EP227 AI-Native MDR: Betting on the Future of Security Operations?

Cloud Security Podcast by Google

Guests:

• Eric Foster, CEO of Tenex.AI
• Venkata Koppaka, CTO of Tenex.AI

Topics:

• Why is your AI-powered MDR special? Why start an MDR from scratch using AI?
• So why should users bet on an “AI-native” MDR instead of an MDR that has already got its act together and is now applying AI to an existing set of practices?
• What’s the current breakdown in labor between your human SOC analysts vs your AI SOC agents? How do you expect this to evolve and how will that change your unit economics?
• What tasks are humans uniquely good at today’s SOC? How do you expect that to change in the next 5 years?
• We hear concerns about SOC AI missing things –but we know humans miss things all the time too. So how do you manage buyer concerns about the AI agents missing things?
• Let’s talk about how you’re helping customers measure your efficacy overall. What metrics should organizations prioritize when evaluating MDR?

Resources:

• Video
• EP223 AI Addressable, Not AI Solvable: Reflections from RSA 2025 (quote from Eric in the title!)
• EP10 SIEM Modernization? Is That a Thing?
• Tenex.AI blog
• “RSA 2025: AI’s Promise vs. Security’s Past — A Reality Check” blog
• The original ASO 10X SOC paper that started it all (2021)
• “Baby ASO: A Minimal Viable Transformation for Your SOC” blog
• “The Return of the Baby ASO: Why SOCs Still Suck?” blog
• "Learn Modern SOC and D&R Practices Using Autonomic Security Operations (ASO) Principles" blog