I work at the intersection of cyber defense, AI safety, and emerging risk, where the threats are converging and the playbooks are still being written.

My career has taken me from the Marine Corps to NSA, U.S. Cyber Command, the U.S. House of Representatives, Mandiant, and Netflix. Across every role, one throughline: understanding adversaries, building high-trust teams, and translating complex problems into strategies leaders can act on.

Today, I advise organizations, governments, and research institutions on AI governance, agentic threat preparedness, and unifying safety and security into a single discipline. I contribute to global standards efforts including the EU AI Act (via OWASP AI) and lead executive education on cybersecurity and AI strategy at SANS.

If you’re navigating the future of AI risk or security strategy, let’s connect.

Chris Cochran

As a U.S. Marine who spent years working alongside special operations teams, I learned that different missions require radically different mindsets.

Everybody loves the Navy SEAL archetype: aggressive, adaptive, and masters of improvisation.

But if you deploy AI agents with that mindset, you are inviting disaster. AI doesn’t have the judgment to improvise. When it tries, it makes mistakes.

In high-stakes business environments, you don't need the "bang" of chaos; you need the "whisper" of control. You need more of a Delta Force methodology.

In my latest article, I break down why AI requires more determinism, and less heroism, and introduce CONTROL for governing agentic AI.

Read the full strategy below. 👇

Field CISO & VP, AI Security @ SANS | Bridging Cyber Defense and Frontier AI Risk | Ex-NSA, Netflix, Mandiant | US Marine Veteran

Let me set the tone clearly: This is not a debate about which group is "better." Both are elite. Both accomplish the impossible. As a US Marine, I res

Open article: Why You Need to Manage AI Agents Like Delta Force, Not Navy SEALs by Chris Cochran • 4 min read

Why You Need to Manage AI Agents Like Delta Force, Not Navy SEALs

What is your current view of AI in cybersecurity? I bet its a mixed bag. 

Foster Nethercott wants to hear directly from you. 

Make your voice heard. 

Just want the TLDR? Rob T. Lee and Foster will be hosting a livestream July 15th to cover the insights. 

Links to both in the comments. 

SANS Institute

☁️ Francesco ☁️ Cipollone

Reduce risk - focus on vulnerabilities that matter - Contextual ASPM - CEO & Founder - Phoenix security - 🏃‍♂️ Runner - ❤️ Application Security Cloud Security | 40 under 40 | CSA UK Board | CSCP Podcast Host

As the CEO and Founder of Phoenix Security, I lead efforts to revolutionize application security through actionable Application Security Posture Management (ASPM), leveraging machine learning and threat intelligence to accelerate vulnerability resolution by up to 40%. With over four years of experience at the helm, our team empowers organizations to quantify risk reduction and demonstrate the ROI of software security initiatives.  

Additionally, as a faculty member at IANS, I specialize in application security, cloud security, and vulnerability management, providing expert insights and education to elevate organizational security postures. Passionate about fostering innovation in cybersecurity, I collaborate with teams and leaders across industries to create measurable impact while maintaining a commitment to empowering secure engineering environments.

CEO & Founder - Diversity Champion

Working on the future of Application Security Vulnerability Management powered by machine learning, and enriched by threat feed. 
Accelerate the detection and resolution of vulnerability up to 30-40% faster. 
Calculate RoI of security in software and quantify the risk reduction of software security

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☁️ Francesco ☁️ Cipollone

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