated social engineering attacks, including phishing with malicious links and QR codes. Mick highlights the role of AI-powered behavioral an...

In Episode 3, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Sean Deuby (Principal Technologist North America at Semperis) discuss the importance of securing hybrid identities and adopting a zero-trust approach. It emphasizes the challenges of recovery from attacks like ransomware and the need for effective management of both Active Directory and Entra ID.

In Episode 2, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and David Primor (Founder & CEO at Cynomi) discuss the evolving role of virtual Chief Information Security Officers (vCISOs) and the impact of AI on cybersecurity management. They explore how vCISOs assist businesses in navigating complex security frameworks and compliance requirements, and how AI technologies, like Cynomi’s...

In Episode 1, Ryan O'Halloran (VP of Security Strategy at In Balance) and Randy Watkins (CTO at Critical Start) discuss the evolution of the managed detection and response marketplace and overcoming the challenges that may prevent organizations from achieving their desired results. Ryan and Randy will overview the essential signals for threat detection, the relevance of SIEM, Microsoft E5 Security...