AI at Work: Speed, Risk, and Why Simplicity Wins

I’ve been spending a lot of time with teams and customers talking about AI.

Not in terms of buzzwords or market predictions, but the real, in-the-trenches work of building software, serving customers, and securing identities and data.

The mindset we’ve adopted around AI is simple: you can’t cut your way to great products or great customer experiences. AI isn’t about replacing people or chasing short-term efficiency gains. It’s about creating the kind of leverage that empowers teams to move faster, focus on what matters, and build solutions that last.

Here’s how we’re thinking about that balance at Netwrix: the speed AI enables, the risks it introduces, and why simplicity must win.

1. Speed: From activity to acceleration

At Netwrix, we leaned into AI because our space is crowded, and we need every edge we can get. When people say AI will replace jobs, I see the opposite. If every developer became ten times more efficient, I would hire more developers, not fewer. The real value is velocity: more ideas tested, more customer problems solved, more innovation per dollar spent.

Early on, we gave our teams access to AI tools and watched adoption spike. A lot of that first wave was simple text rewriting, useful but not game changing. Once we set clear goals and training paths, AI stopped being a spell checker and became an amplifier. It helped people think, not just type. That same principal powers Netwrix 1Secure™, which uses AI-driven visibility to help organizations see their data, understand who is touching it, and make smarter decisions without slowing down.

2. Risk: Acceleration without direction creates exposure

Acceleration is thrilling, but it also shifts the bottleneck. For years, engineering capacity was the limiter. Now development moves so quickly that product management, documentation, and enablement struggle to keep pace. If code ships daily but it takes weeks to publish docs, you lose the advantage.

The same risk shows up in security. Every new technology wave opens a new surface. Yesterday it was macros; today it’s prompts, agents, and data leakage through models. We’ve already seen prompt-injection attempts and exfiltration buried in AI inputs. It’s still code, still data, just faster and less predictable. So, considering this, we built Netwrix Threat Manager to detect abnormal patterns, including AI-driven activity, and give teams the signal they need to respond quickly.

Additionally, even social engineering is evolving. Voice cloning and polished phishing campaigns make deception feel personal. The fix is not fear; it is process. Build a culture of verification with callbacks, second factor checks, and clear rules for handling sensitive requests. Netwrix ITDR (Identity Threat Detection and Response) reinforces that mindset because trust now requires proof.

And then there is the inside-out risk. Many employees do not realize how much data they can already access. Years of permission creep mean a simple query like “show me the salary data I can see” may surface information that was never meant to be visible. Netwrix 1Secure™ helps clean that up by identifying shadow data, mapping risky access, and applying governance controls before exposure happens.

3. Simplicity: the real competitive edge

After months of experimentation, one pattern is clear: complexity kills momentum. I’ve been building and advising on security programs for about 25 years. There are a thousand ways you could approach building or improving one, but I think it still boils down to three things:

• Do you know what you have?
• Have you decided how you want to handle it?
• And are you enforcing that policy continuously with evidence?

Do those three things well and you’re already ahead. That approach underpins our philosophy around data security and visibility: knowing what you have, who can access it, and how it’s protected.

While AI’s potential is enormous, it’s easy to overengineer it. From our perspective, the goal isn’t to block or blindly trust new tools, but to guide them. Give people guardrails, let them learn, and build systems that encourage speed, security, and simplicity. Yes, you still need incident response and the rest. But if you do those three well—especially in the age of AI—you’re way ahead. That simple framework underpins Netwrix DSPM, helping organizations inventory, classify, and protect data in one continuous motion.

Don’t block the chatbots

In the early internet days we tried to block fantasy football and YouTube. It was a knee-jerk response to a transformational technology. Let’s not repeat that mistake. Give people guardrails and let them learn. We’ll make some mistakes; the upside is too big to ignore.

Touch grass

I live on a farm. It’s my wife’s grandparents’ place, so our kids are fourth generation out there. I lease most of it, plant trees when I can, and daydream about being on the tractor myself someday. After a day of screens and security, getting your hands in the dirt is a good reset. You can’t hack a cow—at least not yet.

Final thought

AI is already changing how we build, how we serve, and how we secure. Use it to move faster, but point it at the right targets. Train your teams. Clean up identity and permissions. Keep the playbook simple. And remember: excellence isn’t a slogan; it’s the next five minutes. Let’s make them count.