meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Greg McKeown Podcast

A CIA Hacker's Take on Fixing Your Brain - Dr.Eric Cole

The Greg McKeown Podcast

Greg McKeown

Self-improvement, Business, Education

4.91K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Eric Cole has worked in cybersecurity for over 30 years, helping organizations protect their data. He started as a CIA hacker who could access any internet-connected computer. Using this expertise, he built companies focused on defense. Dr. Cole has worked with Lockheed Martin, McAfee, and consulted globally for clients like Saudi Aramco, Nouryon, utility companies, nuclear sites, financial institutions, and healthcare. He secures the Gates family and was a commissioner for President Obama, continuing to advise on security. Get a copy of his new book "Digital Danger: AI, Cybersecurity, and the Fight for Our Future" here: https://amzn.to/4vqWaSS New here? I am a two-time New York Times bestselling author and one of the most sought-after public speakers globally, having spoken to over 500 companies while traveling to more than 40 countries. My clients include Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Nike. My work has been covered in print media, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. It has also been featured on NPR, NBC, FOX, and multiple times on The Steve Harvey Show. Get more stuff from me: Join 200K+ subscribers on my FREE weekly newsletter: https://gregmckeown.com/1mw/ "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" https://amzn.to/3EkZycH "Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most" https://amzn.to/3EAkADZ "The Essentialism Planner: A 90-Day Guide to Accomplishing More by Doing Less" https://amzn.to/42CAsA3 Stay in touch with me: Instagram   / gregorymckeown   LinkedIn   / gregmckeown   X https://x.com/GregoryMcKeown Hire me to speak: https://gregmckeown.com/keynote/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The human interaction process is so complex, it's working on so many levels simultaneously,

0:07.0

and we're so evolved and developed to be able to do it, you think AI, despite its massive computing capacity,

0:15.0

is still in a completely different category.

0:18.0

AI is a tool that can make humans better, faster and smarter, but they're not a replacement

0:23.6

for humans.

0:24.3

I utilize AI to basically increase what I can get done and how much money I can make and what I

0:30.7

can accomplish in this last year using AI.

0:33.7

People are shocked.

0:34.6

You get done in a day what takes people quarters and years to do, but it can't

0:39.8

replace me because at some point a motion must come into the game and computers are motionless.

0:45.9

At what point do the robots basically decide they don't need humans and we become obsolete?

0:51.6

Because the reality is if we're saying computers can replace humans,

0:55.6

well, here's a better part. Computers operate on programs. Humans don't. Therefore, if you tell

1:01.1

a robot to do something, it will always do it. It will never go in and deviate. If I tell a human

1:06.3

to do something, it might go like, I don't feel like it. That's stupid. I don't want to. And it's not

1:10.2

going to do that. So if we're sitting there and saying that we're allowing this functionality,

1:15.0

people with paste right robots, we're going to be obsolete. Welcome back. I'm your host,

1:19.1

Greg McEwen. And in today's conversation, we're going to be talking with Dr. Eric Cole, who spent

1:26.2

time as a hacker for the CIA in advising presidents and global

1:30.8

organizations on cybersecurity. And one of the things that is compelling about him is that

1:37.2

he's taken that same hacker mindset and used it to focus on clarity, leverage, and

1:43.4

intentional action way beyond technology itself.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Greg McKeown, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Greg McKeown and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.