Mandiant CEO On Biggest AI, Security And Google Investments

Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia explains his company’s biggest investments in 2024 around AI, cybersecurity, Google Cloud and channel partners.

Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia is bullish about the cybersecurity company’s future in 2024 with investment dollars being injected into securing AI, migrating customers to a modern security architecture, as well as co-developing partner programs with Google Cloud.

“The two major technology investments we plan to make in 2024 are in security operations, including helping customers migrate legacy platforms to a modern SOC, and AI,” Mandia said in written responses provided for CRN’s annual CEO Outlook project.

Reston, Va.-based Mandiant is a global leader in cyberdefense, threat intelligence and incident response services. The cybersecurity superstar has been on the frontlines of cyberattacks for decades by helping businesses be ready to defend against and respond to cyberthreats.

In 2022, Mandiant was acquired by Google Cloud for $5.4 billion.

“Together with Google Cloud, the biggest market opportunity Mandiant and our channel partners will tackle together in 2024 is applying AI to security challenges,” said Mandia.

Mandiant And Google Cloud’s 2024 Cybersecurity Forecast

According to Google Cloud’s 2024 Cybersecurity Forecast, AI will be used to scale phishing, information operations and other campaigns but also for improved detection, response and attribution of adversaries at scale.

In addition, Mandiant and Google Cloud predict malware authors will develop more software in programming languages such as Go, Rush and Swift to make reverse engineering more difficult. The companies also forecast that cybercriminals will use zero days in 2024 to evade detection and maintain access for longer, and increasingly target edge devices and virtualization software.

As part of CRN’s 2024 Outlook project, Mandia explains his company’s key technology investments, the business impacts AI will have on Mandiant, and the biggest market opportunities with channel partners in 2024.

What are the key technology investments you plan to make in 2024?

The two major technology investments we plan to make in 2024 are in security operations, including helping customers migrate legacy platforms to a modern SOC, and AI.

With AI, we see three opportunities for partners:

One, implementing AI in a safe and secure way.

Two, new use cases around AI to address customer pain points.

And three, delivering our AI capabilities to other ISVs.

What impact do you expect AI to have on the business you and your partners do together in 2024?

In 2024, we want to work closely with our partners to develop security AI use cases and go to market with real, tangible solutions in a safe and secure way.

What is the biggest market opportunity you and your channel partners will tackle together in 2024?

Together with Google Cloud, the biggest market opportunity Mandiant and our channel partners will tackle together in 2024 is applying AI to security challenges.

To support this, we’re working with our partners and Google Cloud to bring to market the best security operations platform supercharged with AI and Mandiant Threat Intelligence and expertise.

We see three opportunities for partners in this area:

One, co-innovation to deliver joint offerings specific to different segments and industries.

Two, services to help our customers implement, deploy and manage offerings, including upskilling.

And three, developing programs to go to market together.

What is the key to success for your channel partners in 2024?

We see notable disruptions in cybersecurity every five to seven years, and we’re in the middle of one right now.

For our channel partners to be successful, they must embrace change and play a more active, consultative role to help customers through this transition.

Further, the market is demanding more managed services. Therefore, bringing the skills and expertise customers need through automation, not just throwing people at the problem, will be critical.

What are the toughest challenges facing customers in 2024?

We see customers facing the same challenges in 2024 as they did in 2023, only in a bigger, deeper and greater way.

The number of security alerts, threats and the need for resources are all growing exponentially.

Organizations will need to learn how to gain maximum protection with less resources, and AI combined with real-time threat intelligence can help organizations manage these challenges more effectively.

My top priority for 2024 is:

To empower partners through training and development to ensure they have what they need to be successful and go to market with us. Together, we can leverage emerging tech like AI to close the security gap for customers.