On Wednesday, April 22, the Pink Bus made its way to Stroudsburg High School.
The Pink Bus is a business from the Teneo Group that teaches students about cybersecurity. The Mountaineer interviewed CEO Paul Warnagiris to find out more about Teneo Group’s mission.
Crista Kopec: Why do you feel teaching about cybersecurity is important?
Paul Warnagiris: We are millions and millions of people short in the cybersecurity industry. We are still getting hacked every day. Kids get a phone, and they are allowed to go anywhere on the internet without any training or instruction. Imagine if we did that with cars, it would be bad. That’s the problem: everybody’s learning about tech, but nobody’s learning about how to secure tech.
Kopec: What are the different job options for students in cybersecurity?
Warnagiris: It is interesting because it could be at a hospital, or it could be at a power plant, or it could be a lawyer. Everyone needs cybersecurity because data is everywhere. It’s really all about protecting data, and the reason that A.I. exists is because of data. A.I. without data is no good. Social Media is free because they are collecting your data. The data is the key, and that is what we have to protect.
Kopec: What is your main goal with this bus, obviously focusing on cybersecurity?
Warnagiris: It is to bring awareness. We do a lot of things with this bus, and we bring it out to customer visits, and we bring it out to happy hours and for prospects. But, for K-12, it is just to get the word out and get people interested in cybersecurity.
Kopec: What does an average day on the bus look like for you, and how do you prepare for each presentation?
Warnagiris: It runs itself now. Really its just once you get here, constantly making sure students know how to log in. I like to give them a little bit of a big picture view. I was just explaining to them what I do and what is possible, but the day is one of the longest things I do. I play games for a living, so talking, standing, and helping all day it’s one of the longer days.
Kopec: What is your view on A.I.?
Warnagiris: Humanity is in trouble. Hopefully, the good guy gets the best A.I. first because if the bad guys get it, we are done.
Kopec: Great, thank you so much!
After students were finished in the Pink Bus, Keira Paradis interviewed Jacob Galarza, ’26. She asked why he signed up for this opportunity and what his position was on A.I. He responded by saying, “I wanted to see the different job opportunities there are in I.T. and A.I., I do feel like A.I. is good. It could be bad because people lie and cheat, but right now I think it is good.”
The Pink Bus took place during periods from 1 to 4, and students who were interested in cybersecurity and technology were able to sign up and learn about what they were interested in.
