Black Hat USA 2026 | Suzy Pallett, Black Hat

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Suzy Pallett

President

Black Hat

play_circle_outline Black Hat: Cybersecurity Community Barometer for Real-Time Vulnerability Response

play_circle_outline Peer-reviewed research and briefings shaping industry practices and solutions

play_circle_outline Startup Spotlight and Startup City: Peer-Reviewed Global Cybersecurity Startup Recognition for Neutral Technical Credibility

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Suzy Pallett, Black Hat

Suzy Pallett

President Black Hat

In this interview from Black Hat 2026, Suzy Pallett, president at Black Hat, joins theCUBE's Krista Case to discuss how the conference is evolving to keep pace with an accelerating threat landscape shaped by artificial intelligence. Pallett explains why Black Hat has shifted from reacting to periodic vulnerabilities toward fostering real-time collaboration, noting that exploits now surface in seconds rather than weeks. She underscores the value of peer-reviewed research, describing how Black Hat's independent review board ensures that only findings with genui... Read more

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How should the Black Hat conference adapt or evolve to ensure it keeps pace with the rapid changes in the cybersecurity industry? add

What recent research presented at Black Hat has been notable, and what about it stood out? add

What is the Global Startup Spotlight at Black Hat, and how does it benefit startups? add

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Suzy Pallett, Black Hat

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Krista Case

>> Welcome back to theCUBE. I'm Krista Case, and we're live here at Black Hat 2026. We're live here for the next 2 days, and I couldn't be more thrilled because this is really the event where the cybersecurity community comes together. You have startups, you have threat researchers, you have CISOs, and all of these different roles arrive with different perspectives about what they're seeing change in the industry. And especially this year, we're seeing practitioners navigating the impact of AI and how that's reshaping both the threat landscape and how our defenders are approaching cybersecurity overall. For this one week, these conversations are all happening here. And again, we're really thrilled to be here capturing it, and I'm privileged to sit down today with Suzy Pallett, who is the president of Black Hat. Suzy, thank you so much for joining us today.

Suzy Pallett

>> Lovely to meet you, Krista, and a pleasure to be here.

Krista Case

>> Absolutely, thank you. So, Black Hat is really kind of this barometer of how the cybersecurity industry overall is changing. In your role as the president, can you talk to how you think about adapting or evolving the conference to make sure that it's keeping pace, especially these days with all of this change that's going on?

Suzy Pallett

>> Definitely, and I think we have to respond to the pace of change. So for us in yesteryear when Black Hat was first founded, it was very much about coming together to look at the research, look at the vulnerabilities that are happening, and then be able to react to them. Now that pace of change, we are seeing those vulnerabilities daily, seconds, minutes, and so how does Black Hat respond? Well, we still need to be able to really focus on the urgency and how we can come together to collaborate in those critical environments to be able to convene and really devise, I suppose, collective solutions to be able to solve the problems. So for Black Hat as a conference, it's very much about the networking, hands-on opportunities, and being able to solve collectively as opposed to individually. I think this year, very much the focus is on that urgency and how we can continue to collaborate and not work in isolation in terms of how we're gonna defend against threats.

Krista Case

>> I love that, Suzy. It's really a matter of community and it's a matter of people and processes, arguably even more than the technology itself that we see on the show floor.

Suzy Pallett

>> Definitely that human piece. And you've heard it a lot through our keynotes and through the conversations that were happening. You need the human collaboration to be able to counter the pace of what's happening in technology. So the more that we can share ideas, the more that we can learn from each other, the quicker we're going to be able to respond. Whereas previously it would be the technology just alone as the solutions. I think now the urgency is on convening together, like in places like Black Hat, to be able to move faster together and stronger together.

Krista Case

>> And Suzy, you mentioned the keynote, and I know you're sitting down with us fresh from the keynote, which was just earlier this morning. Can you talk through some of the trends that stuck out with you, or maybe what's the top one or two trends that you think would be most impactful for our audience to keep in mind as they're maybe watching the coverage of the conference or as they're engaging with vendors on the show floor?

Suzy Pallett

>> Definitely. I think the conversation on everybody's lips is AI, and the pace at which AI is moving us from reactive to proactive and how we can then respond to that in our defense. So with the keynote itself and with the conversations yesterday, it's about how we can use our tools and collective community to try and ideate what's gonna happen next. And we've all been through the roadmaps of cybersecurity where we've faced these different challenges. The commonality of challenge hasn't changed, but the pace and the technology has. So I think for us it's about, again, addressing those vulnerabilities, finding the solutions, and sharing that knowledge. Because the sooner we can share the knowledge, the sooner we can all react to it.

Krista Case

>> Absolutely. And in terms of that knowledge, I know naturally research is a very important part of that conversation because we need that knowledge to be grounded in, factual findings and, as you mentioned, sort of what's happening on the adversarial perspective. And I know research has always been an important piece of the Black Hat show. So can you share with us some of the recent research that you've seen and maybe what stood out to you?

Suzy Pallett

>> Yeah, I think for us, I couldn't pinpoint one. The research is so important at Black Hat because it's peer-reviewed, it's scrutinized. We are very fortunate and we have thousands and thousands of submissions each year, but our review board really are independent. We don't get involved in that. Our review board look at those research papers and choose which ones are authentic enough and going to shape the industry enough to be able to be on stage at Black Hat. So when you look at what's coming out there, there's conversations that allow us to discover how something's happened, how to prevent it next time. We're then able to look at, what's going to be up next. And I think the key part of that is the scrutiny of the peer review. So it's only able to get onto Black Hat stage if it's been independently reviewed by our review board to be able to get there, which means it's useful, it's worth sharing, and it's something critical for the industry to hear.

Krista Case

>> Absolutely. I couldn't agree more, Suzy. And when we look at the research and even some of the technology, that we're engaging with vendors about, I'm trying to really dig into, what's impactful for practitioners, as you mentioned. And so having that grounding in what's impactful to the practitioners, and at the same time it's peer-reviewed, really will go a long way in terms of making sure that that research is impactful, as you say.

Suzy Pallett

>> Yeah, and I think it's impactful not just in the session, but it's also the conversations that then it sparks afterwards, because you'll find that a briefing will happen, the research is discussed, and then collectively people will come together and think, well, This is what we've heard. What can we do about it? Where can we go and find the solutions to support us with that? And that 360 view of Black Hat and how that implements is so important.

Krista Case

>> Mm-hmm. And in addition to some of the breakouts, are there other kind of networking opportunities that you might suggest for security leaders to start digging into some of these conversations over the next few days here?

Suzy Pallett

>> It touches on what you raised before about how we're trying to keep up with that. And this year there's lots of different areas where we've created that serendipitous networking but also an opportunity to connect and also orchestrated. So we have our summits, which are very orchestrated in terms of coming together with like-minded people that are facing the same challenge as you within a room. But also we have areas on the Business Hall floor like The Convergence, which is an ask me anything, an opportunity to meet up. We have labs, we have first-timer programs, places where you can come together and really get either hands-on with the technologies and then serendipitously have a conversation with somebody about that, but also then orchestrate as we said, in terms of Convergence, meetups, ask me anythings that really help us to be able to ask the questions that sometimes you think about but don't have the opportunity to ask.

Krista Case

>> So the community and the networking, very vibrant. I'd like to pivot slightly, Suzy, and talk about the technology side of things, which naturally is still important. We've been talking about the pace of change and how AI is accelerating things, and I think we're seeing this when we see some of these startup companies that are emerging, very quickly, in some cases from stealth. In some cases, they have a novel or innovative approach to solving some of these novel problems, I guess. And so Black Hat has— my understanding is it's new this year— the Startup Spotlight competition, which I've been paying a lot of attention to, sort of as this indicator of again, where the technology trends are heading and what the next generation of technology companies in the cybersecurity space might look like. So can you talk a little bit about that program and also what are you seeing from this collection of companies that kind of gives you an indication of where things are heading?

Suzy Pallett

>> Yeah, and it's really interesting. So we've had startup competitions before in Asia, in Europe, in Canada, around the US. What we wanted to bring together this year was that global conversation and really be able to give a voice quite neutrally to those startups. And so our Global Startup Spotlight competition is about being able to have a voice for the startups. We've also got Startup City and a Startup Stage. I think the technologies, exactly as you said, are all AI-related solutions in the space, both using AI as defense but also attacking AI as offense. And I think that's what we're seeing coming through in the conversations. But for us, it's really important as a neutral platform for Black Hat, to be able to give in the big noise that we have across cybersecurity a space for startups to have a conversation, a space for startups to be recognized, and a space for startups to be able to be reviewed by their peers that they might not have had the opportunity to otherwise. So our competition is very much about the technology, not in terms of funding programs, but it's about that support and recognition that within Black Hat, which is a really technically advanced conference, you've been recognized as a solid startup to be able to take on your journey. So I think that's what's important in terms of that credibility and how we hope to continue to serve the startups in this space.

Krista Case

>> It's a great point, Suzy. If there ever was an audience to sort of quote-unquote peer review these companies and kind of give the stamp of approval, I think this audience here at Black Hat would be it. we've been saying, it's really kind of where the practitioner community has gathered for many years.

Suzy Pallett

>> And I think that's the value of Black Hat, and something that we really hold to our core is we have to maintain that authenticity and that peer review. So whether it's our startups, whether it's our briefings, whether it's any program that we do, it has to be that peer-reviewed element because that technical credibility is so important. And that's what allows people to then have that assurance of, okay, it's at Black Hat, it's been accepted, and those conversations can happen, which you don't find at every conference. But we are very fortunate to have because of our community at Black

Krista Case

>> Hat. And you mentioned it's a global competition, rightSo I believe the US winners were announced last evening and the global winners will be announced this morning. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Suzy Pallett

>> Last night for the US winners and then the global one is either later today or tomorrow.

Krista Case

>> Yes.

Suzy Pallett

>> Okay, but looking forward to that.

Krista Case

>> Yep, absolutely. And I know we're going to actually have the winner and the runner-up here in theCUBE.

Suzy Pallett

>> Wonderful

Krista Case

>> . So we appreciate that partnership to sort of help spread the word about what they're doing. Have you seen— are there any companies that have been particularly interesting to you or any kind of general technology areas that you've seen them focus on?

Suzy Pallett

>> I wouldn't want to be biased and name one company, but I think the technologies astound me. And I think what you covered before, that pace of change, there's a lovely fact of we now face 12 years of change and it used to be in a week and now it's in like half a day. And I think, you know, collectively, probably in a year that's going to be in an hour. So I think just the constant evolution of trying to keep that one step ahead. And that's what astounds me about the technology and the superseding kind of intelligence of these brains that are coming together and that startup mentality that is solution-focused as opposed to commercially focused. It's the first essence is we want to find a solution and that shared purpose is just beautiful to watch and astounding within the technology. But I think they're the journeys that I'd love to keep close to and watch because ultimately, our aim is that those startups then follow Black Hat on their journey as well. And in years to come will be keynote speakers on our stages and I hope we can see that through.

Krista Case

>> You'll be able to see them grow and evolve, like you say, on the keynotes and the show floor, certainly. And it's again, it sounds like a great program and I'm sure it'll be very vibrant.

Suzy Pallett

>> Yes.

Krista Case

>> So Suzy, maybe just kind of one last question here, which is as people leave Black Hat this year, what is maybe one, you know, conversation or one key takeaway that you hope that they leave with? Again, I know we've heard a lot about community and the people, and we've talked a little bit about the technology. We've covered a lot of ground, but if there's maybe one thing that you hope that people leave with, what might it be?

Suzy Pallett

>> That they're not alone. And I think that's so important because it links to the technology and the collaboration and the networking piece, but that they have this really huge community of peers that they can lean into. And that's not just a moment in time when they can do that at Black Hat USA, but also throughout the year. So I'd like them to leave with ideas that they're going to take back technologies that they're gonna be able to implement, vulnerabilities that they're gonna be able to patch. Of course, all of those, but also that peer group that then once they have an idea next week or something that they're facing, they can follow through with, because otherwise we can be quite isolated in cybersecurity. And so for me, that biggest takeaway and the biggest strength is being able to maintain that. And I think for Black Hat, that's what we want to be able to support, is it's not just these moments in time in Vegas, it's about what happens after Vegas as well.

Krista Case

>> It's the follow-up and the follow-through and making sure that as the defenders, we're continuing to fight the good fight, I guess.

Suzy Pallett

>> Definitely. I'm gonna say it later, but the cybersecurity industry are my favorite superheroes, because they are fighting battles every day without the need for adoration. And actually giving them a moment to be able to share that battle that they face with that peer that they can lean into, for me, is super important.

Krista Case

>> Well, Suzy, I have no doubt it's going to be a fantastic show. It already has been. Thank you so much for having theCUBE here. Thank you so much for sitting down with us.

Suzy Pallett

>> I really appreciate the time, Krista, and lovely to connect with you today.

Krista Case

>> Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Suzy Pallett

>> Thank you.

Krista Case

>> And thank you. We'll be back in just a few minutes with our continued coverage of Black Hat live here at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This is Krista Case with theCUBE, and we'll see you back in just a few minutes.