The RSA Conference (RSAC), the premier cybersecurity industry event, returns to San Francisco’s Moscone Center April 28-May 1, 2025, bringing together thousands of security professionals, vendors, and thought leaders from across the globe. This annual gathering serves as the definitive forum for the latest cybersecurity innovations, trends, and best practices, featuring hundreds of educational sessions, keynotes from industry luminaries, and an expansive expo floor showcasing cutting-edge security solutions. For organizations navigating today’s complex threat landscape, RSAC provides unparalleled networking opportunities, hands-on training, and essential insights to help bolster defense strategies against evolving cyber threats.
In this exclusive VMblog Q&A, Curtis Simpson, Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Advocacy Officer at Armis, discusses how organizations can shift from reactive to proactive cybersecurity postures using AI-powered solutions. Simpson shares insights on Armis’ comprehensive cyber exposure management platform ahead of RSA Conference 2025, where the company will showcase its latest capabilities at Booth N-5457.
With new research showing 87% of IT decision-makers concerned about cyberwarfare’s impact on their organizations, Simpson emphasizes the critical need for security teams to surgically prioritize risk mitigation efforts and leverage AI to combat escalating threats.
Visitors to RSAC 2025 can connect with Armis experts through various sessions, including Simpson’s presentation on effective remediation lifecycle management and CTO Nadir Izrael’s keynote on AI-powered threat intelligence.
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VMblog: Give VMblog readers a quick overview of your company and its core mission in the cybersecurity space.
Curtis Simpson: Armis is the cyber exposure management & security company that sees, protects and manages all physical and virtual assets – from the ground to the cloud – ensuring the entire attack surface is contextually identified, defended and managed in real time. Armis secures Fortune 100, 200 and 500 companies as well as national governments, state and local entities to help keep critical infrastructure, economies and society stay safe and secure 24/7.
Armis CentrixTM, Armis’ Cyber Exposure Management Platform, proactively mitigates all cyber asset risks by identifying every asset and surgically prioritizing and remediating vulnerabilities and security findings being exploited by bad actors and with the potential for business impact. This gives organizations peace of mind that all critical assets are protected.
VMblog: Where can attendees find you at RSAC 2025? What’s your booth number, and what kind of experience can visitors expect when they stop by?
Simpson: Attendees can stop by Booth N-5457 to connect with our experts and learn more about the Armis CentrixTM platform. Throughout the week we’ll have presentations, product demos and live recordings of our Bad Actors podcast at the booth as well as parties and other events.
Visitors to the booth can also make a difference with our Win & Give initiative. Try your luck at our prize vending machine, and each scratch-off redemption automatically triggers a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Don’t miss out on opportunities to hear directly from me and our CTO & Co-Founder, Nadir Izrael:
- Partner Perspectives Session (April 29, 2:25-3:15 pm PT, Moscone Center) – I will be speaking alongside Nadir for a session surrounding, Ducks in a Row – How to Effectively Manage the Remediation Lifecyle.
- Keynote Speaking Session (April 30, 3:55-4:15 pm PT, Moscone West Level 1) – Nadir will also be speaking at the following keynote session, Catch Attackers Before They Strike with AI-powered Threat Intelligence.
Additional opportunities to connect with Armis include:
- RSA Public Sector Day (April 28, 11 am – 3 pm PT, Hilton San Francisco Union Square) – Speak with our Federal and SLED teams to learn more about the cybersecurity challenges that all levels of government face. Armis’ Director of DoD Business Strategy, Joe Wingo, will be participating in a panel discussion from 1-1:35 pm PT on building cyber defense teams across government.
- Cyber Crisis Simulation (April 29, 4-6 pm PT, Four Seasons) – You’re invited to experience the most intense cyber crisis simulation at RSACTM Conference. This is your opportunity to command the cyber frontline.
- THE Unplugged Party (April 29, 6-9 pm PT, Four Seasons) – Join Armis for a night of networking, innovative cocktails, curated bites, live music and more. This is not another RSACTM Conference party!
More details on what we have in store at RSACTM 2025 Conference and to book a meeting with one of our executives can be found here.
VMblog: What is your message to RSAC attendees coming out to the show this year?
Simpson: Security teams are at a crucial inflection point in how to prioritize efforts and defend against evolving threats with the potential for business impact. With cyberattacks on the rise, the need for surgically prioritized risk mitigation efforts and proactive threat detection and response has never been greater. RSACTM Conference is a great time to connect and discuss how we can help solve your toughest cybersecurity challenges.
VMblog: What specific market challenges or pain points is your company addressing at RSAC 2025? How have these evolved from previous years?
Simpson: Given the scale and speed of cybercriminals and their increasingly sophisticated techniques, security teams have historically responded to threats and attacks after they occur. This reactive stance has often left them chasing their tails and playing an endless game of catch-up. On top of that, disjointed point solutions are no longer fit for purpose, leaving the attack surfaces of organizations and their most critical assets open and exposed.
Armis helps organizations and governments worldwide to protect their entire attack surface and continuously manage cyber risk exposure through one comprehensive platform. This enables them to stay ahead of threat actors, protect their physical and virtual assets with confidence, and effectively communicate the impact and value of security programs to executives and stakeholders.
VMblog: With AI being a major focus in cybersecurity, how is your company leveraging or addressing AI both as an opportunity and a potential threat vector?
Simpson: Bad actors continue to leverage AI to evolve their tactics and exploit new vulnerabilities. AI-powered solutions are the only way to combat AI-driven cyber threats. When used for good on the defensive side, AI is exponentially supercharging security teams as compared to the benefits to threat actors who employ the technology.
As such, AI is at the core of everything Armis does. Armis CentrixTM is powered by the world’s largest AI-generated and continually optimized asset database, the Armis Asset Intelligence Engine, which monitors billions of assets in real time to identify cyber risk patterns and behaviors. We’ve also continued to leverage AI to supercharge and expand our product capabilities. For example, Armis CentrixTM for Early Warning is an early warning, AI-based system that leverages intelligence from the dark web, smart honeypots and human intelligence to stop cyberattacks before they impact organizations.
VMblog: What sets your solution apart in today’s crowded cybersecurity marketplace? Why should RSAC attendees prioritize visiting your booth?
Simpson: Armis provides one comprehensive platform that addresses the entire lifecycle of managing cyber threats – from asset intelligence and management to early warning detection and vulnerability discovery, prioritization and remediation. Furthermore, we are setting a new standard for preemptive security by going beyond detection to provide real security before an attack, not just after.
VMblog: With the rise in sophisticated ransomware attacks, how does your solution help organizations better prepare and respond?
Simpson: Armis empowers organizations to shift from a reactive to a proactive security posture with a lens on what matters most to the business and where it’s most likely to be affected. Our technology combines early warnings of the vulnerabilities that matter with the context of all critical security findings and assets, allowing teams to focus their resources on the highest-priority risks and reduce the exposure window for what may impact the business the most.
In addition, our research practice, Armis Labs, uses industry-leading tools and methodologies to conduct in-depth analyses of evolving threats, both in the pre-emergence stage and “in the wild” stage of an attack. This intelligence provides organizations with unparalleled visibility and expertise to protect against the threats that matter most, right now, ultimately helping to reduce the number of cybersecurity breaches worldwide.
VMblog: Are you participating in any speaking sessions or panel discussions at RSAC 2025? Can you tell us more about these presentations?
Simpson: Yes! As mentioned above, I will be speaking with our CTO and Co-Founder, Nadir Izrael, on effectively managing the remediation cycle. In this session, which takes place Tuesday, April 29, from 2:25-3:15 pm PT at the Moscone Center, we will discuss how to go beyond vulnerability management to find and consolidate security findings across sources to holistically understand risk and automate prioritization.
Nadir is speaking on another important topic during his keynote session on Wednesday, April 30, from 3:55-4:15 pm PT at Moscone West Level 1. Attendees will learn how AI-driven threat intelligence empowers a shift to proactive cyber operations, enabling teams to stop attacks in the formulation stage.
VMblog: What will you be showing off at your booth?
Simpson: We’re excited to showcase the latest updates to the Armis CentrixTM platform. With the acquisition of OTORIO last month, we have expanded our OT/Cyber Physical Security (CPS) suite to now offer an on-premises solution for use by classified environments and organizations or segments of an organization’s environment that are air gapped or sequestered from online access.
VMblog: What’s your perspective on the most critical cybersecurity trends that will shape the industry in 2025-2026?
Simpson: One of the most critical cybersecurity topics right now is cyberwarfare, as advancements in AI and heightened geopolitical tensions have supercharged its impact. We recently released our third annual Cyberwarfare report, Warfare Without Borders: AI’s Role in The New Age of Cyberwarfare, which found that 87% of IT decision-makers are concerned about the impact of cyberwarfare on their organizations, up 34% from last year. Meanwhile, 73% are concerned about nation-state actors using AI to develop more sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks. Despite IT leaders seeking AI-powered solutions to mitigate these risks, they admit they do not have the expertise to manage this on their own, reinforcing the importance of collaborating with cybersecurity partners like Armis.
VMblog: How can security leaders better prepare their organizations for the evolving threat landscape?
Simpson: Proactive risk mitigation and monitoring efforts must be laser-focused on the intersection of attack paths being actively targeted by threat actors and that have the greatest potential for business impact. Modern technology now enables leaders to optimize their programs in this capacity and, in turn, provide executives and board members with the confidence that their security programs are focused on what matters most and is most likely to impact operations.
Security leaders need to leverage the power of AI to effectively combat escalating threats. However, to be successful, security leaders must also close the AI expertise gap by leveraging automation for threat insights, detection and response, upskilling teams and more.
58% of organizations only respond to threats as they occur or after the damage has already been done. Security teams must adopt a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that proactively identifies and mitigates all cyber asset risks, remediates security findings and vulnerabilities, and protects the entire attack surface. This empowers them to strike back against threat actors, stopping attacks before they impact their organization and communicating the success of the security program to stakeholders using the business context that they can understand and appreciate.
VMblog: As an experienced RSAC sponsor, what advice would you give to attendees to make the most of their conference experience?
Simpson: RSAC Conference can be overwhelming for even long-time attendees. To make the most of the week, plan out your schedule to ensure you have ample time to attend must-see sessions, network and walk the show floor. Remember to also factor in breaks as you will need them!
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