CrowdStrike’s former CTO on cyber rivalries and how automation can undermine security for early-stage startups



“One of the biggest vulnerabilities in companies is actually humans,” CrowdStrike co-founder and former CTO Dmitri Alperovitch told TechCrunch in this week’s episode of Equity. “The more you automate, the more opportunities there are for people to find vulnerabilities in your system.”

With the $50 billion Chinese AI market potentially slipping out of reach for U.S. chipmakers like Nvidia, and with cyber threats escalating from state actors and criminal groups alike, it’s a strong reminder of how tightly tech, security, and geopolitics are intertwined.

On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Alperovitch, who is chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, to talk about the evolving cybersecurity landscape, the role of startups, and why he says we’re living in a World on the Brink.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

  • What early-stage secure-by-design startup founders are missing when it comes to maintaining security while building quickly and crisis management. 
  • How AI export controls and global rivalries are reshaping innovation.
  • What investors are really looking for when backing cybersecurity startups today.

Equity will be back Friday with a behind-the-scenes look at TC Sessions: AI, so don’t miss it!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.





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