Defending at machine speed: Securing the public sector in the agentic era

Over the last three decades in cybersecurity, I’ve witnessed major paradigm shifts — yet none match the velocity and complexity of today’s landscape. Attackers are now using AI to move at machine speed: accelerating intrusions, exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities, and rendering legacy defenses obsolete.

Reactive, manual security reviews can no longer keep pace with sophisticated and increasingly automated threats. Building true cyber resilience means shifting from reactive troubleshooting to a proactive defense — one where continuous posture validation and autonomous remediation are built directly into every workload from day one.

Public sector teams require a unified, structured approach to continuously scan, validate, and remediate software vulnerabilities. Google AI Threat Defense brings together the reasoning power of Gemini, deep multi-cloud visibility from Wiz, autonomous code remediation with CodeMender, and Mandiant frontline threat intelligence into a singular, continuous operational loop.

By securing the entire software lifecycle from code to cloud, this unified system enables agencies to continuously monitor and neutralize emerging threats at machine speed — safeguarding critical infrastructure, mission integrity, and public trust.

Real-world cyber defenses in action

Across state governments and higher education institutions, security and IT leaders are using Google’s AI and security solutions to secure highly dynamic environments, systems, and operations in the agentic era. Let’s take a closer look at how organizations across the public sector are automating defense and building resilience.

• The State of Iowa: Under CISO Shane Dwyer, the state partnered with Google Public Sector to eliminate operational blindness, consolidating more than 20 separate security environments into a single, centralized security operations center (SOC). By ingesting large volumes of telemetry through Google Security Operations, Iowa established a unified operational view across its multi-cloud footprint — enabling its cyber personnel to move away from routine alert triage and focus on proactive threat defense and rapid incident remediation. Underway are several SOC process automation efforts that will continue to support the mission of reducing the overall workload and effectiveness of the SOC team.
• The State of Connecticut: Connecticut faced an unsustainable, fragmented security model across its multicloud footprint. Under CISO Gene Meltser, the state transitioned to a unified, AI-driven operations center with Google Cloud. This agentic Security Operations Center (SOC) configuration allows Connecticut to apply automated cyber defenses across decentralized networks, neutralizing novel threats in near real-time before they reach production systems.
• University of California, Riverside (UCR): Under CIO Matthew Gunkel, UCR Information Technology Solutions (ITS) built an integrated stack on Google Cloud to serve an academic community of more than 26,000 students, faculty, and researchers. The university implemented Google Security Operations and Security Command Center to establish a Zero Trust security architecture, while deploying Gemini Enterprise to automate IT support workflows, empower faculty, and give security analysts real-time assistive intelligence to resolve incidents at machine speed.
• Arizona State University (ASU): Under CISO Lester Godsey, ASU addressed policy friction by consolidating 19 new security standards and existing university policies into an interactive, queryable AI assistant. To prepare future cyber defenders for the agentic era, ASU is launching a student-led SOC that provides hands-on training in orchestration, automation, and AI security through Google technology and ASU’s CreateAI platform.

Scaling public trust through active defense

In an operating environment shaped by machine-speed automation, true cyber resilience depends on embedding active, threat-informed defenses directly into every workload from day one. When public sector and higher education leaders empower their analysts with continuous visibility and intelligent security workflows, they can close critical exposure windows before adversaries can strike.

By replacing slow, manual reviews with automated defenses, security leaders can protect institutional integrity and ensure that the vital digital services supporting local communities, residents, and learners remain resilient, responsive, and secure.

Join us at our Google Public Sector Summit on October 20 where I’m moderating a breakout panel discussion, “Automating defense: Securing the agentic era against complex threats,” with security leaders who are fortifying critical missions. Register now.