Yair Geva joins us to unpack how cybersecurity, AI, and M&A are converging—and what that means for startups, investors, and global deal flow. From the rise of cyber due diligence to the shifting confidence of VCs in the age of AI, this episode offers a rare view into the business side of cyber innovation.
In this on-location conversation recorded during RSAC 2025, attorney, investor, and strategic advisor Yair Geva shares a global perspective shaped by years of legal counsel, venture investing, and deal-making across Israel, Europe, and the U.S. Geva offers unique insight into how cybersecurity, AI, and M&A are not only intersecting—but actively reshaping—the tech ecosystem.
More than just a legal expert, Geva advises early-stage founders and institutional investors across markets, helping them navigate cultural, legal, and strategic gaps. With over 50 personal investments and a strong focus on cybersecurity in recent institutional activity, his perspective reflects where real momentum is building—and how smart capital is being deployed.
AI Acceleration and M&A Hesitation
According to Geva, the accelerating capabilities of AI have created a strange paradox: in some sectors, VCs are hesitant to invest because the pace of change undermines long-term confidence. Yet in cybersecurity, AI is acting as a catalyst, not a caution. Cyber-AI combinations are among the few domains where deals are still moving quickly. He points to recent acquisitions—such as Palo Alto Networks’ move on Protect AI—as a sign that strategic consolidation is alive and well, even if overall deal volume remains lighter than expected.
Cyber Due Diligence Is Now Table Stakes
Across all industries, cybersecurity evaluations have become a non-negotiable part of M&A. Whether acquiring a fashion brand or a software firm, buyers now expect a clear security posture, detailed risk management plans, and full disclosure of any prior breaches. Geva notes that incident response experience, when managed professionally, can actually serve as a confidence builder in the eyes of strategic buyers.
From Global Hubs to Human Connections
While San Francisco remains a major force, Geva sees increasing momentum in New York, London, and Tel Aviv. Yet across all markets, he emphasizes that human relationships—trust, cultural understanding, and cross-border collaboration—ultimately drive deal success more than any legal document or term sheet.
With a front-row seat to innovation and a hand in building the bridges that power global tech growth, Yair Geva is helping define the next chapter of cybersecurity, AI, and strategic investment.
Listen to the full conversation to hear what’s shaping the deals behind tomorrow’s cybersecurity innovations.Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.
Guest:
Yair Geva, Attorney and Investor | https://www.linkedin.com/in/yairgeva/
Resources
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Keywords:
sean martin, marco ciappelli, yair geva, cybersecurity, investment, ai, m&a, venture, resilience, innovation, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast, brand story podcast
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From Term Sheets to Trust: What M&A Trends Reveal About Cybersecurity’s Future | An On Location RSAC Conference 2025 Conversation with Yair Geva
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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Sean Martin: [00:00:00] We're rolling. Marco.
Marco Ciappelli: Sean, I can't believe I'm actually at this table for the first time after so many podcasts. I know I can't. Thank you for
Sean Martin: having me. I can't believe I have a voice left. I know. Well,
Marco Ciappelli: you know, when we talk about cybersecurity, you always have to carry a little bit, know weight more than me.
Sean Martin: Well, I brought you on, but I needed some, some assistance, some some protection. So I brought a lawyer.
Marco Ciappelli: Oh, you brought a lawyer to join us. There you go. Lawyer up. Lawyer up. You lawyer up against me. I did. That's that's interesting. We're starting, actually, I think you lawyered up against me. I did, I did actually.
I get the opportunity to meet with, uh, Yael. Eva, um, on a call not too long ago. We went over some, uh, some of the things that, that you're doing and, and the things that you're planning to do. Right? So you were gonna come with our SAC conference and say, let's be there. Let's have a chat. What a better place.
It's great to be
Yair Geva: here. It's just beautiful day in San Francisco. Oh, it's the sun is out. Yeah. I live in London now. It's actually very hot down there too. Oh yeah. But it's beautiful [00:01:00] here. The, the one week
Sean Martin: of the year. The one week of the year. Correct. I to go to, one of my clients said to me, don't be fooled by this one day or one week of, of sunshine.
Right. They told me
Marco Ciappelli: that in Seattle once. Yeah,
Sean Martin: there's that too. But I can feel the sun on my back. It's nice. I'm, I'm ready, energized,
Marco Ciappelli: nice and warm. Well, this is actually, I, I think it's gonna be one of our last conversation and then we're gonna head back to LA and I have a feeling we're gonna see AEL again in another, uh, another conference probably in London, right?
Absolutely. For sure. Info sec. So. Um, I know you do a couple of things. You're a lawyer, um, merger acquisition. You work with cybersecurity company, but many other companies as well as well. And then you're an investor. So tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got yourself into this.
Yair Geva: Absolutely. So I started as a corporate lawyer, uh, in New York with the Davis Spock and Gibson Dan, two leading firms, uh, in the city.
Moved back to Israel, started the practice at Herzog, and uh, and it grew, it really significantly grew. And we work with many companies across various sectors. [00:02:00] But of course, given, you know, Israel's prominence in cyber, a lot of the work has to do with, uh, with cyber, by the way, it's today's Israel's Independence Day, so Oh, yeah.
And it's good to see all those Israeli companies here doing and strengthening the economy.
Marco Ciappelli: Uh, we, we know many of them. Yes, they do an amazing job.
Yair Geva: So I also invest in companies. So, you know, after being loyal for. Too many years, at some point you wanted to, you know, have some skin in the game, right? Uh, so I started personally investing in maybe 50 companies by now, cyber AI and others.
Uh, one of them was just actually recognized as the most promising AI company in Israel, the cart, ai, and some of them are cyber. Uh, and then two years ago we started to invest in a more institutional level for a client of the firm where I'm a strategic advisor. It's called, uh, straight Capital, and we've done just.
Closed on the eighth investment, uh, recently. Most of them are in cyber.
Marco Ciappelli: So is there, is there a passion that you have for technology [00:03:00] and, and, and cyber And, which, by the way, nowadays you cannot talk about technology without cybersecurity. So what comes first and you know, what, what make you like jump on on this side?
Yair Geva: Probably like all of us. Uh, I'm, uh, I am a tech savvy and I'm very, uh, into tech. You know, I drove Waymo actually first time here the other day, move over, I'm gonna drive. So I drove with Waymo the other day and since then, everything else seems a bit anachronistic and old, you know, why would anyone drive a car?
It doesn't seem reasonable. It doesn't make sense to me. Mm-hmm. So that's how I got a bit into it. I love efficiency. Uh, uh. And, uh, naturally I love deals. That's the passion, right? That, uh, been guiding me for a long time.
Sean Martin: So how, what, what does that look like? Um, how do you, how do you approach either a space or a particular company even?
Is it, is it driven by the tech, or, or are you connected with the, the [00:04:00] founders first and then sold on the tech and then look at the space? What's that process? Like,
Yair Geva: it's a great question, you know, uh, and people ask me as a lawyer, what are you doing here? Right? Not so many lawyers are hanging around in cocktails that are saying,
Marco Ciappelli: instead of spot the fed, that defcon spot, the lawyer spot.
The,
Yair Geva: so I think that to do a deal properly, there's a lot of added value for you to really understand the industry, to understand to a certain extent the technology. Understand who the players are, what the motives are, who's buying what for what reason, and actually know the people. So I know quite a few people in town, for instance, the heads of Feminate, various companies.
I meet with them frequently. I meet with the VCs in the valley here, uh, in Israel, in Europe. And I think once you're very familiar with the full ecosystem, it's really, you can play a more critical role as a lawyer. Wilson IV started the model in the seventies in Silicon Valley. Right. Uh, and I've kind of, I've read once a book about that history of Silicon Valley [00:05:00] and about the, the.
Unique position that Wilson had taken in that, uh, ecosystem. And I, I said, I want to do the same in Israel. And it just makes things more spicy and interesting naturally.
Sean Martin: Is there, I don't know if you have a view of this or have a, a way to describe it, but clearly there, there's a, a magical view, if you will, of the, of the funding that comes from, from San Francisco area, the Bay Area.
Yeah. And I'm just wondering, is that. Is that still the main hub? Do you see growth in other areas? Obviously you're, you're looking at Israel, but are there shifts there? Are there any, any, any misconceptions about what that market looks like from an investment perspective?
Yair Geva: It's, it's a great question. I mean, one thing that I see, you know, being positioned in, you know, from Israel and in Europe, uh, is that we see, uh, a great trend in the US towards the east coast, right?
Uh, I'm a New Yorker. My, my wife is from New York, so we lived there many years and there's definitely, uh. You know, increase in [00:06:00] activity in New York, uh, and some European capitals are trying to build their ecosystem, right, and to a certain extent being successful, right? In Italy, France, of course, London. Um, and of course, as it relates to cyber, everything is in Israel, so you can meet everyone, the investors, CEOs, uh, they're all there.
Uh, so I think we're seeing a more like globalized ecosystem for cybersecurity system starting to branch out.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. So you, you've been here on the floor for a few days, like we've been, what's been your, the feel for the pulse of the industry? AI quantum encryption, zero trust, what else? Well, in a way
Yair Geva: it all collides in Right.
Consolidates into one. Right. Because, you know, I would say, and you know better than I, uh. A few, several years ago, cybersecurity technology was always a bit of a gap and lagging [00:07:00] slightly beyond tradi, you know, the adoption of new technology, right? So it's just more conservative industry, and you could do that, for instance, in cloud, right?
To a certain extent. The cloud infrastructure was, uh, moving in much faster than the security for the cloud. And this was possible. We know today it's no longer possible with ai, right? Because things are moving so fast. Uh, and the, uh, AI enables, uh, you know, malicious players to act very quickly. AI and cyber now work together, right?
So we see a consolidation of all the trends. Same, by the way, for quantum, right? Mm-hmm. Once you have quantum quantum systems that allow you to break in so quickly, you just have to actually adopt very much more faster than before. So that's, I think, the main trend we see. And as a lawyer and transactional person, this of course translate.
It translates into deals, right? On Monday, uh, Palo Alto announced the acquisition of Protect ai, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, so that, that is one [00:08:00] signal to where we're going. To me,
Marco Ciappelli: definitely gonna be, I think a lot of, uh, merging and especially I think, acquisition. Are you gonna represent AI anytime soon as a lawyer?
Yair Geva: Uh, hopefully. Yeah. Actually, it's a great question. I, I kind of think a lot about, yeah, copyright. And you know, agents to agents, who's gonna solve those disputes? Very
Marco Ciappelli: philosophical commerce. Depends on how much they pay there. One day,
Sean Martin: well, maybe, maybe this view how so? Clearly investors looking for AI solutions or solutions driven or enabled by ai.
What does the, what does AI do to the VC process?
Marco Ciappelli: Hmm. I,
Yair Geva: I wanna know. Okay, so what I think, and this goes beyond just cybersecurity, uh, AI actually shake shakes really totally the confidence of a vc, uh, as regards to investing, right? 'cause things [00:09:00] move so quickly in a way, you may be investing now in a certain technology that has certain capabilities, but your concern is what happens once technology actually, you know, crosses that limit, right?
So. I think people are in a sense waiting. Uh, but we do not see this in cybersecurity and cybersecurity ai, which is, I think reminds us of the day of, uh, you know, 2021. Um, so we see those conflicting trends in cyber. They move fast. Investing into AI infrastructure or definitely the agent side, uh, is more of a, of a concern feces have.
Um, and I think that affects, by the way, people were predicting a lot of exits in this year. And we've seen of course, in terms of volume, sheer numbers. Of course, once you have the Google W deal numbers are there. But in terms of deal numbers, there are less deal less acquisitions than predicted. And to me, I think that has to do with the AI and people waiting in B2C where we're going with that red actually fleshes [00:10:00] out,
Marco Ciappelli: let in somebody jump on the train and then let's see where, where that goes.
Sean Martin: Yeah. Interesting.
Marco Ciappelli: We were talking when we met the other day about. It's, uh, of course you are interested in cybersecurity, that's why you're here. Technology, and, uh, and, uh, but what you do, honestly, it's kind of like when you do merger acquisition doesn't really matter if you're dealing with a cybersecurity company or I don't know, a fashion company or a technology, more consumer oriented company.
Yair Geva: Right.
Marco Ciappelli: I'm very curious to know that.
Yair Geva: Okay. So. You know, in a sense, probably 80% is the same definitely for any SaaS. You know, B2B company I sold, I acted for PepsiCo when they both saw the street for this was a, just a unique deal and everything is different, right? They have facilities and many employees and, you know, cross border issues, but that's, that's consumer, right?
Once you [00:11:00] move into the enterprise sale, it's pretty much the same for you as a deal maker and a lawyer. Naturally you want to know the, at the initial stages when you actually work with the founders. We often work as bankers in a sense. It's very common in Israel actually for lawyers to take a more active role in Silicon Valley too, right?
So, um, you really need to understand also the ecosystem and being familiar with the right people who are involved and what the motives are, uh, and that, so then there's that. But in terms of, uh, the actual legal work, it's pretty much. The same for any tech company that, uh, is selling to businesses. Yeah. In cyber, you want to worry a bit a be, you know, more mindful of potential exposures, um,
Sean Martin: and the like.
Well, you, I'm glad you went there 'cause I think it's become, correct me if I'm wrong, but fairly common practice to evaluate cyber companies for their own cyber expo or posture and resilience.
Marco Ciappelli: That's,
Sean Martin: has that, has that [00:12:00] also crossed over into other. Industries where even if it's a fashion company, they can analyze from a cyber risk perspective.
Yair Geva: It has, and every deal we do these days have a cyber chapter. Mm-hmm. Uh, where the, you know, the buyer. I was just, we actually, it's a deal that was announced. I can mention, uh, we, we sold a company here to Salesforce a few months ago. Spent some time in the city. It's the first one they bought, I think. Uh, yeah, right.
It was 97, I think. Uh, and, and cybersecurity is always an issue these days, uh, more than before in the due diligence, uh, uh, process. Uh, and if you had breaches before, you want to, we like to be prepared and come with full disclosure and actually prepare in advance to address those issues as opposed to, you know, let them kind of explode in the process.
Sean Martin: So there's, there's a view for the CISO role that if you're, you're a better ciso. If you've had to experience a breach.
Marco Ciappelli: Mm-hmm.
Sean Martin: Do companies look at that the same way when they're acquiring a company? [00:13:00] We feel you're probably better prepared now that you've gone through it. Do you see that? Or, or does it just completely blow up a deal most of the time and you have to really work hard to,
Yair Geva: I think its every deal you have to justify and work hard in the same sense.
But you are right. It's a leverage,
Sean Martin: right? Yes, it's a leverage.
Yair Geva: But naturally we all know that, um, um, once you have a dedicated team. Who's dealt, you know, with response before, they're much more, uh, uh, you know, fast and, uh, professional in terms of addressing the issue.
Marco Ciappelli: It's, it's such a catch 22. Like, it's almost like when they used to say, we, we talk about the gap in the industry in one of our, uh, uh, conversation with Isaka and that, and I'm like, yeah, you know, when they used to look for entry level with 10 years of experience.
Right now you're looking for a CISO that is really good at not getting breached, but if it's been breached, it's better. It's almost like
Yair Geva: it actually takes, it highlights to me, a point that I've noticed, uh, you know, [00:14:00] with ai, many people thought that the, the experience gap will be less important, right?
That you can do everything with AI now and you can actually accumulate all the knowledge you need within an instance of a second. Uh, but, but in fact, in fact. The gap remains. And when I speak to VCs, even on the plane here from London, I was with a, you know, investor does a lot of cyber, uh, and that person said, look, actually, in cyber you have that mode.
You have people who've been around in certain industry for a long time. There's value to it. And I think that actually raises, increases the confidence of investing into those companies. Yep. Yep.
Marco Ciappelli: I think so. And I, and I, and I think I was gonna touch on the other thing, when you. We're talking about the difference, like 80 20 to that is the same, 20 is different.
And I, I feel like when, in every aspect of life, when you know you're sharing an interest, some knowledge, it makes the relationship [00:15:00] easier to handle, even if it's just psychological. Um, I think it helps
Yair Geva: easier and more confidence, right? Deals are about confidence and removal of anxiety. Definitely when you deal with cross border deals.
Right then the culture is slightly different. Uh, and you want to kind of have the less gaps you have, more comfortable you
Marco Ciappelli: have. How, how about the culture? I mean, you New York, London, Israel, and you're kind of focusing now on the Israel market for this. Is there like any, you know, maybe being Italian I can, you know, I have to adapt sometimes, depending who I am.
You
Sean Martin: operate a certain way.
Marco Ciappelli: I do operate in a certain way with Italian. That's true. Uh. But what I'm saying is, is that like something that switch in the way that you, you, you run your business?
Yair Geva: Uh, well, to me, one of the jobs I have is to be in a, a translator, not necessarily of the language, right. Of the culture, a bit of the culture and a bit of, uh, and also, you [00:16:00] know, some of these entrepreneurs are young guys, uh, uh, who are just started.
They don't necessarily have very confident, very confident. Extremely, extremely intelligent. Mm-hmm. Uh, and sometimes you have the role of, uh, uh, let's slow down. Let's think a bit, let's approach things differently. Let's, uh, work step by step. Uh, and who speaks to who? You know? So you guide those people and then it has culture.
But to me, these are, these are just interface. Ultimately, everyone is looking at the same principles of, uh, integrity, full disclosure. Uh, uh, and once you have that professional approach and everything works, irrespective of, you know, you may drink wine, beer, whiskey, it all works, right? So it
Marco Ciappelli: all works, but I, I, I think it's very human to find the similarity and, and that, and that makes people more comfortable to begin with.
True, for sure. True,
Sean Martin: true. I have one more question, because that's my job to have one more question. You should have one more question. I'm gonna go with the MA because you, you mentioned that [00:17:00] fewer than expected. Acquisitions, innocence. And I'm just wondering the, do we see more partnerships? Do they, I think my experience is you start with a partnership.
You date first, right? And see if it's gonna work. And then perhaps if there's revenue and good market and whatever, then you, then you get married. Um, are we seeing more of that?
Yair Geva: We are seeing more of, it's a great, it's a great point because when I speak about slightly less exits necessarily in this year.
It doesn't mean that the companies are not growing and the exit volume is becoming, uh, you know, increases and the deals are just more precise, right? They're done more in a structured way. People are not just piling up companies, rolling them over for their IPO, et cetera. The deals are more strategic.
They have effect. You want to go into ai, you want to go into the multi-cloud, right? Right. Uh, so accordingly, companies do partner together. They grow, they plan ahead towards the, you know, once the public market's open again, uh, which should [00:18:00] happen pretty soon, probably 2026 should be strong. So towards that, people are actually grouping together and we definitely see that.
One more question.
Marco Ciappelli: No, I'm good, but I, I, I, I, I'm, I wanna, I have more, but we'll hold them. I know you do, but I, I have a feeling number one, this is not gonna be the one and only conversation with ya. First of all, we're gonna meet where we are going as well. So that's already something. And uh, and I think that it makes me curious really to see where we're going to be a year from now, two years from now.
Yeah, we're looking back at 15 years or 11 years we've been here, you more than 20. I always repeat that. Um, that's why I have great, but the, the changes I want to close with this, I mean, the changes are getting faster and faster, so it's hard to predict. It's a hard job. It's a hard job. And
Sean Martin: that's our job
Marco Ciappelli: to be the futurist nowadays.
Right? Yeah. True, true. But we'll try. Sorry, I'm,
Sean Martin: I'm [00:19:00] gonna close with this 'cause we, we actually, the episode we published yesterday is a closing day episode. It turned out to be resilience through innovation.
Marco Ciappelli: Mm-hmm.
Sean Martin: Yep. And, and I think that holds true for cybersecurity solutions also for the investors, I presume.
Oh, if you want a resilient portfolio, absolutely. And, but you want to drive that. Through innovation to, to reach the end goal, which is exit
Yair Geva: True. We're all for resiliency. Exactly where I come from. We are.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. Yeah, we are. And Sean, I I'm glad you, you lawyered up. That was it. This was a great conversation.
I'm glad you
Sean Martin: lawyered up all. Thank you. You, you get it
Marco Ciappelli: All right? Yeah. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure. My pleasure.
Yair Geva: Thank you so
Sean Martin: much for
Marco Ciappelli: and for all of you, stay tuned. Uh, there may be something else coming up. There may be. I think we're. Maybe from the car. We don't know. On the way back to la
Sean Martin: I, I have one more chance to see if I can throw my voice out.
Marco Ciappelli: Oh, yeah. You still have some voice left? I have one more. All good. I
Sean Martin: have, I have a little voice left too.
Marco Ciappelli: All right. [00:20:00] Itsp magazine.com/sac 2025.
Sean Martin: Not 2020, just 25.
Marco Ciappelli: Oh, there is, oh yeah. Just 25 s
Sean Martin: five.
Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. There you go. Good thing right there. I like the
Sean Martin: shorter, the better.
Marco Ciappelli: You, like, you like to, to, to play tricks on me.
That's right.
Sean Martin: All right. We're out. Thank you all. Cheers.