The AI era necessitates a renewed focus on core security fundamentals, as adversaries leverage AI for advanced attacks. Chris Betz, CISO of Google Cloud, emphasizes this as the primary differentiator between resilience and vulnerability. While AI accelerates innovation for both attackers and defenders, it enables highly customized and rapid malicious actions. Adversaries are deploying AI-driven malware and using deepfakes for identity theft, leading to new threats like shadow agents. Defending against these requires stepping back to reinforce foundational security, including multi-factor authentication and Zero Trust frameworks. Doubling down on these building blocks reduces the attack surface and provides context for defensive AI. AI is revolutionizing vulnerability management by automating discovery and suggesting code fixes, ensuring defenses evolve quickly. Threat modeling also benefits from AI, which scales the ability to integrate data from code, architecture, and networks for a comprehensive view. CISOs must act as strategic business leaders, using AI to enhance defenses and align security with business objectives. This approach helps safeguard organizations as they navigate the complexities of AI and pursue growth.