Security Weekly Podcast Network (Audio) Can AI help critical infrastructure, the state of the cyber market, and weekly news - Mike Privette, Kara Sprague - ESW #451
Mar 23, 2026
Kara Sprague, CEO of HackerOne and bug bounty expert, explains how AI and researcher communities can help secure aging critical infrastructure. Mike Prevett, founder of Return on Security and market-intel writer, breaks down the current cybersecurity market, funding shifts, and how AI is reshaping vendors. Multiple short conversations cover AI triage, vulnerability disclosure programs, market recovery, and who’s buying security now.
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Episode notes
Platforms Will Use AI Agents To Augment Researchers
- HackerOne embraces agentic/AI tooling as augmentation rather than replacement for researchers.
- Kara notes HackerOne offers agentic pen test capability and is making AI tools available to customers and the community.
Funding Patterns Reveal Cybersecurity Market Health
- Return on Security tracks capital flows and policy to reveal industry health beyond product lists.
- Mike Prevett built a market intelligence approach combining funding, public markets, layoffs, and macro policy to explain cybersecurity trends.
2022 Funding Shock Shifted Cyber To Leaner Companies
- The 2022 funding collapse forced a shift from growth-at-all-costs to profitability and lean operations.
- Mike traces how high interest rates turned off funding, producing expense-management and smaller, more sustainable company launches in 2023–24.