In a world where AI is both the biggest risk and the strongest defense, Zero-Trust Issues helps cybersecurity and technology leaders stay ahead of threats. Hosted by Tony Pietrocola and Joe Marquette of AgileBlue, this podcast explores how AI and humans can work together to outsmart attackers, strengthen resilience, and turn cybersecurity from fear into confidence. Each episode dives into real stories, emerging AI trends, and expert insights to help you take control of your digital future.
When The Cameras Show Up: Leading Through A Public Cyber Crisis (Ep. 15)
What happens when a cyberattack becomes public and the person responsible for leading the response isn’t available? Without clear decision-making authority, backup leadership, and a rehearsed communication plan, an already difficult situation can become even more complicated.
In this episode of Zero-Trust Issues, host Tony Pietrocola, President and Co-founder of AgileBlue, and co-host Joe Marquette, AgileBlue CEO and Co-founder discuss public cyber incident readiness with guest Lou Rabon, Founder & CEO of Cyber Defense Group. The conversation emphasizes executive participation, clear response roles, communication planning, and backup leadership.
Tony asks what a CEO can focus on in the first day or two, and why executive preparation influences the way teams respond. The discussion gives security leaders practical questions to bring into their next rehearsal.
Lou brings his incident response expertise to that host-led discussion. He explains how realistic rehearsals can reveal leadership and communication gaps.
Key takeaways to explore:
How do I prepare our leaders for a cyber incident that becomes public?
What should a CEO do in the first 24 hours after a cyberattack?
Who should speak to customers after a data breach?
How can I get executives involved in a cyber tabletop exercise?
When should a security incident wake up the CEO?
How often should we practice our cyber incident response plan?
And more!
Connect with Tony Pietrocola:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
YouTube: @agileblue (https://www.youtube.com/@agileblue)
LinkedIn: Tony Pietrocola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypietrocola/)
Connect with Joe Marquette:
LinkedIn: Joe Marquette (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-marquette-1541445/)
Connect with Lou Rabon:
Cyber Defense Group (https://www.cdg.io/)
LinkedIn: Lou Rabon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lourabon)
X (Twitter): Lou Rabon (https://x.com/lourabon)
X (Twitter): Cyber Defense Group (https://x.com/Cyberdefgroup)
15 Sept 2026
Why Good Security Strategies Fail: From Planning to Execution ft. Beth Leonard (Ep. 14)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview Beth Leonard, COO of R3 LLC, about transforming cybersecurity strategy into consistent execution by integrating compliance into daily operations.
1 Sept 2026
How CMMC Drives Long-Term Security Maturity, Not One-Time Compliance ft. Rick Olivier (Ep. 13)
Host Tony Pietrocola and Joe Marquette interview Rick Olivier about how defense contractors can achieve long-term CMMC security maturity by focusing on controlled unclassified information and strategic enclaves.
11 Aug 2026
Cybersecurity Spending: How Saving Today Can Cost You Tomorrow ft. James Ganther (Ep. 12)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview James S. Ganther about FTC Safeguards Rule compliance, revealing how car dealerships must test and verify cybersecurity beyond written policies to protect customer data.
21 Jul 2026
From Research to Reality: How Universities Are Driving Cybersecurity Forward (Ep. 11)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview Julia Armstrong about how universities are addressing the cybersecurity talent shortage through skills-based hiring and workforce development.
7 Jul 2026
What Cyber Psychology Teaches Us About Smarter Decision-Making ft. Rick Mishka (Ep. 10)
Tony Pietrocola and Joe Marquette interview Rick Mischka, exploring how cyber psychology informs smarter decision-making and strengthens security programs around human behavior.
16 Jun 2026
Mythos: The Emerging Threat Security Teams Can’t Ignore (Ep. 9)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview Andrew Desender and Dylan Marcoux about how AI accelerates vulnerability discovery and reshapes cybersecurity strategies.
2 Jun 2026
The Business of Cyber Partnerships: How MSPs & MSSPs Can Scale & Stand Out ft. Jason Collins (Ep. 8)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview Jason Collins about how MSPs and MSSPs can scale security partnerships and stand out in the evolving cyber landscape.
19 May 2026
Women Who Secure the World: Breaking Barriers and Building the Future of Cyber Leadership (Ep. 7)
Tony Pietrocola and Joe Marquette interview Becky Cross about shifting cybersecurity leadership, client needs, and effective risk communication for better decisions.
5 May 2026
Keeping the Lights On: How Critical Infrastructure Leaders Defend the Systems We All Rely On (Ep. 6)
Host Tony Pietrocola and Joe Marquette interview U.S. Army veteran Chelsea Treboniak on how interconnected critical infrastructure systems face cascading failures and require tested resilience.
21 Apr 2026
AI Beyond the SOC: Preparing People and Businesses for a Long-Term Shift (Ep. 5)
Host Tony Pietrocola and co-host Joe Marquette interview AI strategist Jason Lowe about controlling rapidly expanding AI capabilities and their impact on business and global power.
7 Apr 2026
AI Sidekicks: How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Security Ops (Ep. 4)
AI is moving faster than most organizations are ready for, and the real risk is not the technology itself, but how leaders choose to adopt it. From boardrooms to security operations centers, the balance between innovation and control has never mattered more.
In this episode, host Tony Pietrocola, President and Co-founder of AgileBlue, and co-host Joe Marquette, AgileBlue CEO and Co-founder, are joined by Ken Stasiak, veteran cybersecurity leader and founder of NegotiatorIQ, to unpack what AI adoption really means for security teams, executives, and boards. Together, they explore how AI mirrors the early days of the internet boom, why cultural readiness matters just as much as technical capability, and how organizations can avoid overtrusting or underutilizing AI. Ken shares insights on governance, cognitive bias, SOC transformation, and the human responsibility that must remain firmly in place as automation accelerates.
Key takeaways:
Why AI adoption today feels similar to the internet boom of the late 1990s
The difference between AI as a tool and AI as a decision-maker
How overtrusting AI can create long-term regulatory and operational risk
Why culture and leadership mindset determine successful AI integration
What a healthy human + AI workflow looks like inside a modern SOC
And more!
Connect with Tony Pietrocola:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
YouTube: @agileblue (https://www.youtube.com/@agileblue)
LinkedIn: Tony Pietrocola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypietrocola/)
Connect with Ken Stasiak:
Stasiak (https://stasiak.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
LinkedIn: Ken Stasiak (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenstasiak/)
24 Mar 2026
Lost in Translation: Turning Cyber Risk Into Executive Action (Ep. 3)
Cybersecurity doesn’t fail because of weak tools. It fails because of weak translation.
When executives hear acronyms instead of impact, critical decisions stall.
In this episode of Zero Trust Issues, host Tony Pietrocola, President and Co-founder of AgileBlue, and co-host Joe Marquette, AgileBlue CEO and Co-founder, sit down with seasoned CISO Lee Buttke to unpack one of the most overlooked risks in modern cybersecurity: the communication gap between technical teams and business leadership.
Drawing from real-world incident experience, Lee shares how overly technical reporting during a breach created confusion at the executive level, and what security leaders should focus on instead.
Key Takeaways:
Why cyber acronyms like TTPs can derail executive understanding
The difference between technical reporting and business impact reporting
How to communicate containment, exposure, and operational disruption clearly
Why cybersecurity maturity frameworks create alignment across leadership
How assigning a monetary value to cyber risk drives smarter decisions
The role of the CISO in elevating cybersecurity conversations to the board level
Why resilience in 2026 depends on proactive communication, not reactive defense
And more!
Connect with Tony Pietrocola:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
YouTube: @agileblue (https://www.youtube.com/@agileblue)
LinkedIn: Tony Pietrocola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypietrocola/)
Connect with Lee Buttke:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: Lee Buttke (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-buttke-05a6904/)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
10 Mar 2026
Cyber Risk 2026: What Every Business Leader Should Be Paying Attention To (Ep. 2)
When the lights stay on, most people assume everything is fine. But what if the real danger is unfolding quietly behind the scenes?
In this episode, host Tony Pietrocola, President and Co-founder of AgileBlue, sits down with AgileBlue CEO and Co-founder Joe Marquette and Major General (Ret.) Ryan Heritage, former Director of Operations at U.S. Cyber Command. They unpack the evolving risks facing critical infrastructure and why modern cyber threats are more subtle, persistent, and strategic than ever.
Key takeaways:
Why critical infrastructure now extends far beyond traditional military targets
How the cyber domain functions as both maneuver space and a weapons platform
What “persistent engagement” means in today’s peer-to-peer cyber competition
Why AI currently provides asymmetric advantages to attackers
The importance of constantly challenging security assumptions at the executive level
And more!
Connect with Tony Pietrocola:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
YouTube: @agileblue (https://www.youtube.com/@agileblue)
LinkedIn: Tony Pietrocola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypietrocola/)
Connect with Joe Marquette:
LinkedIn: Joe Marquette (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-marquette-1541445/)
Connect with Ryan Heritage:
GRVTY (http://www.grvty.com)
LinkedIn: Ryan Heritage (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-heritage-186497108/)
10 Mar 2026
Who the Hack Is AgileBlue? (Ep. 1)
A deal fell apart at the worst possible moment, and instead of ending the story, it sparked the idea that became AgileBlue. In Episode 1 of Zero-Trust Issues, the founders share how a setback at Black Hat helped shape their approach to cybersecurity, automation, and resilience.
In this first episode of Zero-Trust Issues, host Tony Pietrocola, President and Co-founder of AgileBlue, sits down with co-host Joe Marquette, AgileBlue CEO and Co-founder, and Chief Technology Officer Stephen Smith to tell the company’s origin story and what it revealed about the cybersecurity market. The conversation begins in August 2019 at Black Hat in Las Vegas, when the team learned they’d lost what they believed would be their first major deal—sparking an immediate “are we done?” moment. From there, they unpack what it takes to build a security business that can scale without simply adding more headcount. They also discuss why visibility matters when communicating cyber risk to executives and boards, and why “AI-native” security is quickly becoming table stakes as attackers adopt the same tools.
Key takeaways:
How resilience after a setback can become a competitive advantage
Why scaling security operations requires automation—not just more people
What “AI vs. AI” means in practice, and why AI-native defense is no longer optional
How to make cyber risk visible and understandable for CEOs and boards
The real-world pain points in legacy security models that led AgileBlue to build differently
And more!
Connect with Tony Pietrocola:
AgileBlue (https://agileblue.com)
LinkedIn: AgileBlue (https://www.linkedin.com/company/agileblue-secops/)
YouTube: @agileblue (https://www.youtube.com/@agileblue)
LinkedIn: Tony Pietrocola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonypietrocola/)
Connect with Joe Marquette:
LinkedIn: Joe Marquette (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-marquette-1541445/)
Connect with Stephen Smith:
LinkedIn: Stephen Smith (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-s-33169b2a/)
4 Dec 2025
Zero-Trust Issues Coming Soon
In a world where AI is both the biggest risk and the strongest defense, Zero-Trust Issues helps cybersecurity and technology leaders stay ahead of threats. Hosted by Tony Pietrocola of AgileBlue, this podcast explores how AI and humans can work together to outsmart attackers, strengthen resilience, and turn cybersecurity from fear into confidence.
Each episode dives into real stories, emerging AI trends, and expert insights to help you take control of your digital future.
Who has been a guest on Zero-Trust Issues
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Beth Leonard
Rick Olivier
James S Ganther
Julia Armstrong
Rick Mischka
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Contact Zero-Trust Issues
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Zero-Trust Issues
Who hosts Zero-Trust Issues?
Joe Marquette and Tony Pietrocola host the show. Published by Tony Pietrocola, Joe Marquette.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes bi-weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Zero-Trust Issues take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Host of Zero-Trust Issues?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
