AI Insiders gathers 150 cyber leaders in San Francisco to debate AI security

AI Insiders brought 150 security leaders, AI founders and investors to San Francisco for a sold-out cybersecurity salon focused on how zero-time exploits, AI agents and changing capital flows are reshaping defense. The event mixed keynotes, panels and startup demos around what the next wave of cyber protection will look like. Why it matters: - AI security is still a small slice of the market, with just 2.6 percent of total cyber funding in 2025. - Security teams are being forced to rethink vulnerability management as exploit timelines collapse toward zero. - The event centered on practical questions about trust, accountability and capital allocation as AI systems take on more work. What happened: - AI Insiders hosted its Cybersecurity edition at Chorus Theater in San Francisco on June 12, 2026. - The sold-out invite-only salon drew 150 security leaders, AI founders and investors. - The program ran under the theme “Acceleration Amid Turbulence.” - Marvelous organized the event. - Merve Isler, Julie Tsai, Bhavya Gupta and Sharat Ganesh hosted the afternoon. The details: - Paul Calatayud gave the keynote on the AI buildout, the security gap and what leaders need to do now. - Calatayud is a five-time CISO and Managing Partner at CircleRock Capital. - Calatayud also serves as chairman of the board at TurinTech AI and is a co-founder and board member at Archipelo. - Yair Saban, AIR co-founder and CEO, delivered a live intelligence briefing on the AI threat landscape. - Saban spent 11 years in Israel’s Unit 8200 military intelligence and rose to head of R&D. - The briefing focused on how new skills, plugins and rapid change keep reshaping the attack surface. - The panel “Where the Money Is” examined where capital is flowing in AI-native security and what remains underfunded. - David Hahn moderated that panel. - The panelists were Matan Lamdan, Brooke Motta and Yair Saban. - The panel “Is Your Agent Human?” focused on identity, trust and accountability as AI agents take on more work. - Crystal Hazen moderated that panel. - The panelists were Ian Ahl, Emil Bender Lassen, Mahesh Lambe and Daniel Miessler. - The Startup Showcase featured six companies selected by AI Insiders. - Codezero showed zero-trust microservices development. - Resemble AI showed enterprise deepfake defense. - Aira Security showed an enforcement layer for AI agents. - Zania showed agentic AI for security, risk and compliance. - VulNow showed AI-powered software supply chain vulnerability intelligence. - Dash Security showed a security stack for the agentic enterprise. - The audience was roughly half CISOs and security leads, including leaders from Ripple, AstraZeneca and Palo Alto Networks. - Founders, operators, investors, media and analysts made up the rest of the room. - Most of the conversation was kept off the record to preserve candor. - Merve Isler said the event was intentionally curated and thanked attendees for showing up. - AIR served as lead sponsor and delivered the evening’s intelligence briefing. - AIR also hosted the closing VIP gathering for speakers, partners and select guests. - Permiso and Silicon Valley Bank supported the event as sponsor partners. - Codezero, Alchemy Cyber, ISACA and Gopher Security joined as community partners. - The evening ended with a networking reception in the Chorus Theater lobby. Between the lines: - The lineup suggests the AI security market is moving from broad fear toward specific buying categories, including agent enforcement, deepfake defense and supply chain intelligence. - The mix of CISOs, founders and investors points to a market where product decisions and capital decisions are happening in the same room. - The heavy use of off-the-record discussion signals that many security leaders still want private space to compare notes on AI risk. What’s next: - AI Insiders plans to keep convening its community through private dinners throughout the year. - Additional vertical editions are also planned. - Marvelous says it will continue helping B2B teams run face-to-face GTM motions and handle guest curation, follow-up and attribution. - AI Insiders is continuing to build its San Francisco-centered AI ecosystem and is accepting requests for access at aiinsiders.us . - Marvelous says more information is available at themarvelo.us . - AI Insiders also shared social channels on LinkedIn and Instagram . The bottom line: - AI Insiders used the San Francisco salon to frame AI security as an urgent, still-evolving market where defense, trust and funding are all being rewritten at once.