At a recent CISO roundtable, cybersecurity leaders from across industries gathered to discuss one of the most pressing challenges in enterprise security today: how to evolve from traditional vulnerability management to Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM).
Across industry and organizational sizes, the CISOs in attendance shared a common realization: vulnerability management has shifted from a reactive process to a continuous practice of threat exposure management. Success now depends on maintaining real-time visibility into context, risk, and exposure across a constantly evolving attack surface.
Moving Beyond CVEs: From Volume to Value
Participants agreed that the sheer number of vulnerabilities detected each month has made prioritization nearly impossible using traditional CVSS or severity scores alone. Organizations are turning to risk-based and exploitability-driven approaches, focusing on vulnerabilities that can be exploited at runtime.
Several CISOs described combining threat intelligence, exploit data, and asset criticality into proprietary algorithms to focus remediation efforts where they matter most. Even so, many acknowledged that gaps and misses remain, showing that even well-rated systems have difficulty keeping pace with the volume of emerging vulnerabilities.
The Push Toward Continuous Testing and Validation
Continuous testing emerged as a major theme. Many leaders are moving toward Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) or similar models that enable near real-time validation of patch effectiveness. Instead of periodic, one-off assessments, CISOs are introducing “scan → patch → test” cycles that ensure vulnerabilities are truly resolved not just closed on paper.
This shift reflects a broader mindset change: security teams want to measure progress not by the number of vulnerabilities patched, but by actual risk reduction confirmed through validation.
Risk Registers, Accountability, and the Human Element
For many organizations, the transformation begins with strengthening governance. Several CISOs described a shift from using spreadsheets to adopting integrated GRC platforms and centralized risk registers that consolidate vulnerabilities, mitigations, and exceptions.
These tools also enhance accountability by requiring business leaders to formally review and approve security exceptions and risk acceptance.
However, implementing these processes requires significant investment and commitment. Many organizations cited challenges securing executive support, sustaining visibility into migration process, and maintaining consistent re-evaluation cycles. As one participant summarized, “We’re all dealing with the same problems, just at different scales.”
The Challenge of Unified Visibility
Efforts to integrate remain a recurring challenge. Most CISOs described environments with multiple scanning tools, disconnected dashboards, and separate code repositories, and isolated operations across cloud, on-prem, and OT systems. Achieving unified and comprehensive visibility remains a top priority but also one of the most difficult objectives to realize.
This limited integration not only slows remediation but also complicates decision-making. Teams often struggle to link vulnerability data to actual business risk, resulting in misaligned priorities and lack of actionable insights. Many participants emphasized the need for platform consolidation and a more cohesive exposure management framework that connects visibility, prioritization, mitigation, and validation.
AI and the Future of Exposure Management
Artificial intelligence surfaced as both an opportunity and a concern. While some organizations have begun using AI-enabled SOCs or tools that enhance scoring and remediation guidance, adoption remains cautious. CISOs expressed interest in the potential of agentic AI to eventually handle routine vulnerability remediation autonomously, but emphasized that human oversight remains essential.
Several noted that attackers are leveraging AI to accelerate exploitation, making speed, automation and cyber resiliency essential priorities for defenders. The consensus was clear that the path forward isn’t “AI vs. human,” but AI with human, automation guided by expert judgment.
Toward a Culture of Continuous Exposure Awareness
Among several shared conclusions, one stood out: continuous exposure management is as much a cultural shift as it is a technical evolution. It requires fostering a mindset of continuous exposure awareness where security, IT, and business teams collaborate seamlessly, maintain unified risk visibility and proactively managing what cannot be entirely eliminated. True resilience comes not from eliminating exposure, but from continually understanding, prioritizing, and reducing it.
The discussion underscored that the next evolution of vulnerability management is already underway. Organizations that can connect risk intelligence, continuous validation, and adaptive automation will define the new standard for resilience in a world where exposure is constant and time is the ultimate vulnerability.
