The Bay Area, particularly Silicon Valley, is a hub for companies working on application security, with thousands of companies striving to mitigate risks. Application security experts and developers shared their experiences and insights on building an effective application security program, highlighting the importance of communication between development and security teams. The integration of tools like Snyk has simplified the process, allowing developers to prioritize vulnerabilities and automate tasks, which in turn improves efficiency and reduces issue volume. A key trend is the breaking down of silo-ed development and security teams, with a focus on empowering developers and trusting their expertise to ensure production security. Ultimately, an approach centered around communication, empathy, and trust is crucial for success in application security.