As the cybersecurity landscape becomes more complex, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. is setting its sights on generative artificial intelligence to disrupt the market.

The cybersecurity company has seen an extraordinary growth trajectory, bolstered by its flexible, data-centric approach to security.

“From the early days, where there was a small group of just fanatical customers, we’ve grown to over 4,000 loyal customers, incredible partners and other companies — from startups to more established security vendors,” said Mike Sentonas (pictured), president at CrowdStrike.

Sentonas’ comments reflect a strategic path of total addressable market expansion and carefully curated acquisitions, a direction that has had cascading impacts on the security ecosystem. The company has introduced 23 modules, each tackling a unique aspect of cybersecurity.

Sentonas spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin at the Fal.Con event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how the company aims to redefine threat mitigation and tackle the industry’s growing skills gap. (* Disclosure below.)

AI and speed in cybersecurity

One major highlight was the introduction of Charlotte AI, CrowdStrike’s gen AI technology aimed at making businesses more agile and helping them make better, quicker decisions. It also aims to transform novices into experts by providing fast, accessible data for more educated decisions.

“Charlotte’s not going to make the decision for you, but it’s going to put the data at your fingertips and help you make better educated decisions a lot faster,” Sentonas said.

In a domain rife with threats, the capability to respond swiftly to challenges can make a world of difference.

“To win in security, you need to be faster than the adversary,” he added.

The significance of speed in cybersecurity aligns well with another pain point in the industry: the skills gap. Sentonas believes CrowdStrike’s Charlotte AI can be an effective tool in bridging this gap.

“One of the things that we think a lot about with Charlotte is how can we make a novice user more experienced … make them solve more complex problems a lot faster,” he said.

By making the technology accessible, even those with non-technical backgrounds can gain significant expertise in a short time.

“Some of the best people I know in the industry didn’t do a computer science degree,” Sentonas added. “Find people that just think differently that are passionate about stopping bad people, and the rest we can work out. Charlotte and things like that can help training, make you more efficient, help you learn the topic.”

AI is a double-edged sword, however. The potential risks of generative AI falling into the wrong hands are concerning.

“It’s technology that’s not just available to us; it’s available to the adversary,” Sentonas said. “Generative AI could potentially create a huge shift in the time it takes an adversary to successfully attack another company. We could see, for example, attacks taking seconds that used to take hours or days.”

As cyberthreats evolve, security measures have to adapt and anticipate new forms of risks, Sentonas added.

The high cost of complacency in the face of evolving threats

Despite the rapid advancements in cybersecurity solutions, a significant portion of the industry is still relying on outdated legacy technology, according to Sentonas.

“The reality is as successful as we have been, there’s still half of the industry using a lot of legacy technology,” he said, describing how many traditional endpoint solutions from legacy vendors have been failing to keep up with the emerging threats, especially in the era of more advanced, automated attacks.

The cybersecurity landscape has changed drastically, but many organizations are lagging behind due to a lack of understanding about the evolving threats.

“A lot of the conversation still is helping people solve some of the basics and educating people around the tradecraft that the adversary actually uses,” Sentonas said.

The “good enough” security strategies that some companies settle for are no longer adequate. The adversary doesn’t just wake up thinking about deploying malware; they are more concerned with how they can monetize or exploit the target, whether it’s through social engineering or other means. The industry needs to take on the role of educating people about these evolving threats, and Sentonas advocates for people to understand the magnitude of the problem, as the cost of a security breach can be substantial.

“We’re doing more boardroom conversations today than we ever have, because people just want to understand how big this problem is and what do they need to do,” Sentonas said. “People know, unfortunately, if you get breached, it costs a fortune, productivity loss, incident response costs.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Fal.Con event:

(* Disclosure: CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither CrowdStrike nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE