The Shift from Automation to Agency

Automation promised to free security teams from the alert treadmill, but for many organizations, it created a new one. Join Dave Shackleford, SANS Instructor, on November 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM EST where he will share survey data from practitioners across industries on what the transition from automation to genuine agency actually looks like in 2026.

Specifically, he will speak to how agentic threats are landing on the radar, the barriers stalling SOC autonomy, and how teams are weighing the tradeoffs of letting AI act independently in production environments. Beyond the technology questions, the data also dives into how organizations plan to reshape their teams as AI absorbs some of the work that currently fills an analyst's day.