Much like how a combination of ostensibly unrelated ingredients can result in a delicious salad, U.S. critical infrastructure coalesces disparate parts to form the public services and functions that we have come to rely on.

Having a general conversation about risk is about as useful as having one about AI, IoT, or any other technology. These are terms that can mean nothing and everything at the same time. A statement like, “We need to do something about IoT” is vague to the point of not being useful. “What are the risks to our organization,” sounds similarly insightful and commanding but means little.

Any conversation about the concept of convergence should start in the logical place: chocolate and peanut butter. Convergence is when two (or more) things layered together create a capability that is greater than the individual components.