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)

Ep243: Talia Wolf | Founder and Chief Optimizer, GetUplift

Ep243: Talia Wolf | Founder and Chief Optimizer, GetUplift

As the founder of GetUplift, Talia and her team provide conversion optimization services for high-growth companies using customer-centric methods, emotional targeting strategies, and data-driven analysis. Talia has been invited to teach conversion optimization on hundreds of stages such as Google, MozCon, Call To Action Conference, SearchLove, and many more and was recently listed as one of the most influential experts in conversion optimization.

3 Jan 202123min

Ep242: Mike Tung | Founder and CEO, Diffbot

Ep242: Mike Tung | Founder and CEO, Diffbot

Mike Tung is the CEO and Founder of Diffbot, an adviser at the Stanford StartX accelerator, and the leader of Stanford's entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. In a previous life, he was a patent lawyer, a grad student in the Stanford AI lab, and a software engineer at eBay, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Mike studied electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley and computer science at Stanford.

3 Jan 202121min

Ep244: Shai Albaranes | VP Innovation and Ventures, Orbia

Ep244: Shai Albaranes | VP Innovation and Ventures, Orbia

Shai is the VP of Innovation and Ventures at Orbia, the world leader in Building & Infrastructure, Datacomm, Precision Irrigation, Fluor, and Polymers. Amongst his responsibilities, Shai is leading Orbia's corporate venture capital (CVC) fund, startup partnerships, new venture development, advanced analytics, internal innovation, and circular economy. Previously he led the Product Management, Product Marketing, and Strategic Crops units at Netafim, the largest irrigation company in the world, and was a Project Manager at McKinsey & Company. He loves sports, nature, off-roading, and his twin kids Ori and Rotem.

3 Jan 202122min

Ep240: Dotan Knaan | Senior Staff Software Engineer,  Samsung Research America

Ep240: Dotan Knaan | Senior Staff Software Engineer, Samsung Research America

Dotan is a computer vision and image processing professional with over 20 years of experience transforming hard problems into usable solutions. He has lived and worked with Israeli, US, Japanese and Swiss teams, and is a researcher in Samsung Research America. His current passion is leading a team that develops computer vision, graphics, and algorithms for AR and VR.

3 Jan 202121min

Ep239: Laura Schaack | Founder and CEO, Tattd

Ep239: Laura Schaack | Founder and CEO, Tattd

Laura is the Founder & CEO of Tattd, an app that connects users to their perfect Tattoo Artist that just launched. She's been working for early-stage tech companies for almost a decade now, is a mentor to other Founders for various accelerator programs, teaches Entrepreneurship, and is an active voice for women in tech.

3 Jan 202123min

Ep241: Stephanie Andrews | Head of Production, Quill

Ep241: Stephanie Andrews | Head of Production, Quill

Steph’s love for storytelling started at a very young age, writing stories, and creating small film projects. She founded Origins Magazine, a platform that shared the raw realities of entrepreneurial journeys, and in 2018 Steph saw the need for audio-first content and fell in love with podcasting as a way for brands to conveniently build strong relationships with their customer base. She pivoted Origins Magazine to Origins Media Haus, a boutique podcast and video agency focused on helping brands create engaging audio experiences. After acquired by Quill, Steph continued on their team as Head of Production.

3 Jan 202123min

Ep229: Celine Williams | TitleFounder and Chief Strategist, reVisionary

Ep229: Celine Williams | TitleFounder and Chief Strategist, reVisionary

Céline Williams (ACC, CCUG) is an international speaker and the founder of reVisionary, a boutique consulting firm providing executive coaching, leadership development, and culture services to human-focused businesses around the world. Céline has almost 20 years’ experience working with growing organizations to help them navigate change and build leadership capacity and is the trusted advisor to leaders and executives in a variety of industries. She is sought after for her expertise in accelerating team performance, designing culture, navigating change, and facilitating effective communication.

3 Jan 202123min

Ep226: Dan Rubenstein | Co-Founder and CEO of Physera

Ep226: Dan Rubenstein | Co-Founder and CEO of Physera

Y. Dan Rubinstein is CEO/co-founder of Physera (acquired by Omada Health) which is focused on using data and technology to develop innovative care pathways to drive better health outcomes at lower costs. Previously he was the head of product at Palantir, a Director of Product Management at Facebook and Google and was the founding CEO of Reflectivity (acquired by Texas Instruments). He holds a Ph.D. in Statistics, an MS in EE from Stanford, and a BSc in EE from Princeton.

3 Jan 202120min

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