Palo Alto Networks has seen a sharp rise in requests from companies seeking advice on how to prepare for a new generation of cyber threats driven by artificial intelligence.
Chief executive Nikesh Arora said businesses are increasingly concerned about how AI could be used by attackers to move faster, identify vulnerabilities, and launch more sophisticated campaigns.
Instead of treating the technology as a distant risk, many organisations are now reviewing their security plans and asking how their systems might hold up as AI tools become more capable.
The company has received about 1,200 meeting requests from customers in recent weeks. Palo Alto has already spoken with roughly 800 of those organisations over the past 12 weeks, with another 400 discussions still to be completed.
“Just to give you a sense, we did 1,200 meetings all of last year. We’ve done 800 in the last 12 weeks,” Arora said. “So we’re busy.”
The surge in interest came as Palo Alto reported stronger quarterly results and lifted its outlook for the full financial year. Revenue rose 31 per cent from the same period a year earlier to $3 billion, while adjusted earnings reached 85 cents per share.
The performance has added to signs that investor fears over AI disrupting established software businesses may have been overstated, at least in cybersecurity. Rather than weakening demand for security products, the growth of AI appears to be pushing more companies to invest in stronger protection across their networks, cloud systems, and internal platforms.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Arora said the industry was proving more resilient than some investors had expected.
“I think we declared the ‘SaaSpocalypse’ dead for cybersecurity officially,” he said.
Arora said customers were not only looking for solutions to today’s problems. They also wanted to understand how the threat landscape could change as AI becomes more widely used across business operations.
“We are a net enabler of better cybersecurity,” he said. “We’re not a victim of AI.”