This episode explores how artificial intelligence, changing regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies are reshaping cybersecurity assurance and product certification. Cybersecurity expert Seth James Nielson, founder and CEO of Crimson Vista, joins Joshua to examine the growing security risks posed by autonomous AI agents, including prompt injection, the limitations of AI guardrails and proposed “kill switches,” and the larger question of how organizations can establish meaningful assurance for increasingly powerful AI systems. They also unpack the Department of Defense’s pause in CMMC implementation, what it does—and does not—mean for defense contractors, and why organizations handling Controlled Unclassified Information still need to take their cybersecurity obligations seriously. Matt Fussa adds another industry perspective on the rapidly changing certification and compliance landscape and what these developments mean for technology companies navigating new security requirements. Plus, we go on location at ICCC 2026 in Rome to talk with members of the international Common Criteria community about AI in security evaluation, evolving Protection Profiles and certification requirements, international mutual recognition, and why face-to-face collaboration remains critical to the future of global product security assurance.