Passwordless Security in the Age of AI: A Conversation with Slavik Markovich, CEO of Descope

Passwordless Security in the Age of AI: A Conversation with Slavik Markovich, CEO of Descope

Cybersecurity is once again at a critical crossroads—this time, driven by the explosive growth of AI technologies. During a recent visit to Descope’s Palo Alto office, I sat down with CEO Slavik Markovich, a veteran in the cybersecurity space whose past ventures, Demisto (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) and Sentrigo (acquired by McAfee), shaped much of the modern security landscape. Our conversation centered around how AI is radically reshaping digital identity.


Slavik and his team—collaborators for nearly three decades—launched Descope with a bold mission: eliminate passwords altogether. “Passwords are the worst of both worlds,” he noted, “hard for humans to remember and easy for computers to crack.” As AI supercharges phishing and other attack vectors, traditional passwords only grow more inadequate.


Instead, Slavik advocates for passkeys—phishing-resistant, cryptographic keys stored locally and authenticated via biometrics, without ever exposing the biometric data. It's a fundamentally more secure and seamless approach to authentication.


Descope’s innovation doesn’t stop there. As AI evolves into “agentic” form—digital agents acting on behalf of users—the company is tackling a new security frontier. These agents don’t fit neatly into existing models of user authentication or machine-to-machine trust. “The industry is shifting toward agentic AI,” Slavik explained, “and that’s expanding the scale and complexity of identity management.”


One surprisingly common challenge they’re solving is the "confused agent problem," where digital agents unintentionally act with higher privileges than intended. Descope positions itself as the intermediary—managing progressive authorization, mediating between users, agents, and applications, and ensuring secure, compliant interactions.


For CISOs and enterprise leaders, this shift presents both urgency and opportunity. AI is no longer an emerging edge case—it’s embedded in tools and workflows across organizations. Security teams must act swiftly to secure agent-driven interactions and identity touchpoints or risk falling behind.


At Clarity, where I focus on AI-powered threats like deepfakes and next-gen phishing, I see firsthand how vital identity management has become. It’s no longer just a login issue—it’s the first and most critical line of defense. Security solutions must be both robust and frictionless, balancing user experience with airtight protection.


Slavik also shared a personal insight that stood out to me: “We prioritize having fun. We’ve built multiple companies together because we genuinely enjoy the journey.” That mindset resonates. The best cybersecurity innovations come from passionate teams that love solving hard problems, not just building defenses.


The identity revolution is already underway. Organizations that embrace passwordless, agent-aware authentication now will dramatically improve both their security and user experience. Those that delay will face rising vulnerabilities and growing user frustration.


Our industry isn’t just evolving—it’s undergoing a full-scale transformation. Proactively embracing agentic AI, passkeys, and adaptive identity strategies is not just smart—it’s essential. Those who lead will define the future of digital trust. Those who don’t may find themselves struggling to catch up in a threat landscape redefined by AI.

Avsnitt(1170)

Ep293: Jeremy Glassenberg | Product Management & Platform Leader

Ep293: Jeremy Glassenberg | Product Management & Platform Leader

Jeremy is an experienced Product leader of over 12 years with a proven track record of building APIs and monetizing developer platforms at places like Box and Tradeshift. He has managed and expanded communities of tens of thousands of developers, executed on high profile integrations promoted by Salesforce and Google and established paths to monetization through developer platforms.

20 Feb 202121min

Ep292: Zoë Desmond | Founder & CEO,  Frolo

Ep292: Zoë Desmond | Founder & CEO, Frolo

Zoë Desmond is the Founder & CEO of Frolo, the first community app of its kind for single parents. The idea for Frolo was born out of Zoë's own struggles with loneliness and isolation when she became a single parent and found it very difficult to find and connect with other like-minded single parents. The Frolo app is now a year old and has 20k members across the UK and Ireland. 2021 is set to be a busy year for Frolo with plans to expand into new territories and launch a Frolo Dating offering.

19 Feb 202120min

Ep291: Moshe Friedman | Co-Founder, KamaTech & TicTech

Ep291: Moshe Friedman | Co-Founder, KamaTech & TicTech

Moshe Friedman belongs to one of the most illustrious rabbinical families in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) world. At the age of 30, Moshe founded Clipop, a start-up company in the online video field, and later on became a social entrepreneur leading Haredi integration into the Israeli workforce, especially the hi-tech industry. He co-founded KamaTech, a coalition of 80 large hi-tech companies to help Haredis integrate into the hi-tech industry. More than 20,000 Haredi men and women from the Haredi community are part of the KamaTech community, and getting help through KamaTech to get training, placement, and also to become successful entrepreneurs.

18 Feb 202130min

Ep290: Paris Petgrave | Co-Founder & CEO, We Love Work

Ep290: Paris Petgrave | Co-Founder & CEO, We Love Work

Paris is the CEO and Co-founder of  We Love Work, an app that helps companies build happier, more resilient teams by solving their recruitment, engagement and retention problems.  She has worked as a consultant and building products and services for a number of large, multi-national organizations including Barclays, Harrods, Virgin, Mastercard and the NHS. In 2017  she was listed as the top 100 EMpower leaders in the Financial Times and a Rising Star in the Power list 2018 and 2019.

17 Feb 202122min

Ep289: Chuck Imerson | CEO, Asian Box

Ep289: Chuck Imerson | CEO, Asian Box

Chuck Imerson has over 30 years of Hospitality experience, he has successfully led full-service organizations, fast-casual and everything in between.Chuck joined Asian Box as COO in 2016. As COO he led Asian Box through a growth spurt going from 3 o 10 locations in an 18-month span. In November 2019, he took over as the CEO of Asian Box.  Chuck began his restaurant career as a teenager, quickly working his way up through the ranks at Marie Callender’s restaurant group culminating in the position of Senior Area Director in which he oversaw 44 locations in 7 states. From there Chuck helped launch the LYFE Kitchen lifestyle brand as the Vice President of Operations, leading the start-up process and the high-profile – celebrity chef-driven opening of the first three locations.Additionally, Chuck has owned and operated his own full-service restaurant in Northern California. He currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two children.

16 Feb 202122min

Ep288: Sarah Begum | Pioneering Explorer & Journalist, Host of ‘Spaced Out!’ Podcast

Ep288: Sarah Begum | Pioneering Explorer & Journalist, Host of ‘Spaced Out!’ Podcast

Sarah is an explorer and journalist who has immersed with indigenous tribes in jungles, mountains, deserts and caves to understand their cultures and capture their stories. Now, focusing on aviation and space exploration with a focus on sustainability and climate awareness.

15 Feb 202121min

Ep287: Marc Cirera | Founder, Companies for Good

Ep287: Marc Cirera | Founder, Companies for Good

Marc Cirera is business ethics and CSR specialist with a clear vision: a world where companies operate in a more sustainable and responsible way. Marc is the Founder & CEO of Companies for Good, a social enterprise designed to help businesses change for good.

14 Feb 202122min

Ep286: Amit Tishler | Chief Creative Officer, PopBase

Ep286: Amit Tishler | Chief Creative Officer, PopBase

Amit's spent his early career as an animator, director and award-winning filmmaker. For over 6 years he acted as the president of Ten Forward Productions where he produced work on projects for clients like Cartoon Network, HBO, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Hallmark, and more. After moving from TV into software development on games for the Nintendo 3DS as well as educational software for Pangea Tools & Wizdy, Amit climbed up the ladder of the industry as a business development executive for the award-winning Empty Clip Studios, before leaving to his job to co-found PopBase.

13 Feb 202126min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

badfluence
framgangspodden
varvet
rss-jossan-nina
uppgang-och-fall
bathina-en-podcast
rss-svart-marknad
rss-borsens-finest
24fragor
svd-tech-brief
lastbilspodden
avanzapodden
dynastin
fill-or-kill
affarsvarlden
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
borsmorgon
rss-dagen-med-di
kvalitetsaktiepodden