Navigating Integration Challenges in Cybersecurity: Insights from Stellar Cyber

In this discussion, Cristina Flaschen, CEO of Pandium, speaks with Kayleen Standridge, Senior Technical Product Manager at Stellar Cyber, about the unique challenges of building integrations within cybersecurity platforms.

Kayleen’s Background and Approach to Integrations

Kayleen shares her journey from technical support and professional services roles at companies like ClickUp and Podium to leading integration strategy at Stellar Cyber. She highlights how her early customer-facing experience shaped her approach to solving complex integration problems that deliver real value to users.

Integration Challenges in Cybersecurity

Stellar Cyber’s focus is on unifying security data from a wide array of systems, enabling faster threat detection and response. Kayleen explains that one of the biggest hurdles is accessing highly varied and often locked-down customer environments—many of which rely on legacy or on-premise systems. To address this, her team has developed a streamlined intake and testing process, often simulating data based on API documentation when direct access isn’t feasible. This ensures smoother development and troubleshooting, even when working with restricted or inconsistent data sources.

Data Quality, Compliance, and Security

Data variability is a constant challenge, especially when logs and records are generated or entered in different formats. Kayleen describes how Stellar Cyber uses log parsers and regex-based solutions to handle these inconsistencies. She also emphasizes the heightened compliance requirements in cybersecurity, such as strict credential management and the need to support on-premise deployments for customers concerned with data sovereignty.

Learning Curve and Industry Nuances

Transitioning into cybersecurity brought a steep learning curve, particularly with industry-specific terminology and compliance standards. Kayleen notes that company-provided certifications and hands-on experience were key to ramping up quickly. While some integration challenges are unique to security, many - like supporting legacy systems - are common across SaaS industries.

The Future of Integrations: Democratization and AI

Looking ahead, Kayleen sees integrations becoming increasingly democratized and customer-driven, with more plug-and-play options and integration platforms empowering non-technical users. She points to the rise of AI-driven orchestration tools, such as BlinkOps, that enable users to build workflows and integrations with minimal technical knowledge. This shift raises new questions around governance and permissioning, as it becomes easier for non-engineers to connect sensitive systems.

Product Strategy and Partnerships

Kayleen outlines how Stellar Cyber balances customer-driven integration requests with strategic initiatives, such as building bi-directional integrations with cornerstone platforms like ServiceNow. Partnerships play a crucial role in driving mutual value and go-to-market opportunities, especially with large ecosystem players.

Advice for Aspiring Integration PMs

Kayleen encourages aspiring integration product managers to stay curious, focus on customer problems, and prioritize simplicity in integration design—even if it means taking on more complexity internally. She stresses that the most impactful integrations are those that are easy for customers to deploy and manage, ultimately solving real-world challenges.