Security leaders prefer platform-based GenAI tools

According to CrowdStrike’s 2024 State of AI in Cybersecurity Survey, 80% of security leaders prefer platform-based GenAI tools over point products and applications.

One of the biggest challenges organizations face in cybersecurity is managing the many different solutions they have. Taking a platform approach is ultimately seen as the best way to manage cybersecurity. And now, GenAI in cybersecurity is making this process even more seamless.

This is clearly highlighted in CrowdStrike’s 2024 State of AI in Cybersecurity Survey. According to the survey, 80% of security leaders prefer platform-based GenAI tools over point products and applications. Not only does this also show that organizations are looking to enhance efficiency and effectiveness across security operations, but it also indicates the growing demand for integrated technologies.

“A platform-based approach to cybersecurity integrates multiple tools, data and processes into a unified system. When delivered as an integrated component of a platform, GenAI can accelerate and augment the benefits of a platform approach. It can streamline onboarding, enabling analysts to get up to speed faster and interact with their tools in a more intuitive way (such as by using natural language). Delivering GenAI through a platform can also simplify procurement and deployment complexities, facilitating more seamless adoption,” the survey stated.

Taking a deeper look at the survey, 63% of respondents stated they would overhaul their current security stack to adopt fully integrated GenAI solutions, underscoring a decisive shift toward platform-driven cybersecurity strategies. As organizations grapple with skills shortages, increased adversary speed and sophistication, and operational complexity, the findings spotlight a clear path forward.

There is no doubt that cybersecurity professionals want purpose-built, platform-integrated GenAI solutions designed to meet the unique demands of cybersecurity. But is it as simple as it looks?

Business leaders are expecting faster returns from their AI investments. Responses in the survey indicate that organizations believe platform-delivered GenAI can help teams realize faster economic returns from AI investments. Put simply, respondents expect to realize incremental savings associated with broader platform consolidation efforts, including procurement efficiencies, reduced security incidents, fewer training cycles and reduced maintenance costs.

As such, organizations are taking a cautious approach implementing GenAI security tools. Specifically, respondents are prioritizing vendors with deep cybersecurity expertise, strong incident response capabilities and leadership in threat intelligence when selecting GenAI tools.

They are also looking for purpose-built GenAI for cybersecurity that emphasizes breach prevention and vendor expertise. Security teams would avoid domain-agnostic GenAI tools, which may lack the specialized context required to provide actionable assistance in alignment with security best practices. In fact, 83% of respondents said they would not trust tools that provide unsuitable or ill-advised security guidance.

With 74% of respondents reporting a breach in the last year or expressing concerns about vulnerabilities, there is no doubt that they want better detection and response capabilities. This will be a key driver for GenAI adoption and why a majority (76%) are focusing on GenAI tools designed specifically for cybersecurity.

Interestingly, the survey revealed that the most requested workflows for applying GenAI revolve around boosting analyst productivity and streamlining data analysis to inform decision-making. This includes workflow automation and minimizing tedious, time-consuming tasks, such as summarizing threat intelligence, writing scripts and compiling cross-domain data for investigations.

This clearly shows that respondents overwhelmingly view GenAI as a tool to enhance the security analyst experience by boosting productivity, reducing burnout and alert fatigue, and accelerating onboarding and not replacing human expertise.

At the same time, nearly 90% of respondents are proactively establishing security guidelines for GenAI use, emphasizing the importance of built-in safety and privacy controls, with most respondents viewing integration, safety and privacy as essential for unlocking GenAI’s full potential.

For Elia Zaitsev, CTO at CrowdStrike, the survey reinforces a clear shift in the industry with organizations no longer interested in piecemeal solutions when adopting transformative technology and are demanding the power of the platform.

“Unlocking GenAI’s true potential lies in seamless integration across systems and data, optimizing analyst productivity and accelerating threat detection and response. This is our approach with Charlotte AI, one of the industry’s first purpose-built, fully integrated GenAI security analyst assistants, and we look forward to continually pushing the boundaries of innovation on our mission to stop breaches,” said Zaitsev.

Charlotte AI is CrowdStrike’s purpose-built GenAI solution that empowers security and IT teams to outpace adversaries and stop breaches. With its recently launched CrowdStrike AI Red Team Services and CrowdStrike Falcon cybersecurity platform innovations like Falcon Cloud Security AI-SPM and Falcon Data Protection, CrowdStrike is also at the epicenter of securing the infrastructure, systems and models driving the AI revolution.