Software Supply Chains, AI Risk, and the Transparency Gap | A Brand Spotlight with Daniel Bardenstein of Manifest | RSAC 2026

As RSAC 2026 approaches, Daniel Bardenstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Manifest, joins hosts Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli to unpack the growing disconnect between how security leaders perceive their AI and software supply chain posture and what practitioners on the ground actually experience. Drawing from Manifest's new research report — Beyond the Black Box — Bardenstein connects the dots between shadow AI, SBOM adoption gaps, and a dangerous pattern: history is repeating itself as organizations rush to adopt AI with the same disregard for security that characterized the early cloud era. In a wide-ranging pre-event conversation ahead of RSAC 2026, Daniel Bardenstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Manifest, explores what it means to truly secure the software and AI supply chain — not just check the compliance box. Manifest's new research report, Beyond the Black Box, surveyed more than 300 security and AI leaders globally to understand the reality of AI adoption and software supply chain risk. One of the most striking findings was not a statistic, but a structural problem: a significant perception gap exists between how confident executive security leadership feels about their AI security posture and how unprepared frontline practitioners actually are. Where there is misalignment, Bardenstein notes, there is risk. The conversation draws a vivid parallel to the cloud adoption wave of a decade ago, when organizations rushed to SaaS and cloud infrastructure without thinking through security implications — and gave birth to entire new industries to clean up the mess. Today, the same dynamic is playing out with AI. Nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents reported encountering shadow AI within their organizations, as employees freely use tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or locally downloaded models without centralized governance. When that AI eventually gets embedded into software that organizations build, deploy, and sell, the blind spots compound. SBOMs — software bills of materials — represent a promising step toward supply chain transparency, and Bardenstein credits the US government's regulatory nudging for driving adoption. Manifest's research shows that roughly 60% of organizations are now generating SBOMs, a meaningful milestone. But generation is not governance. Too many organizations treat an SBOM as a compliance artifact — a JSON file on a hard drive — rather than an operational tool that could dramatically accelerate vulnerability response, regulatory compliance, and incident management. The prescription has been filled; it's just not being taken. To reframe the urgency, Bardenstein introduces the concept of the "transparency tax" — the hidden cost organizations pay in time, money, and risk when they build or buy opaque technology. Just as consumers demand ingredient labels on food, Carfax reports on used cars, and active ingredient disclosures on prescriptions, the technology sector needs to normalize the same transparency for software and AI. For organizations willing to do the math, the case for investing in supply chain visibility becomes not just a security argument, but a business one. Heading into RSAC 2026, Manifest will not have a booth but will be active across the conference floor, meeting with customers, partners, and prospects. Bardenstein will appear on an invite-only panel alongside leadership from Corridor Dev, 1Password, and Google to discuss secure software and secure AI. The team is also planning to announce new platform capabilities designed to close the governance gaps their research surfaced — helping organizations move fast without creating the kind of blind spots that make AI adoption a liability rather than an advantage. Tune in for this sharp, candid pre-event conversation — and look for the full on-location Brand Spotlight recorded live at RSAC 2026 in San Francisco. 🎙️ This story is part of the RSAC 2026 Coverage Series on ITSPmagazine, produced in partnership with Manifest. GUEST Daniel Bardenstein CEO and Co-Founder, Manifest https://www.linkedin.com/in/bardenstein/ https://www.manifestcyber.com RESOURCES Beyond the Black Box Research Report — Manifest: https://www.manifestcyber.com Learn more about Manifest and their software and AI supply chain security platform: https://www.manifestcyber.com Learn more about and follow ITSPmagazine's coverage on RSAC 2026: https://www.itspmagazine.com/rsac-usa-2026-san-francisco-cybersecurity-event-coverage Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-cybersecurity-society-podcast-coverage Want to tell your Brand Story Difference Maker Podcast Story or Advertise with us? 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-story KEYWORDS Daniel Bardenstein, Manifest, Manifest Cyber, software supply chain security, SBOM, AI supply chain, AI risk, RSAC 2026, RSA Conference, Sean Martin, Marco Ciappelli, brand spotlight, brand story, ITSPmagazine, ...