CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said concerns surrounding AI-powered cyber threats are becoming a growing tailwind for the company, but investors expecting to see that impact in the first quarter were looking too soon.
“You’re talking about Mythos breaking in the middle of April. Our quarter ends at the end of April,” Kurtz said on CNBC’s “Mad Money” on Thursday. “We’re selling enterprise software, not necessarily shipping boxes. So these things take time to get into customers’ hands.”
CrowdStrike reported stronger-than-expected results Wednesday and raised its full-year outlook. However, shares fell 4% after some investors questioned why the heightened attention surrounding Anthropic’s Mythos did not translate into a larger near-term boost to results.
Kurtz said the company’s updated guidance tells the more important story. CrowdStrike raised its full-year net new annual recurring revenue outlook by more than $50 million, reflecting growing confidence in customer demand.
“We have the confidence to do that because we see the opportunity that’s in front of us,” Kurtz said. “We see what customers are looking for, which is CrowdStrike.”
The CEO said demand for the company’s AI security offerings is accelerating as businesses look for ways to safely deploy artificial intelligence across their organizations. He said CrowdStrike’s AI Detection and Response platform’s second quarter pipeline had already exceeded $50 million, while growing 250% sequentially.
“What I know from talking to customers is they want to roll out more AI,” Kurtz said. “If you need more AI, you want to consume more AI, you’re going to need security.”
Kurtz also pushed back on the idea that advances in AI will reduce the need for cybersecurity vendors. Instead, he argued that AI is making attackers more capable and increasing the need for comprehensive cybersecurity platforms.
“What AI has done is it’s created more adversaries with greater sophistication because they’re leveraging the models themselves,” Kurtz said. “It means more tailwinds for companies like CrowdStrike.”
