AI is booming — but proving you’re human matters more than ever
*Please note that these thought leadership pieces represent the views of the contributing companies and do not necessarily reflect techUK’s own position.
If you walked the show floor at the RSA Conference this year, you probably noticed the same thing I did: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Agentic AI. AI in threat detection. AI in firewalls. AI in identity management. AI-generated demos. AI everything. The energy around AI was undeniable, and we’re seeing real innovation, efficiency gains and industry momentum.
But as I bounced between booths, sessions and meetings, a single statement still rings true: In this world of AI, you still need to ensure that you’re still human. And that’s not just a clever tagline, but a real-world necessity for enterprises and consumers alike.
AI doesn’t care who you are and it doesn’t know your intentions. This could make it difficult to tell the difference between an authorized admin or a malicious actor using stolen credentials. That job still belongs to authentication, and more importantly, to the human behind the authentication.
We spend so much time building smarter, more automated systems, but none of that matters if a person in that access chain gets phished, socially engineered or deepfaked into handing over their credentials – and attackers know it. AI has supercharged phishing attacks – it can help bad actors personalize emails at scale, spoof voices and video on calls and easily create fake login pages that look just like your internal tools. One mistyped password, one clicked link and suddenly your “Zero Trust” framework has a very real trust issue.
This is why we have to rethink what trust and verification looks like in an AI-driven world. It’s not just about smarter systems or advanced analytics – it’s about binding identity to something that can’t be faked, phished or replicated by an AI machine. That’s where strong, phishing-resistant authentication that requires a human presence and touch comes in as a crucial component of verifying digital identities in an online world not initially built with security in mind. That’s the power of device-bound passkeys. That’s the power of the YubiKey.
YubiKeys are the gold standard for modern authentication because they bind login credentials to the physical world and you. They don’t rely on phishable credentials that can be stolen, like passwords, or codes that can be intercepted, like legacy one-time passcodes (OTPs). Modern FIDO passkey authentication proves that the person logging in is the one who’s supposed to be there.
The YubiKey cuts through the noise with one very real signal: This credential is stored on a trusted device and the login is backed by a human touch.
I had many conversations at RSA with folks who are wrestling with this exact problem and that’s where the YubiKey shines. They don’t just make authentication easier and stronger, they make it more human. And in a time where bots can generate unlimited content, deepfake interviews or simulate keyboard activity, we need that physical, phishing-resistant security more than ever.
It’s important to balance the benefits and unknowns that AI presents. In a world where machines are beginning to mimic almost anything, verifying human intent and presence is critical. And when the security of your enterprise or personal online identity is on the line, trust starts at the point of login. Because at the end of the day, the strongest security signal isn’t artificial — it is, and will always be, human.
Yubico (Nasdaq Stockholm: YUBICO) is a modern cybersecurity company on a mission to make the internet safer for everyone. As the inventor of the YubiKey, we set the gold standard for modern phishing-resistant, hardware-backed authentication, stopping account takeovers and making secure login simple.
Since 2007, we’ve helped shape global authentication standards, co-created FIDO2, WebAuthn, and FIDO U2F, and introduced the original passkey. Today, our passkey technology secures people and organizations in over 160 countries—transforming how digital identity is protected from onboarding to account recovery.
Trusted by the world’s most security-conscious brands, governments, and institutions, YubiKeys work out of the box with hundreds of apps and services, delivering fast, passwordless access without friction or compromise.
We believe strong security should never be out of reach. Through our philanthropic initiative, Secure it Forward, we donate YubiKeys to nonprofits supporting at-risk communities.
Dual-headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and Santa Clara, California, Yubico is proud to be recognized as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.
Author
Ronnie Manning
Chief Brand Advocate, Yubico
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Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.
This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy.
In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List.
She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.
A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK, Sue was co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum until July 2024. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK
Laura Foster
Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK
Laura is techUK’s Associate Director for Technology and Innovation.
Laura advocates for better emerging technology policy in the UK, including quantum, future of compute technologies, semiconductors, digital ID and more. Working alongside techUK members and UK Government she champions long-term, cohesive, and sustainable investment that will ensure the UK can commercialise future science and technology research. Laura leads a high-performing team at techUK, as well as publishing several reports on these topics herself, and being a regular speaker at events.
Before joining techUK, Laura worked internationally as a conference researcher and producer exploring adoption of emerging technologies. This included being part of the team at London Tech Week.
Laura has a degree in History (BA Hons) from Durham University and is a Cambridge Policy Fellow. Outside of work she loves reading, writing and supporting rugby team St. Helens, where she is from.
Elis joined techUK in December 2023 as a Programme Manager for Tech and Innovation, focusing on Semiconductors and Digital ID.
He previously worked at an advocacy group for tech startups, with a regional focus on Wales. This involved policy research on innovation, skills and access to finance.
Elis has a Degree in History, and a Masters in Politics and International Relations from the University of Winchester, with a focus on the digitalisation and gamification of armed conflicts.
