Washington AI Network with Tammy Haddad
Mar 21, 2026 · 27 min · 11 segments
On this episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast, host Tammy Haddad sits down with Sean Cairncross, White House National Cyber Director, and Sanjay Poonen, CEO and president of Cohesity, for a…
Sean CairncrossGuest
Sanjay PoonenGuest
Tammy HaddadHost
OK, now I want to read, if you don't mind, your pillars, if I may, just so everyone can write it down.
Shape adversary behavior, promote common sense regulation, modernize and secure federal government networks.
secure critical infrastructure, sustain superiority in critical and emerging technologies, build talent and capacity.
So please take us through, not all of them, but how are you going to get this started?
So the first thing I would say is we did put a lot of work into this strategy, but it is President Trump's cyber strategy.
What we're really trying to do here and what the president is signaling for the first time is, from the top of the chain, a strategic direction for cyber as its own strategic domain.
And for so long, this is an area that has developed with different authorities and different agencies operating on a tactical level in this area.
But the USG haven't really pulled back to say, what are we trying to achieve in this domain holistically? How can we lever every component of the USG to get done what we're trying to do in cyber? And how can we use cyber to help on a strategic level with what we're trying to get done fundamentally elsewhere? So that's what this effort is all about.
OK, now I want to read, if you don't mind, your pillars, if I may, just so everyone can write it down.
Shape adversary behavior, promote common sense regulation, modernize and secure federal government networks.
secure critical infrastructure, sustain superiority in critical and emerging technologies, build talent and capacity.
So please take us through, not all of them, but how are you going to get this started?
So the first thing I would say is we did put a lot of work into this strategy, but it is President Trump's cyber strategy.
What we're really trying to do here and what the president is signaling for the first time is, from the top of the chain, a strategic direction for cyber as its own strategic domain.
And for so long, this is an area that has developed with different authorities and different agencies operating on a tactical level in this area.
But the USG haven't really pulled back to say, what are we trying to achieve in this domain holistically? How can we lever every component of the USG to get done what we're trying to do in cyber? And how can we use cyber to help on a strategic level with what we're trying to get done fundamentally elsewhere? So that's what this effort is all about.
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