Cyber Download - Modest Improvement in 2Q

Research evidence excerpt

Cyber Download - Modest Improvement in 2Q

USA | Software EquityJulyResearch14, 2026

We hosted a cyber practice services director, who saw cyber demand

moderately strengthen sequentially in 2Q. Improved understanding of AI

security is driving customer engagement & he expects spending to ramp

gradually. He is constructive on platformization, views identity as a key

beneficiary of agentic AI deployments, and sees SASE as among the best-

positioned areas to benefit from AI security spend, while arguing remediation

remains the key unmet need in VM.

Please join us for a call with a Field CISO at 2pm ET tomorrow (7/15) here.

2Q Demand Environment. 2Q cyber demand was modestly stronger qoq, as our expert cited

a pickup in conversations and customer engagement. Despite the rapidly evolving and often

confusing AI security landscape, our expert noted customer understanding has improved, leading

to more budget planning and solution evaluation. However, he expects related spending to ramp

gradually over time rather than as a step-function.

Memory Impact. While our expert focuses primarily on cyber services rather than hardware,

he has not seen elevated memory and component costs materially affect customer hardware

buying behavior or spending. That said, he has observed heightened pricing resistance on software

renewals, with customers pushing back on proposed price increases and negotiating flat pricing/

discounts to preserve budget for IT hardware purchases.

Identity. Our expert views identity vendors among the primary beneficiaries of the need to secure

agentic, driven by the growth in non-human identities that rely on credential-based access. However,

customers remain primarily focused on securing human identities, with non-human identity security