Why CIOs Must Rethink Security, Third-Party & Vendor Risk in the Age of Rapid AI Change

Augment What You Have. Better Together.

Rocky the Raptor here, RPost’s cybersecurity product evangelist. In a few weeks, we’ll be heading to Arizona for the Gartner Research CIO Leadership Forum -- the largest, invitation-only gathering of CIOs from the world’s largest organizations.

We’ve been invited to deliver a thought leadership session titled: Rethinking Security, 3rd Party & Vendor Risk in the Age of Rapid AI Change. And honestly? The timing couldn’t be better!

The Pace of AI Has Changed the Rules

Every CIO I speak with is feeling the same pressure: AI-driven innovation is accelerating faster than traditional security, vendor management, and third-party risk models can keep up.

What used to work -- annual vendor reviews, static controls, perimeter-first defenses -- is starting to crack under the weight of:

• AI-powered cybercriminal tactics
• Rapidly expanding third- and fourth-party ecosystems
• And threats that no longer originate inside your network

Security is no longer a “deploy once and maintain” discipline. It’s a continuous, adaptive race.

What Gartner Is Really Telling Buyers

This shift was clearly reflected in the recent Gartner reports, including the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms and the Critical Capabilities for Email Security. 

One message stood out loud and clear: There is no single vendor that can effectively stop all modern, non-malware-based phishing and email-borne attacks on its own.

In fact, Gartner notes that detecting and preventing sophisticated, non-malware phishing attacks requires at least two complementary solutions with different strengths.

The implication? “All-in-one” is giving way to “better together.” 

Overlapping, additive, and compatible security layers are no longer redundant; they’re necessary.

Why “Better Together” Beats “All-in-One”

In a world where cybercriminals use AI to conduct reconnaissance at under-secured vendors, harvest context from real email threads, and build hyper-contextual impersonation lures - relying on a single defensive control is risky.

Modern security strategy needs:

• Compatibility over consolidation
• Additive insight over feature sprawl
• Partners who evolve with you -- not vendors who check in once a year at renewal time

That’s a major theme we’ll explore at the CIO Leadership Forum.

Aragon Research Pushes the Conversation Further

While Gartner focuses on layering and complementary defenses, Aragon Research goes a step further -- challenging the very foundation of how security is designed.

In The Rise of Preemptive Intelligent Content Security, Aragon makes a bold but practical point: Security must move inside the content itself -- not just protect the network around it.

Why? Because content is what travels, content is what leaks, and content is what attackers study to steal context.

And in the AI era, context is king.

Preemptive. Intelligent. Content-Embedded.

According to Aragon Research, the future of cybersecurity lies in:

• Preemptive detection (stopping attacks before they form)
• Intelligent use of AI to understand intent and risk
• Content-embedded controls that follow messages and documents wherever they go

The goal isn’t just to block attacks. It’s to kill context before threat actors ever see it.

That’s why Aragon has named a new category, Preemptive Intelligent Content Security, where RPost is named as one of the pioneers.

Why This Matters for CIOs Right Now

Taken together, Gartner and Aragon are signaling a clear shift:

• Static defenses are not enough
• Vendor strategy matters as much as technology
• Security must evolve from reactive to preemptive
• And AI must be used by defenders as effectively as it’s used by attackers

This isn’t about replacing what you have. It’s about augmenting it intelligently. 

Better together. Not all-in-one.

Looking Ahead to Arizona

At the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum, we’ll dive deeper into:

• How AI is reshaping third-party and vendor risk
• Why reconnaissance now happens beyond your endpoints
• How additive, content-centric security changes the equation
• And what CIOs should look for in security partners in 2026 and beyond

“In the age of AI, security isn’t about one wall. It’s about many smart layers — working better together.”

Because in an AI-empowered threat landscape, the organizations that win won’t just buy tools -- they’ll build adaptive ecosystems.

Due in part to our unique RPost patented approach, RPost was recently named in the Gartner Magic Quadrant® for Email Security, identified as a Visionary in the Gartner Impact Radar report for Pre-emptive Cybersecurity, showcased by Aragon Research as a Pioneer and Visionary in its Preemptive Intelligent Content Security report (get report), and by IDC in their MarketScape report (see quadrant chart) as a world leader in electronic signatures. 

Remember, we’re not only about security, but we can also save you 50% on any eSignature contract you have while enhancing productivity with pre-emptive security. We’re here for you.

CITATIONS:

Citations: Gartner®, Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Email Security Platforms, By Max Taggett, Nikul Patel, 3 December 2025. Gartner®, Critical Capabilities for Email Security, By Nikul Patel, Max Taggett, 1 December 2025.

Citation: Aragon Research “The Rise of Preemptive Intelligent Content Security” by Jim Lundy, Aragon Research. December 10, 2025, Research Note 2025-43.)

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