According to Microsoft Senior Vice President and Wash100 Award winner Candice Ling, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity have a symbiotic relationship. They power one another and make each other stronger, and AI is providing more and more opportunities to make the government’s data and digital property more secure, Ling, who runs Microsoft’s federal practice, told the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
“AI is essential to building world-class cybersecurity capabilities for our customers. We are proud that AI is infused across our technology and our product stack,” Ling said.
There’s a big event coming up you don’t want to miss that will deeply explore the intersection of AI and cybersecurity: the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit. On this Thursday, May 15, government and private sector experts will come together to tackle this important issue in three unique panel sessions. Don’t miss this prime GovCon networking conference! Register today.
How Does AI Assist Cyber Safe Practices?
Ling said that AI is a great tool to flag access inconsistencies and to act as an alert system. She also noted its ability to “patch vulnerability at scale” and submitted that when a cyber event does take place — such as an intrusion or orchestrated attack — that AI could help with an assisted response.
“Once you’re hit, what do you do?” Ling prompted. “It’s technology plus customer real-life scenarios.”
As the cyber landscape continues to evolve, Ling predicts it will get more competitive, tricky and sophisticated. And she believes AI to be more instrumental than ever as that happens.
“The question is how to best mobilize and use AI to support proactive protection. We’ll see greater reliance on AI to augment what I would call cyber defensive capabilities, how to repel threats before they happen, using AI to be proactive,” Ling forecasted.
GovCons: Take Caution
Microsoft could not run its AI applications like Copilot nor build proper cyber defense systems for the government without collaboration among “many organizations.”
Ling repeatedly emphasized the need to work with many partners to achieve cyber goals and comprehensive cybersecurity. In doing so, this support network needs to make sure to educate and train the public so that they’re not duped by AI and the cunning techniques that can be executed with it.
“Training, awareness, and policies must be in place to spot that kind of campaign, similar to the work we’ve done at an earlier stage to train people to spot phishing,” she said.
“The No. 1 goal is to be proactive, also ensuring maximum coverage and flexibility for our customers to design cybersecurity answers and systems that work best for their needs,” Ling continued.
Potomac Officers Club events gather the most respected names in GovCon and the most influential decision-makers in government for high-level dialogues. The 2025 Cyber Summit is no different, and will feature conversations about leveraging big data and analytics to fight cybercrime and assess the role of AI in cybersecurity. These panels encompass officials from the Department of the Air Force, CISA, the DOD Cyber Crime Center and more. Sign up today and attend on Thursday, May 15!
