What do thousands of cybersecurity practitioners actually care about — and where is the industry really headed? Laura Koetzle, Head of Community Research at RSAC, joins Alan Shimel on TechStrong TV to walk through the newly released Volume 6 report and preview the road to RSAC 2027. A 20-plus-year Forrester veteran and RSAC Program Committee member since 2013, Laura explains how her team mines Call for Submissions, session attendance and exhibitor data to separate what security professionals say they care about from what they actually spend their time on. The conversation covers AI’s continued dominance and its likely evolution toward governance, risk and compliance, why senior leaders are hunting startups again at levels not seen since 2022, Brazil’s surprising rise as the second-largest country contingent at RSAC, and how a 700-to-8,000 explosion in cyber companies is reshaping the vendor landscape. Laura also previews the RSAC 2027 Call for Speakers window opening late July or early August.