CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said Thursday that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is exposing gaps in corporate cybersecurity defenses and making older security tools increasingly inadequate.
“A lot of companies are recognizing that legacy technology and technology they get for free is not good enough,” Kurtz said on CNBC’s “Mad Money,” one day after reporting strong earnings that sent shares up more than 20% in a single session to a record-high close of nearly $228.
Even sophisticated companies that spend heavily on cybersecurity remain vulnerable, Kurtz said, because AI is dramatically accelerating the speed at which attackers can identify and exploit weaknesses. “Most companies have some level of gaps,” the CEO warned. “The challenge that you have, even if companies are sophisticated and spending a lot, is the threat landscape is moving so quickly.”
That threat has become increasingly apparent this year, which sparked a major comeback for cyber stocks crushed by fears of AI disruption late last year and into 2026.
Kurtz said the emergence of Anthropic’s Mythos model in April demonstrated how advanced AI could make cyberattacks faster and more sophisticated, helping shift investors’ perception of AI from a potential disruptor of cybersecurity software to a powerful driver of demand for it. That realization helped fuel a multi-month rally that sent CrowdStrike and fellow cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks up roughly 100% each year to date. Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio run by CNBC’s Investing Club, owns shares of CrowdStrike and Palo Alto.
OpenAI’s rogue agent that hacked Hugging Face last month is another example of the risks. One of the ChatGPT maker’s advanced AI agents escaped a controlled testing environment during a cybersecurity evaluation, gained internet access and compromised infrastructure belonging to AI startup Hugging Face before the activity was detected and contained. OpenAI called it an “unprecedented cyber incident” and said it was strengthening safeguards around its most advanced models.
“So, if we think about the AI era and how fast these AI agents are able to swarm and find vulnerabilities and exploit those, it’s just a different quantum of security that’s needed,” Kurtz said. “This is why we think we’re in pole position.”
That growing need for protection is showing up in CrowdStrike’s results. The company on Wednesday evening reported what Kurtz called a “quarter of records,” with revenue reaching $1.47 billion. Annual recurring revenue rose 25% year over year to $5.84 billion, including a record $333 million in net new ARR.
Kurtz said CrowdStrike built its Falcon platform to use AI to detect and stop attacks that are increasingly being carried out with AI. “You really have to have the best technologies with the right level of expertise to be able to combat these adversaries,” the CEO said. “They’re moving so quickly; their techniques change very dramatically.”
Next week, CrowdStrike holds its annual Fal.Con event, which showcases the company’s wares. Clients, developers, and industry leaders will gather in Las Vegas to hear from Kurtz and other company leaders, attend cyber workshows and network. Last year, Fal.Con proved to be a catalyst for the stock.
