Application Security
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Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
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Former CSO Joe Sullivan on Vibe Coding Impact on Software Development
Artificial intelligence has transformed software development by opening the creative process to people without traditional technical training. Through “vibe coding,” developers can now generate functional code aimply by conversing with AI systems.
See Also: AI Agents Demand Scalable Identity Security Frameworks
While this shift has made coding more accessible, it also introduced new risks. Joe Sullivan, former chief security officer at Cloudflare, Facebook and Uber, and former federal prosecutor, said application security is already a major problem as the speed of development had increased dramatically over the past two decades. Large amounts of code have gone into production without rigorous review, raising concerns over the safety and long-term reliability of the code.
“The development process has sped up dramatically. And then you add in this world of AI, where you don’t even have to do as much of the development work … zero to live is happening much faster than ever before,” Sullivan said.
In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at Nullcon Berlin 2025, Sullivan also discussed:
- How AI is shifting security team roles by eliminating mundane, repetitive tasks;
- The growing demand for application security engineers across industries;
- Why security professionals must adopt a builder mindset and embrace change.
Sullivan is a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. He has 20 years of experience in executive roles and as an associate general counsel at PayPal. He previously co-founded the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit at the U.S. Department of Justice.

