The DAIS 2026 Speaker Spotlight is a series where we hand the mic to the speakers heading to Data + AI Summit and let them answer five short questions โ in their own voice, no press-release polish.
Below, Bryan Schaefer on why a well-architected security lakehouse is the foundation Cyber teams need to keep up with the new reality of agentic, swarm-style threats. Lightly edited for length โ otherwise, the words are his.
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Databricks is the operating system of agentic data intelligence โ and the path forward for organizations facing the reality of relentless autonomous threat.
โ Bryan Schaefer
The topic
What is your talk about, and who is it for?
The talk outlines best practices for establishing the foundation of a future-proof security lakehouse in the age of agentic defense, suited for security practitioners & leaders.
Why this, why now
What's changed in the last 6โ12 months that makes this topic urgent right now?
Cybersecurity threat actors are experiencing a revolutionary shift to agentic automation swarm attacks leveraging all data available to narrow the window between detecting and attacking vulnerabilities to hours instead of months. Agentic signal-based defense is the only hope Cyber defense teams have to remain ahead of the threat curve, and a well-architected security lakehouse on Databricks is the best place to start.
The personal stake
Why are you the person giving this talk?
I've been leveraging my time as a security architect to help Cybersecurity teams modernize their strategies by applying big data solutions for the last 15 years. I recognize and continue to champion the notion that a strong foundation is the most important element of a strong security posture.
What you'll leave with
What will someone be able to do on Monday morning that they couldn't do before?
They will have a clear understanding of what a strong data foundation and ingestion architecture looks like โ and the value of building for the future of agentic defense.
The bigger picture
How does this fit into where Databricks โ and data and AI more broadly โ is heading?
Databricks is the operating system of agentic data intelligence, and the path forward for organizations facing the reality of relentless autonomous threat.
Part of the DAIS 2026 Speaker Spotlight series โ more voices dropping in the weeks ahead. Got a DAIS speaker you'd love to hear from next? Mention them in the comments โ we're always listening.
