As KubeCon NA 2025 approaches, VMblog sat down with Matt Richards, CMO of Aqua Security, to discuss how the cloud-native security landscape is evolving in response to AI-driven threats and the rapid adoption of generative AI workloads. In this exclusive VMblog pre-show Q&A, Richards reveals how Aqua’s Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) is addressing the convergence of AI-powered attacks, software supply chain vulnerabilities, and sophisticated runtime exploits that are reshaping enterprise security strategies. With Aqua Nautilus research showing that more than half of attacks targeting cloud workloads now use concealment techniques to evade detection, the conversation couldn’t be more timely.
If you’re attending KubeCon NA 2025, Aqua Security should be at the top of your MUST SEE list. The company will be unveiling the most significant Trivy announcement in years at booth 230, offering hands-on demos of their new Secure AI capabilities, and hosting an exclusive happy hour for Trivy users on November 12th. Richards shares actionable insights on securing GenAI deployments, governing AI prompts, and embedding AI security into DevSecOps pipelines—critical knowledge for any organization looking to accelerate cloud-native and AI innovation without compromising security. Read on to discover what sets Aqua apart in 2025 and why their full lifecycle approach to security is resonating with enterprises navigating an increasingly complex threat landscape.
VMblog: Tell us more about Aqua Security and what you offer.
Matt Richards: Aqua Security protects every cloud native application from code to cloud to prompt. As the pioneer in container and AI workload security, Aqua delivers full lifecycle protection across every stage of the development lifecycle in real time. Our unified Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) combines agentless and agent-based controls with industry-leading runtime security for cloud, on-prem, hybrid, multi-cloud, VM, and mainframe environments. The Aqua Platform provides best-in-class security agents, scanning powered by Trivy – the most popular scanner in the world – and advanced contextual vulnerability management to reduce noise and accelerate remediation.
VMblog: In an increasingly saturated cloud-native marketplace, what distinguishes your solution in late 2025? What’s your unique value proposition?
Richards: What sets Aqua apart in 2025 is our full life-cycle approach to cloud-native security, built on over a decade of research and practical experience. Unlike point tools that rely mainly on static scanning, Aqua delivers continuous protection from code to cloud to runtime, with unified posture management and real-time defense that stops attacks the moment they occur across on-prem, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Our platform uniquely combines contextual vulnerability management, workload and infrastructure security, and advanced AI protections into one solution. And as the only CNAPP extending to AI application security, Aqua gives organizations visibility and control over large language models (LLMs), prompts, and AI agent interactions, closing a critical gap that no other vendor addresses.
VMblog: With GenAI workloads and LLM deployments reshaping cloud-native architectures, how does your solution address these AI infrastructure demands?
Richards: Aqua Secure AI was purpose-built to protect generative AI applications at their most critical control point: the workload. Using lightweight eBPF-based runtime instrumentation, Aqua observes model usage, prompt behavior, and data flows in real time, without requiring code changes or SDKs. This allows teams to detect prompt injection, data exfiltration, model tampering, and toxic output before they escalate. Our recent partnership with Akamai extends this protection to the application edge, pairing Aqua’s runtime defense with edge-based prompt validation for full AI lifecycle security.
VMblog: What key message will attendees hear from you at KubeCon NA 2025, and what actionable insights will they take back to influence their management teams?
Richards: AI changes the threat surface, and runtime protection is non-negotiable. With the majority of AI-based apps being deployed with containers, AI protection begins with container security. Attendees will see how Aqua helps discover hidden AI services, enforce safe usage policies, and stop advanced attacks in production. They’ll leave with concrete guidance on securing GenAI deployments, including governing prompts, validating AI interactions, and embedding AI security into DevSecOps pipelines. After engaging with Aqua, they can return to their leadership with a strategy to accelerate innovation without compromising security.
VMblog: What are the biggest threats to cloud native security in 2025? How does your solution help organizations overcome these?
Richards: The biggest threats to cloud native security in 2025 stem from the convergence of AI-driven attacks, software supply chain vulnerabilities, and sophisticated runtime exploits. Aqua Nautilus research has found that more than half of the attacks targeting cloud workloads use concealment techniques to evade detection, underscoring how quickly adversaries are evolving. At the same time, generative AI is being weaponized to automate malware creation and prompt injection campaigns, while also quietly entering the software supply chain through AI-assisted coding and dependency management. These shifts expand the attack surface in ways traditional tools were never designed to monitor.
Aqua helps organizations overcome these challenges by delivering full lifecycle protection that spans from development to runtime. By embedding security directly into the CI/CD pipeline, we catch risks early; by leveraging Trivy and our partnerships in the open source ecosystem, we secure the software supply chain; and by applying eBPF-powered runtime defense, we detect and stop even hidden or zero-day attacks in production. With the addition of Secure AI, Aqua extends this protection to AI workloads, giving enterprises visibility and control over prompts, model behavior, and data flows. The result is that enterprises can embrace cloud native and AI innovation with the confidence that their workloads are resilient against today’s most pressing threats.
VMblog: Where can attendees find you at the event? What hands-on demos, interactive experiences, or booth activities have you designed to showcase your technology?
Richards: We are pleased to be a sponsor of KubeCon again this year. We are in booth 230 You can try Aqua’s new Secure AI capabilities in the booth and talk to the team to find out more. One difference is that we are featuring Trivy this year and previewing an amazing new demo – unlike anything you have seen before from Trivy. It’s the same outstanding Scanner, and now it’s so much easier to use. Come take a look!
VMblog: Are you hosting any exclusive events, networking sessions, or after-hours meetups during KubeCon? How can attendees participate?
Richards: This past year, we launched Trivy Partner Connect, a new program designed for vendors who provide vulnerability feeds to the Trivy platform. As part of that, we will be hosting a happy hour for all Trivy users from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the End Zone Room at STATS Brewpub (300 Marietta Street, Atlanta). If you use Trivy, or even if you only know someone who uses Trivy, you are more than welcome to come by, grab some food and drink, and enjoy the evening!
VMblog: What creative booth experiences, prize draws, or community engagement activities have you planned to connect with attendees?
Richards: This year, we are featuring our open source scanner Trivy. As the most popular open source scanner in the industry, Trivy is getting bigger and better! We will be providing a preview of the most significant Trivy announcement in the last few years and letting attendees give it a try. Come by to see new and upcoming Trivy capabilities and, of course, be entered to win amazing prizes. All it takes is a moment to swing by the booth, take a Trivy test-drive, and be entered to win. We will be drawing multiple times each day in the booth, and there will be multiple chances to win. We look forward to seeing you there!
VMblog: How does your technology fit within the broader CNCF ecosystem? What’s your role in the modern cloud-native infrastructure stack?
Richards: Aqua has been part of the CNCF ecosystem from the beginning. Our open source scanner, Trivy, is the most widely adopted security tool in the cloud-native community, with more than 27,000 GitHub stars and 100 million annual downloads. It’s embedded in countless CNCF projects and is often the first line of defense developers add to their tool chain. Through initiatives like Trivy Partner Connect, we’re expanding that reach, enabling vendors and open source contributors alike to integrate security seamlessly into Kubernetes, containers, and modern DevOps workflows.
Beyond our own projects, Aqua helps organizations secure applications that rely on open source software, tools, and repositories by embedding protection across the entire software supply chain. By combining deep scanning, automated remediation, and runtime defense, Aqua ensures that open source components, whether pulled from public repositories, container registries, or integrated via AI-assisted coding, are governed and protected. This not only reduces the risk of introducing malicious or vulnerable code but also strengthens resilience in a software ecosystem where open source innovation is essential to modern application development.
In short, Aqua’s role in the stack is to secure every layer – from the developer’s first container image to complex, distributed AI workloads in production. We give organizations the confidence to innovate within the CNCF ecosystem by embedding security into the same open, scalable, and cloud native foundations they already trust.
VMblog: What emerging technologies or industry shifts is your company monitoring most closely as we head into 2026?
Richards: We’re tracking three significant shifts and investing heavily in runtime and AI-aware defenses to address these shifts head-on:
1) AI security arms race: Attackers are already using AI to generate evasive malware and launch sophisticated prompt injections. Defenders must meet this with runtime AI defenses.
2) Agentic AI systems: With AI agents chaining tasks autonomously, the risk of data leakage and manipulation grows exponentially.
3) Software supply chain resilience: As AI becomes embedded in the developer tool chain, from code generation to dependency management, the software supply chain is more vulnerable.
VMblog: What’s your top recommendation for attendees to maximize their KubeCon experience and learning outcomes?
Richards: The real value of KubeCon comes from hands-on demos and community engagement. We recommend attendees spend time at the project booths for tools they already use (like Aqua Trivy) to see how open source is evolving. Engage with runtime security and AI security demonstrations to understand real-world attack vectors, not just theory. And most importantly, leave with an action plan to bring cloud native and AI security best practices back to their teams.
