The New Control Plane: Everything You Forgot to Govern
Most governance programs are mapped to a control plane that stopped being the whole picture years ago. Meanwhile CI/CD, SaaS integrations, AI agents, secrets, self-hosted runners, and MCP-style automation quietly accumulated the ability to change production outcomes — and almost none of it is governed with the seriousness of the systems it can affect. That blind spot is where both audit findings and incidents come from.
This talk is a practical walkthrough of where the new control plane actually lives, how to inventory the authority you've granted without realizing it, and how to bring it under governance before an auditor or an incident does it for you. It's the security-and-governance framing of the same operator lens as the signature AI/judgment talk.
What you’ll take away
- Where modern governance programs are systematically blind: CI/CD, SaaS, AI agents, secrets, runners, MCP automation.
- Why anything that can change outcomes carries production blast radius and deserves governance.
- How to inventory the authority you granted without noticing.
- How to bring the new control plane under governance before audit or incident finds it for you.
Who it’s for
Security-minded engineering leaders, SREs, platform leads, and anyone preparing for SOC2 / SOX-style audit scrutiny of modern automation. Fits security, governance, and reliability conference tracks and internal risk reviews.
Book this talk in the format that fits
This talk adapts to your slot — pick the length and shape that fits your event.
- 20-minute lightningSharp single-idea talk for short slots, openers, or AI tracks
- 40–50-minute conference sessionStandard conference / track session length
- 60-minute internal talkEngineering all-hands, internal summits, brown bags
- 90-minute practitioner briefingDeep, opinionated working session for senior engineers
- Panel or podcast guestDiscussion, debate, mainstage panel, or guest interview
Invite Brian to give this talk.
“The New Control Plane Is Everything You Forgot to Govern” is available for conferences, internal engineering events, leadership offsites, panels, and podcast interviews. Tell us your audience, format, and timing.
Invite Brian to Speak ← All talk topicsWant the same lens in podcast form? Browse the Cloud episodes on Ship It Weekly.