NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

As Chief AI and Product Officer at Exabeam, Steve Wilson has established himself as a defining force in AI-driven cybersecurity. Elevated to this role in April 2025 to reflect his dual leadership in product strategy and transformative AI innovation, Steve brings over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity and AI, holds 11 U.S. and international patents, and was named Cybersecurity Innovation Leader by Enterprise Security Tech.

One of Steve’s most significant achievements came in April 2025 when he led the launch of Exabeam Nova, the industry’s first multi-agent AI capability fully integrated throughout the entire security operations workflow. Unlike passive AI assistants that merely retrieve data, Exabeam Nova provides six specialized AI agents that autonomously correlate attack signals, investigate cases, and classify threats based on behavioral analytics, delivering up to 80% increase in analyst productivity and 50% reduction in investigation times. This breakthrough positioned Exabeam as the first and only vendor delivering a coordinated multi-agent experience that operates at every stage of threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR).

Steve extended this leadership in January 2026 by spearheading the industry’s first connected system for AI agent behavior analytics (ABA). This breakthrough applies a decade of Exabeam user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) expertise to AI agents themselves, protecting organizations from the emerging risks of AI usage and agent activity. By placing AI agent behaviors at the center of security detection and investigation workflows, Steve’s team enables organizations to safely accelerate AI adoption while maintaining visibility and control over these dynamic, decision-making entities.

Beyond product innovation, Steve has shaped the broader cybersecurity industry through thought leadership. He founded and co-chairs the OWASP Gen AI Security Project, the organization behind the industry-standard OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Security list. His award-winning book, “The Developer’s Playbook for Large Language Model Security” published by O’Reilly Media, was named Best Cutting Edge Cybersecurity Book by Cyber Defense Magazine. His 2024 RSA Conference presentation was ranked among the best sessions of the conference.

Steve has used his platform to address critical emerging threats, authoring extensively on how AI supercharges insider threats, prompt injection attacks, and the risks organizations face without proper AI governance. As AI continues to reshape the security landscape, Steve’s combination of hands-on product innovation and industry-wide thought leadership positions him as an essential guide for organizations navigating the future of AI security.