Expert Call Recap—Early Signs of AI Tailwinds for Cybersecurity Budgets

Research evidence excerpt

Expert Call Recap—Early Signs of AI Tailwinds for Cybersecurity Budgets

Equity Research

Industry Update — May 11, 2026

U.S. Software

Expert Call Recap—Early Signs of AI Tailwinds

for Cybersecurity Budgets

Our Call Michael Turrin, CFA

We hosted a large VAR to discuss cyber spending trends following RSA & recent AI Equity Analyst | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

Michael.Turrin@wellsfargo.com | 628-629-7565

advancements (Mythos)–contact for replay. We came away incrementally positive on the

Richard Polandconsolidators (previews—CRWD, PANW), as well as data security & identity categories.

Equity Analyst | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

Richard.D.Poland@wellsfargo.com | 212-214-5333

Upbeat commentary underpins our confidence in Q1 and upward revisions to

cybersecurity spend outlooks in 2026. Q1 was described as 'record-breaking' and 'the

fastest start in company history,' reaching nearly 60% of FY plan in early-May, an atypical

start to the year (usually more Q4-loaded). The key driver was explained to be large

modernization and AI security projects coming to fruition due to building AI urgency and

following prolonged budget & product evaluation cycles in 2H25.

AI driving incremental budget, not reallocation. After kicking tires on how to secure AI,

urgency shifted following RSA & Mythos. While it has only been a few wks, customers

(in some cases) are bypassing procurement to onboard faster. Incumbents seem to be

primary beneficiaries (AIRS, CHKP-Lakera, S1-Prompt) as the paths-of-least-resistance.

Key categories absorbing the AI lift include data security (Cyera, VRNS, NTSK, ZS), agentic

SOC (CRWD Charlotte, PANW XSIAM) & microsegmentation (Illumio).

Competitive/demand commentary on SIEM strengthens our confidence in CRWD's

positioning.