Top CISO Priorities and Global Digital Trust with Morgan Adamski

Welcome to Data Security Decoded. Join host Caleb Tolin in conversation with Morgan Adamski who leads Cyber, Data, and Tech Risk at PwC and is a former US national security leader who spent 16 years tracking nation-state threats inside the US government. Coming out of a career spent inside secure facilities without windows or phones and working to address China’s prepositioning in US critical infrastructure, Morgan shares a direct view of how geopolitics is now shaping cyber risk decisions in boardrooms.

What You'll Learn:
Why only 24% invest in proactive defense, even while 60% call cyber a top priority
How AI agents are cutting breach timelines to under 80 days
Why cyber insurance is now a hygiene scorecard, not just financial protection
The real reason leaders lack confidence in resilience
Where legacy systems and supply chain dependencies expose blind spots
How public–private collaboration changed the response to China’s infrastructure campaign
What CISOs must confront now to avoid being blindsided by the next crisis
The conversation gives security leaders and decision-makers a clear view of where current strategies fall short and the choices required to build real resilience before the next crisis forces it.

Chapters:
[00:24] Life after 16 years in government: sunlight, kids, and learning memes
[02:22] What “six-seven” and “La Boo-Boos” taught about living outside the SCIF
[03:14] China’s playbook: prepositioning for real-world disruption, not espionage
[04:20] When industry and victims share intel, everything changes
[06:25] Why we cannot stop talking about this threat
[08:44] Inside PwC’s Global Digital Trust Insights report
[09:27] Why companies overspend on cleanup and underinvest in prevention
[11:57] AI in the SOC: cutting breach timelines and reshaping analyst work
[13:07] Cyber insurance as operational reality check
[17:45] Legacy systems, supply chain risk, and the confidence gap
[20:57] The next challenge: authenticating AI agents
[21:08] Where to learn more and what’s ahead

Episode Resources:
Caleb Tolin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebtolin
Morgan Adamski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-adamski-501094240
PwC’s 2026 Global Digital Trust Insights report: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/cybersecurity-risk-regulatory/library/global-digital-trust-insights.html

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