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Cybernomics: The Tech Podcast for Business Leaders
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Cybernomics Radio!
Word on The Street - Inside RSA's Vendor Mayhem
Kyle and I dive into the reality of the RSA Conference experience, exploring how the security industry's biggest event has transformed into a vendor-dominated spectacle with declining CISO attendance.
• The conference atmosphere is overwhelmingly loud with vendors everywhere and marketing materials covering every available surface
• San Francisco completely transforms during RSA, with security company logos plastered on restaurant windows and hotels taken over for exclusive events
• CISOs are increasingly skipping RSA, with many security leaders openly avoiding the conference
• The "sales to sales" dynamic dominates the floor, with vendors primarily connecting with other vendors rather than actual buyers
• Having a presence at RSA remains an unwritten requirement for security companies hoping to work with enterprise clients
• Strategic attendees focus on off-site meetings, invitation-only lunches, and smaller gatherings rather than the main conference floor
• The true value comes from face-to-face connections with people from around the world who have gathered in one location
How you doing buddy. Good, If you can't hear, it is loud. I'm right now on the floor. I'm actually trying to walk over to a quieter space.
Speaker 2:I think these iPhones are really good. I don't know. Do you have an iPhone?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, these iPhones are really good at blocking out sound, because I don't hear anything. It's like a whisper.
Speaker 1:It is. I'm telling you'm it's loud, it's really loud.
Speaker 2:The floor is packed right now oh, wow, well, the the the thing that I have been thinking about the whole time, you know, during this rsa season, is just the number of vendors that are going to be out there, like the sea of the ocean, the tidal waves of marketing, merch and people trying to get your attention. Is it the way I imagine? Like? Is it a shit show?
Speaker 1:yeah, you're spot on, and I want to lean into a little bit of your uh shit show maybe. Picture here there's vendors galore, lots of cardboard hanging from the ceiling. You know, lots of t-shirts and lots of stickers that are out on tables. That's the reality for these conferences it is. You know, a lot of account executives that are here hoping to meet with larger enterprises. Um, the booth culture is in full force. And then, you know, even in the surrounding city blocks of the Moscone Center, it's mayhem. Every restaurant has their windows plastered with logos of security companies, every hotel is completely taken over. All the presidential suites are basically invite only sections. You know, that's, that's what it is that's nuts.
Speaker 2:That's crazy, you know. Okay, it's a lot worse than I thought. I didn't know that they took over the town oh yeah, oh yeah, the entirety of san francisco.
Speaker 1:Actually, when you fly into sfo. Uh, I got off my plane at like two o'clock in the morning and they have the RSA conference 2025 welcome sign right outside of my American Airlines flight, so it starts as soon as you get off your plane.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like everybody's selling to everybody? Sometimes when I'm at those conferences, that's not how I feel. I feel like all the salespeople and all the marketers are selling to each other in a way. I mean, how are companies getting into the enterprise? Do you get the sense that they're selling to each other? Do you think that people are making real traction with CISOs, from top-notch logos?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So this is probably the contention I have with these conferences. You're spot on right. It's sales to sales. It's very difficult to get FaceTime with a CISO, a decision maker, who's going to bring in your tool. The reality is I'm seeing it firsthand Less CISOs are coming to RSA. There's a number of which that are in my network that are actually being quite outspoken about not attending this year. It's very much for show and also a big part of the culture is if you are a major player in security, it is almost of expectation, if you want to work with enterprise, that you have to be at RSA. I don't know if that culture is going to change, but the buyers are maybe not here as much as they used to be. Something to think about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hear that all the time, and it's another thing to hear you say it because you're there, you're experiencing it and you've got some skin in the game, right. So that's, I mean, you're the eyes and ears, right now, of all of those who have not attended RSA for good reason and for everything that you highlighted. Absolutely right, what's your purpose in being at RSA?
Speaker 1:So the goal for RSA, for a company like Pensar, is to get our name out there. We have a ton of customers that are here floating around in San Francisco. We're using the opportunity to highlight the security conversation and everything that we're doing in agent security. Yesterday we hosted a podcast launch. We actually rolled out our own podcast. It's called Insecure Agents. We co-hosted it with a major CISO that's here at RSA and that, I think, type of event.
Speaker 1:It's off the campus, it's in another beautiful space close to Moscone Center and it's a good way to get people separated from the craziness in a much chiller environment where they can have these conversations or listen to leaders talk about the topics that they want to learn about, and I personally think that that is the best use of my time. I spend most of the day actually off site. I'm only really going to be at the Moscow Center for maybe an hour or two. I like to go to the meetups, I like to go to the invitation lunches. I like to go to less of the happy hours. It's more of a one-on-one experience that I want to have just while everybody's in town. You know, I'm all the way here from New York. There are people who are here from other parts of the country, other parts of the world. It's a great place to be central and meet everybody face-to-face.
Speaker 2:Awesome, kyle. Thanks so much. Thanks a million. I'm glad that you took some time out of your busy afternoon to even talk to me and I really appreciate it. Great work what you're doing. I love you guys. And if you see a guy walk actually no, alan's not going to be there this year. I was going to say if you see a guy walking around with a big cowboy hat, tell him Josh said hi and give him a bottle of whiskey. But he's not there either. Yeah, you know what?
Speaker 1:It's still exciting. I'm having a great time. I'm really grateful to be here. I'll do all the good wishes for you out here, Josh, but you know it's changing. Still making it happen, though. Thanks again, Thanks again for the call.
Speaker 2:All right, thank you.