Cyber security
AI in Cybersecurity: Building Effective Certification Programs in the Era of Machine-Speed Threats
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In March 2025, we hosted an eye-opening webinar featuring cybersecurity experts from Darktrace, one of the pioneers in AI-driven security solutions. Our Head of Product Marketing Jeremy Davis led a no-holds-barred discussion with Gabrial Hartnett and Jonathan Pereira from Darktrace’s Customer Education team, exploring the vital importance of effective certification programs in cybersecurity training, as organizations race to keep pace with the evolution of AI-powered threats.
Like other top cyber providers, Darktrace faces a critical challenge: ensuring their customers can leverage complex tools to defend against increasingly sophisticated, automated attacks. With threat actors now deploying AI to execute attacks at machine speed, traditional security approaches and training methodologies are simply no longer sufficient.
The AI Arms Race in Cybersecurity
Gabrial set the stage by describing the current battlefield: “We’ve seen the proliferation of generative AI tools. It’s naive to think that only the good guys are using these.” This new reality has created what Jeremy accurately described as an “AI arms race” in cybersecurity.
According to Jonathan Pereira, threat actors are using AI not just for scaling attacks but for “adding finesse and more technical factors.” The result? More connections, advanced techniques flying under the radar, and malicious action that can hit entire infrastructures simultaneously.
The solution, as Darktrace sees it, is fighting fire with fire. Their AI-driven defense platform operates 24/7, taking proactive actions against threats at machine speed without requiring human intervention. This approach gives security teams the breathing room they need to catch up when incidents occur outside business hours or when resources are stretched thin.
Transforming Cybersecurity Training for Today’s Challenges
Scaling effective training is a challenge that resonates deeply with us at CloudShare. Gabrial shared how Darktrace’s training approach evolved from exclusively in-person, on-site sessions to a multi-faceted program built around virtual labs for both instructor-led online training and self-paced e-learning.
But this transformation encountered fierce initial resistance. Gabrial described how his first online training session raised eyebrows at the company, which had always prided itself on high-touch, in-person experiences. But when that first virtual session reached 172 participants from across 100+ customers, the value was undeniable.
“Everybody starts small,” Gabrial noted, “but as you grow, you can’t do the same things you did when you were a small company. If you scale up, things have to change.”
Gabrial and Jonathan explained the importance of meeting clients where they are on their cybersecurity journey. While cybersecurity has emerged as a highly specialized field, many professionals tasked with security responsibilities come from IT or networking backgrounds and have “been given new hats” without comprehensive security training.
Building a Certification Program That Delivers Real Value
The heart of the webinar focused on how to create certification programs that aren’t mere “cash grabs,” but deliver genuine value. Gabrial emphasized that certification must be about validating educational outcomes through meaningful assessment.
“What is our certification doing?” Gabrial asked. “If you’re saying we’re certifying something, what are you certifying? What is the point? What is the goal?”
For Darktrace, the answer lies in hands-on, practical certification that reflects real-world scenarios. Jonathan explained: “Our certifications are hands-on. Students are given environments to do the investigation and analysis process. It’s not only about the tool. We want to know how the user got to that response.”
That approach is what CloudShare’s virtual hands-on labs are all about. When theoretical knowledge meets practical application in realistic environments, true competency validation becomes possible.
But what about business outcomes from enhanced, certified training? Well, both Gabrial and Jonathan emphasized that while reducing support tickets and increasing product adoption and customer satisfaction are valuable results of effective certification programs, these should be viewed as byproducts rather than primary goals. The true focus should be on ensuring users can leverage the full capabilities of security tools to protect their organizations.
Measuring Success in Certification Programs
For organizations looking to build or enhance their own certification programs, Darktrace offered valuable insights on metrics tracking. Their approach includes monitoring:
– Session counts and year-over-year growth
– Pass rates (with the understanding that if everyone passes, your certification may not be testing meaningful skills)
– Question-specific performance to identify knowledge gaps
– Customer feedback (beyond numerical ratings)
– Instructor performance and quality
– Program effectiveness across the entire certification lifecycle
But there’s a caveat… Gabrial cautioned that quantitative metrics alone don’t tell the full story. “At the end of the day, education, training, and certification are about people. So how do people see, interact with, and value your offerings?”
The Results: Training That Scales Without Sacrificing Quality
The transformation of Darktrace’s training approach has enabled them to effectively serve customers of all sizes, from small businesses with one or two security staff to enterprise organizations with global SOC teams working across multiple shifts and time zones.
Their multi-faceted approach includes:
– Free online sessions for all customers
– Paid, dedicated learning sessions for those wanting more hands-on consulting
– An e-learning library for professionals who can’t commit to scheduled instructor-led training
– Virtual labs powered by CloudShare for secure, realistic environments
This flexible ecosystem ensures that regardless of an organization’s size, budget, or geographical distribution, every user can access the training they need to effectively leverage Darktrace’s AI security platform.
For CloudShare, this partnership exemplifies what modern technical training should be: hands-on, scalable, and designed to build true competency rather than just theoretical knowledge. As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve at an exponential rate, the ability to provide secure, virtual environments for realistic training is essential.
Whether you’re training partners, customers, or internal teams in cybersecurity or any technical field, the principles shared in this webinar apply: meet learners where they are, provide multiple learning modalities, focus on practical application, and measure what matters.
Want to learn more about how CloudShare can transform your training program? Reach out to us here, or check out some of our other customer success stories.
As Gabrial emphasized during the webinar: “It doesn’t matter how correct or good your information is if you can’t communicate it in a friendly, welcoming, open way.” We couldn’t agree more.
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