EP278 The Agentic SOC: Are We Measuring Time Saved or Risk Reduced?

Guest:

• Matt Gregson, Principal - PwC Cyber Security

Topics:

• What is the state of the art of "agentic SOC" in 2026? Can you describe the most agentic SOC you've seen so far?
• In your experience, what are the main measurable benefits of AI agents in a SOC and IR?
• Imagine a 2030 SOC, what do humans do?
• Tell us more about how you judge if a client SOC is ready for AI and agents? What is the "Ouch" moment where most organizations realize their data isn't ready for that level of autonomy?
• Should we be more afraid of "AI hallucinations" or "Human fatigue" in the SOC?
• If a team has an agentic teammate making its own decisions based on emergent reasoning, how do you audit its "thought process"?
• Everyone loves to talk about "Time Saved," but in an agentic SOC, we care about "Decision Quality." What is the one metric PwC uses to prove that a SOC agent deployment is actually reducing risk?
• We often hear about "human-agent teaming." Are they still looking at alerts, or are they just approving "Action Plans" generated by the AI?

Resources:

• Video version
• EP236 Accelerated SIEM Journey: A SOC Leader's Playbook for Modernization and AI
• EP252 The Agentic SOC Reality: Governing AI Agents, Data Fidelity, and Measuring Success
• EP264 Measuring Your (Agentic) SOC: Two Security Leaders Walk into a Podcast
• All SOC and SIEM episodes