Exposed: Navigating the Intersection of Cybersecurity, AI and M&A

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Robert Anderson, Jr. currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of Cyber Defense Labs, a cybersecurity consulting firm in Dallas, TX. Anderson served 20+ years in the FBI, rising to Executive Assistant Director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, overseeing criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, including high-profile cases such as Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Edward Snowden investigation.

After the FBI, Anderson served as managing director for a global organization helping companies respond to and recover from thousands of data breaches, as well as evaluate M&A target companies for cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Anderson has been an expert witness for some of our nation’s largest cyber breaches and frequently provides insight and analysis on television and in the media including CBS’ 60 Minutes, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, BBC, PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, and more.

Anderson has received numerous awards over his career including the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award by President Barack Obama for leadership in 2012, the highest honor given to a government official. He was recognized in 2022 and 2023 by D CEO, the Dallas 500: Most Influential Business Leaders, featured in a 6-page article in the September 2022 edition of D CEO, titled Enemy at the Gates, and published a book in 2022 titled Let’s Lead.