AI Rewrites Cybersecurity
The idea
I believe cybersecurity spending keeps climbing, and AI is splitting winners from losers. Older vendors without real AI get left behind, so this take skips them and instead spreads across AI-first security platforms, identity and access, data protection and recovery, and cloud and edge defense, roughly split between platform leaders and the fastest-growing layers. It holds 13 companies with no single name dominating, keeps a small cash reserve to add on pullbacks, and is meant to be held for years as this shift plays out.
What it owns
- These companies embedded AI into their core products early, giving them an edge as enterprises shift away from older security tools built without machine learning at their foundation. · CrowdStrike HoldingsIt built endpoint protection around AI from the ground up, giving it an advantage over vendors retrofitting security tools with machine learning capabilities., Palo Alto NetworksIt consolidates firewalls, cloud security and security operations into one AI-driven platform, allowing customers to retire multiple older point products at once., ZscalerIt routes company traffic through its own cloud infrastructure to inspect it, replacing the traditional office firewall model as enterprises embrace cloud-first architecture., MicrosoftIt operates one of the world's largest security businesses and embeds AI security into tools millions of enterprises already use daily., SentinelOneIt is the smaller AI-first endpoint alternative to larger incumbents and expands its reach through partners embedding its AI security capabilities into their own products., NetskopeIt secures how employees use cloud applications and AI tools, a newer security function that traditional vendors were not designed to handle.45%
- Ransomware powered by AI raises the cost of data breaches, making fast recovery and robust protection essential parts of enterprise security strategy. · RubrikIt helps enterprises recover after ransomware attacks, and AI-powered threats make cyber recovery spending a harder priority to defer., Varonis SystemsIt tracks where sensitive data sits and who accesses it, a problem that grows more urgent as AI tools gain the ability to read everything an employee can reach., Commvault SystemsIt rebuilt itself from a legacy backup company into one focused on cyber recovery, adapting rather than declining as the security market shifts.18%
- Attacks now target cloud applications and websites directly, and these companies protect that perimeter where threats arrive first. · CloudflareIt sits in front of a large share of web traffic and blocks attacks before they reach company servers, benefiting when major vulnerabilities drive adoption of cloud-edge defense., DatadogIt uses the same cloud visibility that powers its monitoring business to spot security threats, giving it a natural path to grow security alongside its core platform.17%
- As AI tools proliferate, controlling who and what gains access to systems becomes critical, especially when stolen credentials and synthetic identities pose growing risks. · OktaIt controls who gains access to company systems at a time when AI agents need logins and permissions too, making identity management more central to enterprise security., SailPointIt governs what each person and now each AI agent is permitted to access inside a company, a job that grows more complex and critical as AI deployment spreads.13%
- Cash7%