Exclusive: Tanium’s Matt Quinn on automating endpoint management

In a fast-evolving world of IT and security management, Matt Quinn, Chief Technology Officer at Tanium, is leading the charge with cutting-edge autonomous solutions.

Speaking to us, Quinn discussed Tanium's offerings, and his vision for the future.

Tanium Autonomous Endpoint Management: A Game-Changer
Tanium's autonomous endpoint management (AEM) stands out in its ability to handle millions of endpoints—devices like PCs, servers, and smartphones—all generating real-time data.

"Every endpoint is slightly different," Quinn explained. "Autonomous endpoint management analyses this data and predicts the impact of changes, offering a confidence score before any action is taken."

This predictive capability is crucial when making changes at scale. "Updating one machine is easy," Quinn said.

"Doing it for thousands or millions can be complex. AEM helps IT teams make informed decisions and automates these changes, reducing manual effort and errors."

AI-Driven Efficiency for IT and Security Teams
The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into Tanium's platform enhances both efficiency and usability.

"AI analyses vast amounts of data to create simple, actionable confidence scores," Quinn said. "It also allows users to query their environment in human terms. For example, asking 'How many machines are running this version of Adobe Acrobat?' provides an immediate and clear response."

This real-time data has critical implications for security. "Seconds can mean the difference between a successful attack and stopping one in its tracks," he explained.

Addressing Tight Budgets with Automation
For organisations grappling with stretched resources, Tanium's focus on automation is pivotal.

"Automation allows experts to create repeatable processes," Quinn said.

"This means fewer errors and less manual intervention. IT teams can then focus on strategic initiatives instead of routine tasks."

Quinn emphasised the importance of scalability and adaptability. "Tanium's real-time automation ensures that changes happen seamlessly across diverse environments. It's not about just hitting a button—it's about doing so with insight and precision."

Enhancing Governance and Resilience
Governance is a critical component of autonomous systems, ensuring transparency and control.

"Our customers want to trust what the AI and automation are doing," Quinn said. "That means providing visibility into decisions and the ability to manually intervene if necessary."

He also highlighted the use of deployment templates and rings to improve resilience. "Instead of rolling out changes to all machines simultaneously, we do it in stages. This ensures any issues are caught early, minimising risk."

The Role of Real-Time Cloud Intelligence
Quinn described how Tanium's real-time cloud intelligence evaluates the impact of changes across millions of endpoints.

"Our tiny agents collect data on every machine," he said. "When an update occurs, we assess its impact—whether it slows down machines or causes crashes. Analysing these patterns across millions of devices provides unprecedented insights."

These insights empower IT teams to act confidently. "Before, they'd press a button and hope for the best," he said. "Now, they know the likely outcome beforehand."

Integrations with Industry Leaders
Tanium's platform integrates with tools like Microsoft Security Copilot and ServiceNow, leveraging real-time data to enhance AI-driven automation. "When a user queries these platforms about a security issue, the data comes directly from Tanium in real time," Quinn explained. "It's not guesswork—it's concrete, actionable information."

Customer Feedback: Scaling and Reducing Costs
Tanium AEM has received positive feedback from users.

"We've seen customers achieve significant cost savings and operational efficiencies," Quinn said.

"One example is VF Corporation (VFC), which shared their success story at our Converge conference."

"My overall experience using Automate has been outstanding so far, the tool is delivering exactly what we expected," David Anderson, Patch automation and vulnerability remediation lead, VFC, said.

"We are now able to quickly patch using runbooks and focus on other priorities, knowing that these critical updates are taking place in the background. Plus, runbooks only take about five minutes or so to create. The entire process gives us back countless hours in our schedule," he added.

These real-world results "reinforce the platform's value", according to Quinn.

"Customers appreciate how we're enhancing their productivity and reducing their workload," he added.

Looking Ahead to 2025
Quinn is optimistic about the future of Tanium and its impact on the industry. "We're combining rich real-time data with AI and automation to transform how IT and security teams operate," he said.

He expressed pride in the teams driving these innovations. "Our engineers are building solutions to some of the toughest problems, and our customers provide invaluable feedback. It's an exciting time."

Quinn's vision for Tanium remains clear: "We're not just solving today's problems. We're redefining what's possible for the future of endpoint management."