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Most data breaches don't happen because attackers are geniuses. They happen because organizations give too much access to too many people for far too long. Despite decades of security frameworks and best practices, enforcing least privilege remains one of cybersecurity's most persistent challenges. The culprit isn't technology: it's politics.

In this episode, Mokhtar Bacha, CEO of Formal, discusses how their granular privilege access management solution operates at the packet level to enforce least privilege across databases and APIs.

Joining him are Howard Holton, COO and industry analyst at GigaOm, and Arvin Bansal, a Fortune 100 veteran CSO. The conversation tackles the truth about why access management fails, explores how AI agents are exploding the identity landscape, and examines whether automated policy enforcement can finally solve the political friction that has plagued privilege management for years.

Huge thanks to our sponsor, Formal

Formal secures humans, AI agent’s access to MCP servers, infrastructure, and data stores by monitoring and controlling data flows in real time. Using a protocol-aware reverse proxy, Formal enforces least-privilege access to sensitive data and APIs, ensuring AI behavior stays predictable and secure. Visit joinformal.com to learn more or schedule a demo.