Cyber Go-To-Market Girl Talk - Black Hat Special Edition
Posted on 10 September 2026
Hosted by Elle Zoma, Cybersecurity & AI Go-To Market Recruiter. Exploring the people side of cybersecurity, AI, and developer-first startups.
Season Three of Cyber Go-To-Market Girl Talk is here - and this time, we’re shifting the spotlight to the heart of every fast-growing tech business: its people.
Across this season, Elle sits down with Chief People Officers, Talent Partners, HR Leaders and COOs from some of the most exciting cybersecurity and AI startups to uncover:
What it’s really like to work inside these companies - the culture, the energy, the challenges.
How the most innovative firms are attracting and retaining exceptional Go-To-Market talent in a noisy AI era.
What advice they’d give to sales, marketing, and customer success professionals who want to build long-term careers in high-growth cyber and AI environments.
Whether you’re a GTM professional looking to make your next move or a leader building teams in tech, this season is packed with insight, candour, and a dose of inspiration.
Black Hat Special Edition: From Revenue Leader to Founder - Building OffensAI
Guest: Karen Nguyen, Co-Founder & CEO, OffensAI
In this special edition of Cyber Go-To-Market Girl Talk, recorded at Black Hat, Elle Zoma sits down with Karen Nguyen, Co-Founder & CEO of OffensAI, to talk about her journey from leading revenue teams in cybersecurity startups to building a company of her own.
OffensAI is using specialised AI agents to help security teams validate exploitable paths within their cloud environments, giving lean security teams the ability to think like attackers and focus on proof, rather than simply more visibility.
Together, Elle and Karen discuss:
✅ Going from revenue leader to founder and CEO
✅ How OffensAI is using AI to transform cloud security validation
✅ Why security teams need to shift from visibility to proof
✅ Female leadership and representation in cybersecurity
✅ Why the industry needs to look beyond credentials and recognise potential
✅ The realities of imposter syndrome, even at founder and CEO level
✅ Fundraising as a female founder and the challenge of proving potential
✅ Advocating for yourself and learning how to communicate for impact
✅ The hidden dangers of hyper growth and raising too much, too early
✅ Why bootstrapping can give founders greater control over culture, vision and growth
Karen also shares why there’s never a perfect time to take the leap, whether that’s starting a company, stepping into a bigger role or pursuing something you’ve always wanted to do.
