In this interview from Securing the AI Factory with Dell Technologies and Intel 2026, Steve Kenniston, senior cybersecurity evangelist for portfolio marketing at Dell Technologies, joins theCUBE's Dave Vellante to discuss how enterprises can design AI infrastructure with security built in from the start rather than treating it as an afterthought. Kenniston explains how AI dramatically expands the attack surface beyond what traditional applications require, encompassing model training data, inferencing pipelines, prompt injection vulnerabilities and identity management for both human users and agentic systems. He notes that agentic AI introduces particularly complex governance challenges, requiring organizations to ensure autonomous capabilities remain under appropriate control. Kenniston underscores that strong cyber hygiene remains the foundation, but the AI factory demands security be architected in from day one. The conversation also explores the human dimension of cybersecurity — an often-overlooked factor in incident response. Kenniston details how recovering from an attack places extreme demands on security teams, raising questions about staffing, fatigue management and the value of external incident response resources. He addresses the growing complexity of AI supply chains, noting that demand pressure can push organizations to source components without adequate vetting, instantly introducing risk — and positioning Dell's end-to-end supply chain integrity as a meaningful differentiator. Kenniston also reframes zero-trust from buzzword to practical imperative, highlighting how granular identity management now governs not just who has access, but when and from where. He closes with a telling figure: roughly 85% to 90% of AI implementation projects are halted because security teams were never engaged at the design stage. From managing supply chain integrity to closing the gap between security and AI deployment teams, Kenniston provides a practical roadmap for building AI factories that are resilient by design.