Russell Smith

IT is moving from securing people and applications to governing AI agents and non-human identities, while Windows itself is evolving to accommodate that shift. Windows becomes a hybrid AI platform: Microsoft’s vision is for Windows to combine AI processing on the local device with cloud models, using Microsoft Execution Containers to isolate agents and provide…

What happens when an employee asks AI how much the CEO earns—and gets an answer? In this episode of Petri Dish, ENow Software CEO Jay Gundotra shares a story of exposed executive pay that puts the risks of AI governance into perspective. We explore how AI agents are expanding access to business data, why more…

This guide compares the 7 best Active Directory change auditing tools for monitoring, investigating and reversing changes across hybrid identity environments. Active Directory remains a critical control plane for enterprise access. An unauthorized change to a privileged group, Group Policy Object (GPO) or directory permission can give an attacker extensive access, while an accidental modification…

For years, organisations have trained employees to spot fraud by looking for suspicious emails, spelling mistakes, unusual links, and other obvious warning signs. But as attackers have started using AI, many of those indicators have lost their value. In this episode of Petri Dish, I’m joined by Shai Gabay, CEO and Co-Founder of Trustmi, to…

Until recently, conversations about enterprise AI have focused on models, infrastructure, and computing power. But according to Karthik Sj, who leads Generative AI at LogicMonitor, many organisations are discovering that the real challenge isn’t the technology itself. It’s whether the business is prepared to use it effectively. The timing could hardly be more significant. AI…

This month, Microsoft has started throttling email from outdated Exchange servers, Entra is taking control away from Active Directory, Microsoft and AWS are embracing multi-cloud, and Windows Search is finally becoming less opinionated. Are these isolated updates, or signs that Microsoft is fundamentally changing how enterprise IT is managed? Sponsored by Cayosoft.

Managing Active Directory groups at scale involves much more than adding and removing users. Enterprise organizations often need policy-based automation, self-service, access reviews, approval workflows, delegated administration, and auditable controls. Native tools such as Active Directory Users and Computers, PowerShell, and Remote Server Administration Tools are still important. However, purpose-built products can provide a more…

Today on Petri Dish, I’m speaking to Bob Kelly, Chief Product Officer at ⁠Juriba⁠, author, and the founder of two communities that helped shape how IT professionals learned their craft: AppDeploy and ITNinja. We explore why organizations still struggle to turn technology change into business outcomes, where even the best-equipped IT teams get stuck, and…

According to Neil Costa, Founder and CEO of HireClix, the most important challenge facing recruitment may no longer be efficiency. It may be trust. I sat down recently with Neil and we discussed the future of IT hiring. Artificial intelligence is transforming recruitment at a remarkable pace. Candidates are using AI tools to find jobs,…

In today’s episode of Petri Dish, I’m joined by Giovanni Carraro, SVP, Global Strategic Alliances at Kyndryl. We discuss sovereign cloud but not just as a data residency checkbox. Kyndryl and Microsoft are expanding their collaboration around Kyndryl Sovereignty Solutioning and Microsoft Sovereign Cloud, and the bigger question is how enterprises build architectures that work…

For years, cybersecurity teams have focused on keeping attackers out. But in today’s AI-driven environments, the bigger challenge may be understanding what’s happening after they get in. New research from ExtraHop shows that nearly half of organizations don’t detect attacks until after data has already been exfiltrated. Joining me today is Heath Mullins, Chief Evangelist…

User provisioning has evolved beyond simply creating Active Directory (AD) accounts. Modern IT teams must manage the entire identity lifecycle across Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, HR systems, on-premises directories, and cloud platforms. As organizations adopt more applications and support increasingly distributed workforces, manually provisioning and deprovisioning users becomes inefficient and risky. Delayed…