What Magic Johnson and Bruce Schneier taught us at RSAC 2025

At first glance, Bruce Schneier and Magic Johnson have about as much in common as a firewall and a fast break. But last week was the annual RSAC confab, where the agendas can read like someone spun a roulette wheel loaded with cyber policy, threat intel — and apparently, NBA legends.

Last Tuesday, Schneier delivered his keynote on "AI, Security, and Trust," a cerebral clinic on why the tech world is barreling toward a cliff. On Wednesday, former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson took the stage with "The Art of the Assist," where he served business wisdom with a side of charisma. It’s the kind of conference whiplash RSAC has perfected: one minute you’re deep in machine learning risk models, the next you’re in a standing ovation for a guy who redefined the no-look pass.

(For Complete RSAC 2025 Coverage by SC Media Visit SCWorld.com/RSAC)

Schneier was at the top of my RSAC 2025 must-attend list. Magic? Not so much. I wandered into Moscone West keynote hall with low expectations and sore feet — and stayed for the swagger, sincerity, and surprisingly sharp insights of Johnson.

A point guard and a privacy guru walk into a keynote

My Magic expectations were maybe something about defending a network like you defend the paint — hands up, eyes sharp, and never leave your perimeter unguarded.

Magic Johnson chest bumps a keynote attendee

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But his keynote was less about cybersecurity and more about what fuels good leadership: authenticity, discipline, and showing up for others. The 6’’ 9’ legendary point guard's keynote could’ve been a TED Talk rerun, but it was something messier, funnier, and way more real.

He pulled an attendee with a SF Giants hat into his keynote and challenged him to a chest bump. Sure, it was goofy. But it was also a literal and metaphorical call to rise up—physically, personally, professionally. Post spar, Magic told the crowd to “Give 150% to your craft. No distractions.” Later, he challenged everyone to do a personal SWOT analysis — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats — because self-awareness, he argued, is the foundation of any great team.

Schneier, on the other hand, handed out hard truths like threat reports. Asked what could be done about insecure AI without regulation, he replied, "Nothing. You're screwed." The line landed like a live grenade — funny, grim, and brutally honest. It was the kind of mic-drop that only works when your audience already suspects you’re right. It was vintage Schneier: dry wit, delivered deadpan, underpinned by a thesis that our digital infrastructure is being outpaced by corporate greed and legislative inertia.

On paper, they’re an algorithmic mismatch — tech prophet and NBA showman. And yet, for all their surface-level differences, their messages rhymed.

Both keynotes were scripted but full of unscripted questions from the audience, making both talks deeply human. Both hit on trust — not the fluffy kind, but the kind that makes or breaks systems, organizations, and people. Magic taught that trust is your brand. Schneier warned that trust is an attack surface. One said, "Make impact first." The other basically said, "Brace for impact."

Blockchain and scones are overrated

Cut to a post-RSAC moment of clarity: me, slouched in Jet Blue coach seat, laptop on tray table, lukewarm coffee teetering on the side. It would be these two sessions that kept elbowing their way into a brainstorm — Schneier’s brooding sermon on trust and AI, and Johnson’s standing-ovation masterclass in charisma and brand hustle.

Schneier at YBCA Blue Shield Theater, RSAC 2025

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Schneier’s superpower is making the complex comprehensible, like a tech whisperer for the masses — or the guy who shows up to the apocalypse with receipts and a whiteboard. He’s all about privacy and security — those underappreciated footnotes in our tech-drenched lives.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s influence ricochets between hardwood heroics and boardroom victories, proving once and for all that you can dominate ESPN and CNBC. After hanging up his high-tops, Magic built a business empire, redefined urban investment, and became a force for public health — reminding us that you don’t need a hacker hoodie and VC funding to disrupt an industry.

Magic Johnson at Moscone West stage, RSAC 2025

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Schneier’s teardown of blockchain — "the stupidest thing in the history of ever" — earned chuckles from the blockchain-fatigued. It wasn’t just snark, it was relief for an audience that needed someone to say it out loud. Magic’s retelling of his Starbucks hustle — convincing corporate America that sweet potato pie (not scones) belongs in a coffee shop — landed as a case study in resilience and reinvention.

Two keynotes, one community

In their own wildly different ways, both preached trust. Schneier demanded it from systems and institutions. Magic demanded it from the self. One parsed data integrity. The other personified brand integrity.

And yes, this was a cybersecurity conference, not a motivational retreat. RSAC is a cybersecurity conference. But at least some of the big ideas this year weren’t just in the zero-days and AI panels. They were found in two very different keynote speeches that reminded us that tech doesn’t operate in a vacuum. People build it. People break it. People defend it.

That’s why this year’s theme, “Many Voices. One Community,” worked better than it had any right to. Because whether you’re reverse engineering a nation-state attack or teaching a rookie how to pass, it all comes down to trust, integrity and resilience. Those buzzwords, plastered across vendor booths, got a human face from two wildly different icons who, in their own ways, are both in the business of defense.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway. You don’t need to speak the same language when you're delivering the same truth. Lead with integrity. Communicate clearly. Own your impact. And when in doubt, go off-script.

(For Complete RSAC 2025 Coverage by SC Media Visit SCWorld.com/RSAC)