TechRadar Pro is in Las Vegas for Oktane 2025, which has just wrapped up its first day.
Tomorrow, we’ll keep you updated once again on all the keynotes, speeches, and anything else I find interesting!
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That’s all from us at Oktane today – make sure to tune in tomorrow for a packed keynote schedule and some exciting updates from Okta and more!
Ok wraps up Oktane day one by talking about Okta For Good, the firm’s nonprofit arm that commits to empowering communities in cybersecurity.
“At the end of the day, the internet should be an accessible place for everyone.”
He finishes by talking about his excitement for new projects, working on his foundation and spending time with his family.
“I’m just happy taking my next breath. I’m happy to contribute and just to keep going.”
AI is an inescapable topic, so Ok asks Renner about the effects of AI in his workplace. Renner explains he is a victim of AI – people have used his likeness and have scammed people using his charity foundation to trick people into fake donations.
He doesn’t have much of an exposure to AI outside of this negative experience, he says, which is a very useful perspective especially for those of us who work in tech which can become a bit of an echo chamber.
He talks about his family having to ‘endure’ what he put upon them after his accident. He had to redefine his identity after his accident, which happened on his own driveway – by sharing such a personal journey publicly brought a positive shift which has brought real connection and purpose, he says.
“It brought me some of the best times of my life, being crushed to death. I don’t recommend it though!” he jokes.
He says he ‘repels complacency’ and although action requires courage, he finds great joy in overcoming obstacles. ‘Action is everything, it’s what we are’. He got lucky in being tested to his limits, he says.
The best thing about working on the Avengers films was the shared experience between him and his fellow cast – ‘kind of like a car crash, you go through it together’ he jokes.
Renner started acting in college, double majoring in theatre and psychology. He talks about struggling through adversity but he’s thankful for it. Struggle brings a payoff.
The greatest advice he was given was from his dad, who told him to ‘go out and fail’ – this, Renner says, gave him the freedom to explore his passions without fear.
So to kick off, we’re listening to Jeremy Renner talk about the intersections of technology, security, and the human element. Focusing on ‘resilience and identity’ – Renner will hopefully give some insight into his incredible story (if only there were an app we could use to discuss this……)
Okta is taking the tech conference tradition of aggressively loud music to a new level today – with its very own DJ for us to walk into (I’m not complaining, he’s actually pretty good!).
In our final session before we head over to the opening keynote (featuring Kerry Ok and Jeremy Renner!) we’re hearing from an Okta customer.
Okta CRO Jon Addison, and Toby Roberts SVP of Engineering at Zillow are telling us about the use of AI and AI Agents and how this helps deliver a personalized and efficient experience to home buying with strong ethical guard rails and transparency.
Here’s a little peek at some of the more casual discussions we’ve had so far – with some really insightful conversations around AI, threat actors, and identity management.
Here’s a snapshot of Brett Winterford’s talk about Okta’s threat intelligence team and the trends they’ve seen developing in the last 12 months.
I’ve actually had a pretty packed day today already, with a couple of round tables, some briefings, and even a few one-to-ones.
So far, we’ve been hearing all how Okta secures AI – the theme of this year’s Oktane.
