What RSA 2025 Taught Me (As a Non-Cyber Guy Walking Into the Cyber World)

Earlier this month, I flew out to RSA in San Francisco.

I'm not going to lie - I felt a little like a tourist at first.I work in automation and GTM. I speak API, not SIEM. But I came to learn, connect, and understand how security companies think, especially the ones building product-first platforms.

Between the endless rows of booths, late-night hummus with Israeli founders, and trying to survive 17,000 steps a day in dress shoes, I came back with real clarity.

Here are 5 honest takeaways from my RSA 2025:

1. Security is finally becoming user-focused.

It’s not just “defend the perimeter” anymore. The best vendors are thinking like product designers: How do we show value inside the product? How do we make remediation feel native, not noisy?

2. Everyone talks about automation. Very few actually do it well.

So many companies talk about “SOAR” and “response workflows,” but behind the scenes, it’s still manual, ticket-based chaos. That’s exactly where embedded automation can step in. It can let users take action without leaving the platform.

3. Israeli founders don't sleep.

I met with more than 25 Israeli startups in three days. Some were already unicorns, some were three-person teams with a deck and a dream, and all of them were sharp, fast, and obsessively focused on solving real pain. I left proud, inspired, and a bit jet-lagged.

4. Selling to security people is a different sport.

You're not selling to marketers or ops. You're talking to deeply technical, skeptical people. They care about integrations, controls, and governance, and they spot buzzwords from a mile away. If you don’t speak their language, you’re out.

5. Schedule a meeting prior to the event

This one is in bold because it's very important: Search for the right personas and decision makers who are attending the company's booth. Ask to meet for a coffee to learn about them (the person, not just the company), where they are from, and connect. Really connect, and the opportunity, if there is a match, will come. If not, you just expanded your network, and that's worth a lot.