This year at RSAC, something struck me more than the massive booths or the flood of AI buzzwords. It was the number of discussions I heard where security leaders were asking critical questions:

“What if we can’t stop every breach? What do we do next?”

That shift in mindset — from pure prevention to preparation and containment — was everywhere in my conversations last week. And it’s exactly why Zero Trust, especially microsegmentation, continues to gain momentum.

Zero Trust continues to gain ground

Compared to last year, I saw a slight uptick in Zero Trust messaging. It wasn’t the loudest theme. That honor clearly went to AI. But Zero Trust is sticking around for a reason.  

The folks I talked to aren’t asking, “What is Zero Trust?” anymore. They’re asking, “How do I actually do it?”

That’s a good sign.

There’s a growing realization that we can’t prevent every breach. So the question shifts to: What happens after? That’s where Zero Trust shines.  

Segmentation, least-privilege access, visibility — these aren’t just principles, they’re the strategy for surviving a breach and containing the damage.

Segmentation climbs the priority list

This year, I heard a lot more security leaders talk seriously about segmentation, not as a compliance checkmark but as a necessity.

Businesses across every industry, size, and location are starting to accept a hard truth: you can't stop every attacker from getting in. But you can stop them from getting far.

That means proactively designing your environment to isolate systems and control access, not after an incident but before. Segmentation is core to a Zero Trust strategy, and I'm thrilled to see it continue to get the attention it deserves.

Observability turns data into decisions

We all want to do more with less. That’s universal. And it’s why I had a lot of conversations last week about observability tools like Illumio Insights.

Security teams are tired of digging through logs and dashboards trying to figure out what matters. There’s more security data than ever, but it’s slowing us down.

If you can surface the biggest risks in minutes and show how they connect across domains, you’re helping teams move from reactive to proactive.

And that’s where observability becomes a Zero Trust enabler. You can’t enforce what you can’t see.

AI helps us and attackers

AI was everywhere this year at RSAC. Most booths had some mention of it. But almost no one was talking about AI from the attacker’s perspective. That worries me.

We need to stop pretending it’s a fair fight, especially as AI continues to quickly evolve. Threat actors don’t have to follow rules, ethics, or compliance frameworks.  

If defenders and attackers are using the same tech, and one side has no guardrails, guess who wins?

Cybersecurity leaders need to start thinking about how to defend against AI-driven attacks, not just how to implement AI into their own tools.  

The good news is that Zero Trust gives us a framework that adapts without needing to be reinvented every time something new shows up. Zero Trust fundamentals like least-privilege access and strong segmentation don't change. It’s about building resilience that lasts.

Integrate, don’t rip and replace

After a week at RSAC, it’s easy to walk away with a hundred new ideas and a list of shiny tools. But my advice is to take a breath.

First, look at what you already have. Then, ask how any new tools will fit into your existing ecosystem. Zero Trust isn’t about replacing everything — and AI isn’t the answer to every cybersecurity challenge.  

At the end of the day, cybersecurity isn’t just about stopping breaches. It’s about resilience. And Zero Trust is still the best strategy we’ve got to get there, no matter what threats or technology come next.