AI is accelerating cyberattacks and shrinking response times, making continuous security, visibility, and leadership essential for every organisation, regardless of size.
Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue. As AI accelerates both innovation and cyber threats, every organisation faces growing risks that demand faster responses and stronger digital resilience. In this interview, Oliver Sild, founder and CEO of Patchstack and an Estonian cybersecurity entrepreneur, explains why businesses of every size have become potential targets, how AI is reshaping the threat landscape, and what leaders must do to protect their organisations.
What first got you interested in cybersecurity, and how did those early experiences shape the way you think about protecting digital systems today?
I got interested in security in my early teens through video games. I was a player moderator for an online multiplayer game where people could run their own servers. Because attacks were such a common way for server owners to take competitors offline and lure players elsewhere, I became curious about how hacking actually worked and started learning.
Later, I studied computer networking at a local trade school, where I started my first company helping businesses find hacked websites and secure them. During my studies, I was also recruited into the Estonian Defence League’s cyber unit, where I developed more offensive security skills by participating in military cyber exercises.
From starting a small project to building a global company, what moments along the way taught you the most about leadership and building something that lasts?
I strongly believe in finding mentors and surrounding yourself with the right people. Having an executive coach, really helps build self-awareness, which is incredibly important when you’re growing fast.
I would say pivots and hard times teach you the most. Through those experiences, I learned how important it is to understand the industry you’re navigating deeply and, most importantly, stay customer-obsessed.
When it comes to leadership, I strongly believe in finding mentors and surrounding yourself with the right people. Having an executive coach, for example, really helps build self-awareness, which is incredibly important when you’re growing fast.
The internet today is built on a lot of shared tools and open systems. From your perspective, what makes it so difficult to keep this kind of environment secure?
The biggest challenge is that technology has become accessible much faster than security knowledge has. Almost every company has a website today, regardless of whether they have dedicated technical staff. That means they’re relying on technology they don’t fully understand, which often leads to security mistakes they don’t even realise they’re making.
At Patchstack, we focus on securing websites and web applications. Today, building a WordPress website or vibe-coding an application is accessible to almost anyone without a technical background. What’s much harder is understanding that these systems require ongoing maintenance, updates, and security monitoring. So, the problem isn’t the technology itself but that the people responsible for it often don’t realise the risks they’re introducing or how quickly those risks can change.
Where do you see the biggest blind spots today when it comes to keeping these widely used online systems safe?
Visibility is one of the biggest blind spots. Many organisations don’t actually know what their websites and applications are made of, especially now that AI can generate large parts of them automatically.
To make matters worse, many companies don’t even have a complete inventory of the websites and applications they have. Employees increasingly build internal dashboards, automations, and AI-powered tools that connect directly to company data. These projects often exist outside the visibility of IT teams. Consequently, the company doesn’t know they exist, and the employee usually doesn’t have the security expertise to recognise where they’re vulnerable or how to secure them.
At the same time, hackers are using AI to discover vulnerabilities and launch new attacks faster than ever before.
AI has made it significantly easier to both discover and weaponise security vulnerabilities.
Running a company in a space where things change quickly can be intense. What helps you stay grounded and make clear decisions as a leader?
It’s important to keep learning and condition yourself to let go of past beliefs, regardless of how strongly you hold them.
The best way to stay grounded is to stay connected to customers and have open conversations with peers in the industry. You quickly realise that almost everyone feels like they’re falling behind when it comes to AI and trying to keep up with how fast the world is changing.
AI is changing the speed and scale of cybersecurity threats in ways manyorganisationsare still trying to understand. How is AI reshaping both attack and defence cycles, and what does that mean for how quickly organisations need to respond?
AI has made it significantly easier to both discover and weaponise security vulnerabilities. The number of new vulnerabilities discovered over the past year has reached an all-time high, and there’s no reason to believe that trend will slow down.
Based on our own research, known vulnerabilities are being mass-exploited within as little as five hours of public disclosure, leaving defenders with very little time to react. The window to respond keeps shrinking, so organisations need to detect and fix issues much faster than they used to.
If you had to share one message about online safety that more business leaders should take seriously, what would it be?
Everybody is a target. The most common argument I hear is, “We’re just a small company,” or, “We don’t hold anything valuable.”
The reality is that most attacks are carried out by automated bots that don’t choose their targets. Simply gaining access to your website is already valuable because attackers can use the resources you’re paying for, such as your web hosting. If they find valuable data or opportunities to launch further attacks, that’s simply a bonus.
