Four Years at Google Already!

On December 6th, a notification popped up in my inbox congratulating me on my 4th anniversary at Google.

It stopped me in my tracks. “How has it been four years already?” I wondered. As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun. And honestly? What an amazing journey it has been so far.

How It All Started #

Before Google, I was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, leading three teams of brilliant people helping to secure some of the world’s biggest companies (mainly Fortune 500s).

I loved that role,it was my first experience in people management (a topic for a future blog post!). But back then, the tech world was buzzing with the Cloud Revolution. Everyone was migrating to the cloud, and the security challenges that came with it were fascinating to me.

As a true geek, I knew I had to be where the action was. I wanted to see the machinery from the inside—to really understand what the cloud is (spoiler: it is indeed just someone else’s computer, but a very big one).

A few intense interviews later, I was in. Four years later, I still deeply appreciate and respect that opportunity.

Milestones & Memories #

• Personal Life: I bought my first home and, more importantly, started a family with the birth of our daughter, Milan. This tops the list because it is, without a doubt, the most life-changing event of them all.

• Public Speaking: I addressed the largest crowds of my professional career. (You can read my previous post on how challenging—yet rewarding—public speaking is for me).

• Travel: I had the chance to visit our Cyber Security HQ in Malaga, Spain, to discuss Google Cloud Security and how we’re building cutting-edge defense capabilities.

• Conferences: I attended my first Black Hat and BSidesLV conferences—a bucket list item for any security professional!

  

• Community: I’ve met some incredibly smart and hilarious people who I now get to work with every day. They’ve actually turned me into a big believer in working from the office—the energy is just different.

  

• Blogging: After years of talking about starting a blog (ask anyone who knows me, I wouldn’t shut up about it), here I am, finally doing it.

• Growth: I even earned a promotion along the way—a validating reminder that I’m appreciated for doing what I love.

The Pivot to AI Security #

In November 2022, ChatGPT exploded onto the scene, kicking off the AI revolution we’re living through today. I remember thinking: “Okay, this technology is finally available to mere mortals, not just researchers.”

My immediate next thought was: “This is a new era in computer security. New threats, new architectures, new attacks.”

I was hooked. I dove deep, learning everything I could. At first, Generative AI was still finding its footing. Security concerns were mostly about hallucinations and brand reputation, not “real” attacks.

But the technology matured at breakneck speed. New LLMs dropped weekly. RAG became standard. Function calling arrived. Then MCP. Now, it’s all about Agents.

As business use cases clarified, so did the attacker interest. We went from theoretical academic papers to real-world exploits. Bad actors are now using AI for sophisticated influence operations and malware generation.

What started as a geeky fascination has become my full-time mission. I’m now leading the security strategy for our Agentic AI initiatives, helping shape how we defend against these evolving threats. It’s no longer just about theory; it’s about building the defenses.

Honestly? It feels like I’m getting paid to pursue my hobby. 🙂

Entering My Fifth Year at Google Cloud #

This year, I’m doubling down on AI security. I plan to engage more with the community through this blog, conference talks, and maybe even LinkedIn (even if I still find it a tiny bit cringy).

P.S. After two personal updates, the next post will be a deep dive: Agents and Authentication. Keep an eye out!