The CISO Playbook for AI Agents | Datadog

a16z's Joel De La Garza is joined by Emilio Escobar, Chief Information Security Officer at Datadog, to discuss what it takes to secure a company where nearly every employee is using AI and more than 4,000 engineers are working with coding agents. Rather than trying to block new tools, Emilio explains why Datadog chose to embrace AI early and build the security infrastructure needed to use it safely.

They unpack how AI changes traditional assumptions around data permissions, credentials, developer access, and software supply chains. Emilio shares how Datadog uses role-based MCP servers and ephemeral credentials, as well as an AI "judge" built by his security team to evaluate the intent behind code and agent skills before they enter the environment.

They also discuss why security teams can't afford to wait for commercial solutions to every new AI threat, how the relationship between developers and security teams needs to change, and why Emilio is less concerned about an AI "escaping" than he is about the sheer volume of vulnerabilities AI could uncover.

 

Resources:

Follow Emilio Escobar on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emilioesc

Follow Joel De La Garza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/3448827723723234/

Follow Datadog on X: https://x.com/datadoghq

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