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Kevin Mandia

Founder and CEO, Armadin

Search every verified Kevin Mandia interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Kevin Mandia, founder and CEO of Armadin, has recently discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on cybersecurity in several media appearances. In October 2026, he appeared on Fox Business’s “The Claman Countdown” to comment on suspected China-linked cyber threats and a sell-off in cybersecurity stocks, stating that AI gives attackers an advantage in speed, scale, and creativity, and arguing that organizations will need AI-based offensive and defensive tools because human involvement in security is no longer fast enough. He also said that AI could democratize nation-state-level offensive capabilities. In interviews and podcasts, Mandia has described AI as a major shift in cybersecurity, saying it convinced him to return to the field after his previous work at Mandiant. He stated that Armadin has found over 90 zero-day vulnerabilities at customer sites since January 2026, including 43 remote code execution flaws, and that the company uses AI to continuously attack customer systems to identify exploitable risks. He has also said that while AI models are improving, open models are already capable enough for cyber operations, and that defense will need to become autonomous to counter machine-speed attacks. In a company video, Mandia and Chief Offensive Security Officer Evan Peña discussed how Armadin trains AI agents on human red-team tradecraft, with Peña noting that AI can now perform tasks that previously required human creativity and adaptation.

Recent appearances

  • Armadin CEO warns of China-linked BeyondTrust THREAT

    October 16, 2026 · 📺 Fox Business

    Armadin founder and CEO Kevin Mandia joins ‘The Claman Countdown’ to discuss suspected China-linked cyber threats targeting critical networks and a cybersecurity stock sell-off tied to software vulnerabilities and more. #fox #foxbusiness #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #theclamancountdown #kevinmandia #mandia #lizclaman #claman #armadin #beyondtrust #china #chinesehackers #cybersecurity #cyberattack #cyberthreats #hacking #hackers #artificialintelligence #ai #technology #cybercrime #nationalsecurity #datasecurity #software #stockmarket #wallstreet #stocks #cyberdefense #tech…

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  • The Biggest Shift in Cybersecurity in 30 Years

    October 06, 2026 · 📺 a16z

    a16z General Partner David George sits down with Armadin founder and CEO Kevin Mandia to discuss what happens to cybersecurity when attackers can operate at machine speed. After 30 years in security and building Mandiant, Kevin says AI convinced him to get back on the field. He explains how AI changes the economics of cyberattacks, allowing attackers to probe thousands of paths simultaneously, and why that means defense will ultimately need to become autonomous too. They also unpack Armadin’s approach: continuously attacking customers’ systems with AI to find exploitable vulnerabilities bef…

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  • The biggest AI threat still comes from humans | E31

    September 17, 2026 · 📺 This Week in AI

    This Week In Startups is made possible by: PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co Today’s show: Dario Amodei and Sam Altman are apparently scared of AI models going rogue. Swarms of agents spontaneously deciding to copy themselves over to thousands of computer systems and plot world domination. Our panelists this week — Kevin Mandia (Armadin) and Soups Ranjan (Sardine AI) — investigate real AI-based attacks every single day, and they suggest we’re hyping the wrong concerns. The actual danger isn’t coming…

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  • Human Tradecraft Training Machine-Speed AI: Inside Armadin Episode 4

    September 01, 2026 · 📺 Armadin

    “We have to train the attacker to think like we do. That's exactly how we're doing it.” In Episode 4 of “Inside Armadin,” Armadin CEO Kevin Mandia and Chief Offensive Security Officer Evan Peña discuss how AI is transforming the way red teams think and act. What do you get by infusing elite human operator tradecraft into swarms of AI agents running at machine speed and scale? The Ultimate Attacker. Human-led teams have limited time and capacity to hunt for vulnerabilities and risk. AI allows you to amplify the best red team capabilities to create an army of agents that perform at machine spe…

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  • Building the AI Attacker: Inside Armadin Episode 2

    August 18, 2026 · 📺 Armadin

    How do AI models pose new cyber threats and what’s the secret behind a safer approach to offensive security testing? Find out in Episode 2 of “Inside Armadin: The AI Attacker.” Armadin CEO Kevin Mandia and Chief Architect David Slater dive deeper into the evolving AI models and why red teamers need to build the right harnesses around security. David notes that, to trust the outcome of offensive security testing, you must first must build the right level of safety controls entirely outside the AI part of your system. Discover Armadin’s strategy for pressure-testing these different AI models a…

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  • The Rising Frontier AI Model Attack Threat: Inside Armadin Episode 1

    August 11, 2026 · 📺 Armadin

    In a post-Mythos world, can you build your own harness and test your cyber defenses using frontier AI models? During Episode 1 of “Inside Armadin: The AI Attacker,” Armadin CEO Kevin Mandia and CTO Travis Lanham explore how frontier AI models are transforming cybersecurity. As we move deeper into the AI era, you’ll increasingly face scenarios where you must decide whether humans or machines are best suited for certain security processes. And you’ll need to know how and when to apply frontier AI models to sharpen your testing and defenses against AI-driven threats. With swarms of autonomous…

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  • Kevin Mandia - Cybersecurity Expert Hunting the World's Most Dangerous Hackers | SRS #328

    August 06, 2026 · 📺 Shawn Ryan Show

    Kevin Mandia is CEO of Armadin, where he leads the company's mission to secure some of the world's largest and most complex environments. A globally recognized cybersecurity leader, he is also a General Partner at Ballistic Ventures, mentoring and investing in the next generation of cybersecurity entrepreneurs. Best known as the founder of Mandiant and former CEO of FireEye, Mandia helped redefine the cybersecurity industry through pioneering digital forensics, the groundbreaking APT1 report exposing state-sponsored cyber espionage, and his leadership during the SolarWinds attack. Today, he co…

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  • Cybersecurity Expert: "My AI Went to the Dark Web" | Official Preview

    August 04, 2026 · 📺 Shawn Ryan Show

    Privacy Isn't Paranoia, It's Protection. Download the Glacier app today: https://srs.site/glacierapp Cybersecurity pioneer Kevin Mandia joins Shawn Ryan to reveal what really happens inside the world’s most consequential cyberattacks. Drawing on more than three decades in U.S. cyber defense, Mandia explains how China and Russia conduct nation-state espionage, why ransomware and data extortion force companies into impossible decisions, and how his team exposed PLA Unit 61398 through the landmark APT1 report. He also recounts his path from Air Force counterintelligence to founding Mandiant, le…

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  • Rise of the Third Wave - Kevin Mandia - Watters Edge - Episode #1

    August 04, 2026 · 📺 Watters Edge Podcast

    Host John Watters sits down with longtime friend Kevin Mandia, CEO of Armadin, to dig into founding Mandiant, surviving the 2008 recession, and the APT1 report that put Chinese nation state hacking on the front page and reshaped the threat intelligence industry. The conversation moves through the FireEye acquisition, the hard years of stepping into the CEO role, and the eventual sale to Google, before landing on why Kevin came out of retirement to build Armadin and bet everything on autonomous, AI led security. Takeaways: -Treat breaches as inevitable rather than preventable, and build your r…

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  • Kevin Mandia on the Future of Cybersecurity, AI, and Modern Attacks

    July 07, 2026 · 📺 Oligo Security

    In this fireside chat, Kevin Mandia, founder of Mandiant and founder and CEO of Armadin, joins Gal Elbaz, Co-Founder and CTO of Oligo Security, to discuss how AI is transforming cybersecurity.

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  • Summit Panel: Access, Actions and Influence: Cyber Operations in the Age of Asymmetry

    May 12, 2026 · 📺 VUNationalSecurity

    Day 2 of the Asness Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats on Friday, April 24, featured the Summit Panel: Access, Actions and Influence: Cyber Operations in the Age of Asymmetry. Session Chair: Niloofar Razi, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Vanderbilt University Operating Partner, Capitol Meridian Partners Panelist: Nick Adam, Senior Vice President, Deputy CISO and Global Head of Fusion & Security Operations, State Street Panelist: General Tim Haugh (Ret), Former Commander, US Cyber Command; Former Director, National Security Agency; Former Chief, Central Security Service Panelist:…

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  • NightVision Live at RSA 2026: Kevin Mandia, CEO of Armadin

    April 16, 2026 · 📺 NightDragon

    We’re continuing our NightVision Live series, filmed in partnership with ‪@nasdaq‬ at RSA, with a dynamic conversation featuring Dave DeWalt and ‪@robert-herjavec‬ joined by Kevin Mandia, CEO of ‪@armadin‬. Together, they explore today’s rapidly shifting threat landscape and its implications for organizations navigating an era defined by constant disruption. The discussion dives into how AI is not only accelerating risk but also unlocking powerful new opportunities for innovation in cybersecurity. As attacker tactics evolve, the race to build smarter, more adaptive defenses shows how fundamen…

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“Well I can speak to both at the end of the day I've been a public company CEO had software, I was breached back in 2020 when I was the CEO of Fire Eye and cybersecurity has never been more important than right now so seen if you see volatility in the market cybersecurity is something every organization needs to get right every home and vendor needs to get right and we're going through a shift change right now with to”

“I think you know stepping back and looking at every technological advance you always wonder, hey, was it used by the good guys first or the folks with mal intent first, right? And there is just no doubt no matter what we do that there's going to come a future where you have AI on offense built by the good guys, training AI on defense built by the good guys to protect us. Uh I have found throughout human history, you ”

“I think the deadline's 2027, right? Yeah, I think that's that's what people say, you know, to me. And this is Kevin Mandy anecdotal, you know, dad from California thinking about it. Unofficial, I don't think they need to invade it. I think just population growth alone. You never know the will of a nation. Like Ukraine surprised me how hard they're fighting back. You know, I didn't go over to Ukraine. I didn't know th”

“I first responded to Chinese actors from the government on offense in 1994 and spent my whole career doing it every single day. I do believe they're the one nation that if our operators go on offense and they see that, you will change their behaviors in the cyber domain. I don't know if that works with Iran, it might. I don't know if that works with Russia, it may. But just my observation—I feel like I know a lot abo”

“The fact that Mythos is out should not surprise anybody. The fact that they're calling it a watershed moment, I think it's more just an incremental step in a direction everybody that's in the industry of using AI to learn, think, have total recall, and conduct offensive operations, there's no surprise to it. It's just another step up into the right for what compute can do, how it can think, learn, and instantiate, an”

“Here's the reality. It depends on where a company is in its journey and what it does. But right now, the AI threat is looming and coming. And what I mean by that is all attacks are going to be AI enabled or just AI in the near future. It's going to happen, Sanjay, cuz AI is faster, operates at far more scale, can research all paths into an organization all the time, whereas human-based red teaming or offense was one ”

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