Michael Parisi, Chief Growth Officer at Steel Patriot Partners, joins Marco Ciappelli and Sean Martin for a pre-event conversation ahead of RSAC Conference 2026 — exploring what real trust looks like in cybersecurity, why the show floor has become secondary to the hallway, and what business leaders are actually worried about heading into San Francisco. This is a candid, community-driven preview of the conversations that matter most when the industry gathers.
As RSAC 2026 approaches, Michael Parisi of Steel Patriot Partners sits down with Marco Ciappelli and Sean Martin to talk about what it means to show up to the world's largest cybersecurity conference with a business-first mindset. For Parisi — a 20-plus year veteran of professional services, federal compliance, and cybersecurity — RSA is less about the show floor and more about the quiet corners where real conversations happen.
Steel Patriot Partners operates on a simple but powerful premise: business owners first, engineers second, compliance professionals third. That philosophy shapes everything from how they engage clients to how they show up at industry events. At RSAC, Parisi's calendar is already full — and intentionally so. The value isn't in the booths. It's in the bilateral trust that forms between peers who cut through the noise to share what's actually working.
And the noise, this year, is particularly loud. AI dominates the conversation in ways that create as much anxiety as excitement — especially for federal cybersecurity professionals whose institutional knowledge feels suddenly uncertain. Parisi addresses this head-on: the question isn't just whether AI will replace jobs, it's whether leaders are having honest conversations with their teams about what's changing and why. The fog of marketing has thickened into what he calls a "fog of truth" — a marketplace where it's increasingly hard to know who actually delivers versus who just pitches well.
This conversation is a preview of what Steel Patriot Partners will be listening for, talking about, and connecting around at RSAC 2026 — from retaining trusted people amid AI disruption, to whether tried-and-true solutions still hold their own against the wave of AI-native platforms. Parisi and the SPP team will also be sitting down with Marco and Sean live on the floor for a deeper follow-up conversation.
Loved this conversation? Share it with someone heading to RSAC 2026 and make sure to connect with Michael Parisi and the Steel Patriot Partners team in San Francisco.
GUEST
Michael Parisi
Chief Growth Officer, Steel Patriot Partners
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-parisi-4009b2261/
https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com
RESOURCES
Steel Patriot Partners: https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com
RSAC Conference 2026: https://www.rsaconference.com
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The Business of Trust: What Steel Patriot Partners Is Watching at RSAC 2026 | A Brand Spotlight with Michael Parisi
Sean Martin: [00:00:00] Marco.
Marco Ciappelli: Sean, we haven't done this in a while.
Sean Martin: It's been a couple days, I think.
Marco Ciappelli: Oh, actually it's been a year, almost.
Sean Martin: 360 something days.
Marco Ciappelli: Well, this specific, yes. You know, it is — the inbox is full of pitches. You meet with this, meet with that. I see you're there. You see you're there. Yes, I'm there. And I'm also here because part of the coverage is actually having conversations before the event, and I'm so glad that we start with this one.
Sean Martin: Who's this guy? This guy is not me. You're talking about — this guy is our good friend, Mike. Mike, how are you?
Michael Parisi: Good. How are you guys?
Sean Martin: Doing great. Good to see you. And excited to have a chat with you about your presence at RSAC Conference and your representation of Steel Patriot Partners and all that it has to offer — the conversations you're gonna have with your trusted partners and clients and establishing new connections with new people looking to solve their compliance and risk management and security challenges that you help them with. So this is part of our coverage and we're excited to see you on location in San Francisco. Maybe a few words, Mike, about your role at Steel Patriot Partners and what Steel Patriot Partners does, so people have that context.
Michael Parisi: [00:01:00] Yeah, looking forward to hanging out with you guys and seeing a bunch of old friends and of course meeting new friends — inevitably happens every year at RSA. My role: I'm the Chief Growth Officer here at Steel Patriot Partners, so I've got responsibility for all the strategy relative to how we interact with our clients, help them with their business challenges, a number of different things that we'll be talking about this year at the show. Also responsibility for our strategic and channel partner program as well.
Michael Parisi: [00:02:00] At Steel Patriot Partners — you guys know me, I've been around the block a little bit, in and out of professional services for 20 plus years working with cybersecurity certification bodies, back into professional services, and a lot of time in the federal compliance space and cybersecurity space. So what's a little different about this company that I'm with now? The way that I like to explain it is that we're business owners first, engineers second, compliance and security people third — leading with business owners first, because everything that we do relative to our offerings, our collaboration, our services, is through the lens of what does it mean from a business impact perspective, not leading with compliance and security, which is where I think a lot of organizations start with.
Michael Parisi: [00:03:00] And as we get into the conversation today about what to expect from RSA, I'm sure we're gonna double-click on a lot of that — how marketing has kind of taken the lead within an organization to shape the messaging and the position, and we've kind of lost that art of thinking about it through the lens of a business. So that's how I like to describe our business. What do we do? We do everything from engineering — deep-rooted engineering, if you think about purpose-built systems and enclaves to help organizations capitalize on new TAM or new markets, especially in the federal space.
Michael Parisi: [00:03:45] We certainly do traditional compliance, GRC-related services, ongoing maintenance — whether that be of a compliance program or more importantly of an engineering environment or stack. And we love to share. We've been through a lot from an organizational [00:04:00] perspective. All of us, including myself, have lived this throughout our own companies. One of the biggest things that we pride ourselves on is sharing information with the marketplace, with our friends, with our competitors. We spend a lot of time with our competitors as well — we play really well in the sandbox. And we believe that sharing information relative to what impacts business, having security be the mission and compliance be the outcome — we believe that creates a better community for all of us. So that's us.
Sean Martin: [00:04:30] It's fantastic. And so many words in there kept triggering thoughts for me. So I'm gonna start with — I've known you professionally and personally for many years now, and I've seen you operate in both capacities and you epitomize the word trust in the community. [00:05:00] The people you interact with, they trust you. And I think we — you touched on this whole idea that marketing is trying to find a way to communicate what product teams and service teams offer and try to build that trust through messaging. But it's really about the connection. And it's not just about: will my tech work and can you trust me with that? It's: will I understand your business, can I help your business work safely? And time and time again, I see people turn to you and have conversations with you because they trust you for that very reason. You know the business, you know the impact a threat can have, you know the impact a particular risk posture can have on the business. And you help companies work through that regardless of whether or not you have a solution to do it. You help them visualize and communicate and figure out a plan to move forward. So how important is something like an RSAC Conference for you to have those [00:06:00] conversations with people in person, across the board — partners and the ecosystem and competitors and customers alike? Tell us about what you plan to hear and see and say and do that week.
Michael Parisi: I feel like I need a tissue. Thanks, Sean. That's really nice. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Sean Martin: That's true.
Michael Parisi: You can't say that about anybody.
Marco Ciappelli: I mean, he never said things like that about me.
Sean Martin: No. Maybe something. Maybe something.
Michael Parisi: [00:06:45] Yeah, exactly. You know, it's funny — RSA, as you gents know, you've been there for a number of years, I've been there, I can't even count how many years — it's a quote unquote necessary evil. And I think, you know what I mean by that: Marco and I were talking about this last week. I was at another conference — a healthcare conference, a bunch of healthcare CISOs, CIOs, engineers, et cetera — catching [00:07:00] up with a lot of old friends in my network and some new ones. And you know, executives, to your point, they're working on business issues. And every one of them that I ran into at the bar, at a dinner, or in the hallway, the question was: are you gonna be at RSA? And every one of them kind of rolls their eyes and they're like, yep, I'll be there.
Michael Parisi: [00:07:30] And after about 15 of those — one of my good friends, late night cocktail, we're talking — and I'm like, you just gave the same message that everyone else did today. So what's up with the eye roll? And even though it may be a negative connotation from an executive perspective, you're still gonna be there. Why is that? And the answer for all of them, inclusive of me, to your question, is because people show up. [00:08:00] It's very hard to get everyone in one place and to try and connect with your peers and to share information relative to what you're really seeing behind the lines of marketing and boots and solicitations and pitches. That's the place to do it. And that's one of the main reasons why I go — I mean, I live an hour from San Francisco. It could take me three hours in traffic. But even I'm like, oh, I gotta go up to RSA. My calendar's already full.
Michael Parisi: [00:08:45] It's interesting that those types of conversations happen around the show and the conference, because regardless of the vendors that are there, it does bring the appropriate people in who want to share information. So my plan is always: visit with old friends, make some new friends, visit with partners — a lot of partners [00:09:00] as well who will be there.
Michael Parisi: [00:09:15] I will spend very little, if any, time on the show floor. It used to be — and I think this is consistent with a lot of the clients that we talk to and a lot of the folks within our network — it used to be people would go to RSA to learn and see what's new. Like, what are some of the new solutions? Wow, that's really innovative. My current vendor doesn't do that. I wanna follow what these folks are doing. Understand how those vendors and solutions could have a positive impact on the business. And really meet the types of vendors and relationships that, to your point earlier, understand your business and have a solution that can help solve for some of your business issues — and also not mislead you and just say yes, we can do everything. That's gone. [00:10:00] The art of that is gone, unfortunately.
Michael Parisi: [00:10:10] More importantly, the people that are representing those vendors are not necessarily business-minded folks. So my time will be spent having more intimate conversations around: what are we seeing, as a knowledge organization that likes to share information? What are we seeing other organizations do? What's working, what isn't working? Riffing, answering questions about what are some of the business challenges that organizations are having and coming up with unique ideas relative to how we can solve them — but also how as a community we can solve some of those challenges. So that's where I plan to spend my time. And I'm a connector. Part of what I see as my personal mission, but also our organizational mission, is: [00:11:00] if we don't do something, find somebody that does — and somebody that we trust. So our clients and our relationships can extend that trust through us, into our partners or into the network of organizations that do provide those solutions. Because we will be the first ones to raise our hand to say: not in our swim lane.
Marco Ciappelli: [00:11:15] And on that point, Mike, I think what you said — and the theme, funny enough, for this year is 'The Power of Community Starts with You.' That's the RSAC Conference theme. So we have gone more and more human — I say this every year, because when I started, you know, 12, 13 years ago to go, it was all the tech. And then it was the human element. And then there was all the business associated with it. And now it's always the community. And that doesn't happen, unfortunately, on the floor.
Marco Ciappelli: [00:12:00] On the floor is where you still hear: I have the solution that is gonna fix all your problems. There is still the easy button. But everything that happens outside of there — and I'm not saying it's not relevant to go on the floor, I will go on the floor — it's the corridors. It's the lobby. It's between Moscone West and North and South and outside. Even in the Yerba Buena garden if the weather is nice. That's where you connect. And the after-hours. It's kind of like the backstage that is actually cooler than the front stage.
Michael Parisi: Agreed. Absolutely agreed. I'm usually a fixture at the St. Regis for half the week, because people are going in and out of there. [00:13:00] And the best places to connect with people are those areas that are quiet — where somebody kind of sneaks away, takes a breath, checks some email, just clears their head. And if you wander into that space and you find somebody there for the same reason, it's pretty easy to start a conversation. So a lot of relationships happen in those areas as well.
Sean Martin: Yeah. So I'm curious — what are some of the hot topics you think you'll have conversations around? Obviously driven by business realities, not just a new whizbang threat. What are some of the conversations you expect to have there?
Michael Parisi: [00:14:00] Yeah, one that has been coming up a lot lately that I think will be a big topic — in the communities we're talking about, not necessarily on the floor. So: how are people being impacted by what I'll call the flood of noise associated with AI? Okay, we've been going about 15 minutes — that's the first time somebody said AI. That's gotta be a record, right?
Michael Parisi: [00:14:30] The reason I say that is — and I'm not talking about in the vein of: are these technologies going to replace people, and do I need to be thinking about which positions may be eliminated. I'm not talking about that vein. Of course, there's a lot of conversations happening in the market. [00:15:00] I'm talking about the other way: the people that have trusted me as a leader, trusted the organization for a number of years, are now questioning that trust because of what they're hearing in the marketplace. So how do I, as a leader, as an organization — especially in cybersecurity, especially in federal cybersecurity, where those people are very hard to find and have years of institutional knowledge — how do I ensure I retain those people? What types of conversations do I need to be having to reassure them that everything's gonna be okay? Or what realistic conversations do I need to be having to say: you may need to shift your focus because, from a business perspective, the train is coming and we're going to be adopting some of these technologies and it's going to make you more efficient.
Michael Parisi: [00:16:00] So I think people are going to be the biggest aspect. A lot of leaders are going to be asking: what's going on in your organization? Is there a giant fear, or is the attitude invincible — it's not gonna impact me? Those are the two extremes. But I think a lot of leaders are going to be asking: how do I strike that balance, relative to what's happening from a people perspective?
Michael Parisi: [00:16:30] In addition to that, I think there are going to be a lot of conversations around: what do you think, and what are you seeing? That's in general — within your organization, within the market, other people you're talking to? This is going to be a big one. We've already started to see this happen. Business leaders, decision makers, especially within cybersecurity — whether that be CISOs, engineers, CIOs — [00:17:00] they can't trust what they're hearing anymore from vendors. We've done some pieces in the past with another friend, Mark Ehr — we talked about this concept of fog of war. Sean, you and I have talked about that a lot. There's still the fog of more. Now I think it's almost like a fog of truth — like, what is the actual truth from a solution marketing perspective? So a lot of these conversations are going to be: hey, I tried a demo or a POC with this solution, and you know what, those guys are for real. They understand the business. They've solved for that solution. That's somebody you should check out. There's going to be a lot of conversations around what are you seeing, who should I talk to, and more specifically, [00:18:00] what individuals should I go to?
Michael Parisi: [00:18:15] In addition to that, I think there are going to be a lot of conversations around questioning whether what I have is good enough. Marco alluded to this before — the days of traditional security operation centers on-prem. Have we really seen this big a movement back to on-prem in the last couple years? Not really. The big names — your Cisco's, your CrowdStrikes, your Palo Alto Networks, your CyberArk's — [00:19:00] I think there are going to be a lot of conversations around: this stuff has been around a long time, it's been tried and true. Yeah, they may not be AI-ing the hell out of it like everyone else, but there are probably some good reasons as to why they're not. Even though it may be more expensive and a little clunky — is it good enough? Does it help from a business perspective? And does it make sense to stay with something tried and true, as opposed to something new, completely built off of AI, that nobody else has really leaned into? Therefore I don't have the trust associated with that.
Michael Parisi: [00:19:30] You know, this noise in the marketplace — Marco and I talked about this last week — all of a sudden the stock market is bottoming out because they're afraid that all of these AI capabilities that organizations have created are actually gonna be their demise. That's not true. That is not going to happen. [00:20:00] As a result, I think you're seeing organizations lean in and say: we need these traditional solutions because the cart is way out in front of the horse right now, and we need to retreat a little.
Marco Ciappelli: [00:20:15] Well said. It is funny — I was smiling when you brought the truth out because I was thinking the same thing. And then you brought up the idea of honesty and being able to say, you need someone else. I can't help you with this. Instead of saying yes to everything. And that idea of: let's launch the product, we'll figure it out, we'll fix it if it doesn't work — I don't think that should be the policy and the practice anymore. But we'll see. We'll figure out if our theory is going to stand the reality of what RSAC Conference is going to be this year. And I am [00:21:00] excited to carry on this conversation on the floor. We're gonna have a nice couch and we're gonna sit right there and go deeper into these — maybe with some conversations that have already happened at the moment we sit down together. I'm excited to see you.
Marco Ciappelli: We have many other conversations happening before RSAC Conference, which is going to be March 23rd through the 26th. We are all going to be there. If you're going to be there as you're watching this video, leave a comment, get in touch with Michael on LinkedIn — the link will be there. Get in touch with me and Sean. Let's make this the community for real.
Sean Martin: Exactly. And the more we can stay focused and true to that, leveraging our people and tech where appropriate, then I think we're all in much better shape. So, Mike, so glad to see you, my friend. Happy to have this chat with you and looking forward to seeing you and the Steel Patriot Partners team in San Francisco.
Michael Parisi: [00:22:00] Alright, see you then. Thanks guys.