You’re working through a red team lab or real engagement. You’ve handled recon, started poking at privilege escalation paths, and hit a few dead ends. You know there’s more to explore—but now you’re second-guessing the next move.

Most training platforms don’t help with that part. They show you what can be done, but not what makes sense right now, in your specific context. No feedback loops, no real-time reasoning—just flags or checklists.

We started exploring how an AI assistant might help newer operators train the way real ops flow. Not by walking through playbooks, but by surfacing options that adapt to what’s already happened in the shell. A kind of guided sparring partner that builds decision-making muscle, not just technical recall.

This post walks through what we’ve been thinking, what PhantomShift is doing so far, and how this kind of AI could fit into operator development. Would love thoughts from anyone working in red team education, CTF training, or onboarding new security hires!