The AI-Fueled Threat Landscape
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is significantly changing the cybersecurity threat landscape. Attackers are increasingly using automation to identify vulnerabilities, generating more tailored and personalized spear-phishing campaigns, developing malicious code with AI-assisted code generation tools, and exploiting weaknesses with greater speed and precision than was common only a few short years ago.(1) This rise in AI-powered attacks introduces a more complex and dangerous environment for enterprises but, we believe, also supports opportunities for AI-driven innovation. In response, cybersecurity companies are increasingly incorporating AI into their products and services to help strengthen defenses, improve efficiency and support security teams as they work to address emerging risks.
With experience spanning more than three decades, the Summit team has seen the cybersecurity sector evolve from the early days of standalone anti-virus tools to the rise of platform vendors with product portfolios that span cloud security, identity and access, and threat detection and response. In our view, AI represents the most significant shift yet. Below, we highlight four areas where we see AI driving significant change and potential paths for innovation:
- Identity and Zero Trust: The Next Frontier in Cybersecurity
- AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response: Redefining Speed and Scale
- AI-Driven Automation: Powering Security & IT Operations at Scale
- AI in Application Security: Keeping Pace with Modern Development
1. Identity and Zero Trust: The Next Frontier in Enterprise Security
In our view, AI is accelerating the shift towards identity-driven security, elevating the importance of Zero Trust principles in enterprise defense.(2) Zero Trust is a security framework that moves away from the assumption that anything inside a network can be trusted, and instead emphasizes the concept of least-privilege access and continuous verification of users, devices and applications before granting or maintaining access to data and systems.
We are seeing that the proliferation of non-human identities—APIs, service accounts, IoT devices and now AI agents—is increasing the complexity of identity management, contributing to the application of Zero Trust principles beyond human users.(3) As enterprises increasingly provide sensitive information to AI models and applications, data security becomes more closely tied to identity, determining who can access what data, when, and under what conditions.
By enabling real-time verification and adaptive access controls, AI is, in our view, transforming identity from a static safeguard into the operational backbone of modern cybersecurity. We believe this trend is supporting demand across areas such as Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) and Identity Detection and Response. We also see a select group of larger, growth-stage companies working to consolidate elements of this identity stack in an effort to meet what we believe is an acute and accelerating market need. Summit X portfolio company Keeper Security is focused on addressing an aspect of identity and Zero Trust with its password and access management platform. Our work with the company informs our perspective on and reinforces our conviction in the identity landscape.
Identity-related incidents remain a frequent source of breaches,(4) including ransomware and data exfiltration. In our view, AI-powered identity and Zero Trust solutions, like the ones offered by Keeper Security, are becoming increasingly relevant as organizations look for ways to help strengthen protections for both human and non-human identities at scale.
2. AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response: Redefining Speed and Scale
With an expanding attack surface that spans endpoints, cloud workloads, networks, identities and SaaS applications, we believe traditional rules-based approaches may face limitations in addressing evolving threats. AI makes it possible to identify subtle anomalies and enable more timely responses, laying the groundwork for more predictive and autonomous approaches to defense.(5) In our view, this is contributing to growing interest in AI-enabled threat detection and response solutions.
Summit has followed the evolution of AI in threat detection and response for many years, including through Europe I’s 2015 investment in Darktrace.(6) As one of the first AI-native cybersecurity companies, we believe Darktrace pioneered the use of unsupervised learning to help analyze network traffic, detect anomalies and identify threats without relying on static rules. Darktrace’s approach helped redefine threat detection and response, and the company was acquired at a $5.3 billion enterprise value by Thoma Bravo in Q4 2024.
Today, we are seeing more companies apply AI across the spectrum of threat detection and response, both by enhancing existing tools and by building new AI-native solutions. As adversaries grow faster and more sophisticated, we believe the ability to learn from data and respond dynamically will remain central to effective cybersecurity.(4)
3. AI-Driven Automation: Powering Security & IT Operations at Scale
We believe AI automation is also influencing security and IT operations workflows, as routine execution increasingly becomes part of a strategic defense strategy. Enterprises are adopting AI-enabled tools to help manage repetitive, high-volume, resource-intensive tasks, particularly within these areas.
In security operations centers (SOCs), high alert volumes and repetitive investigations have long contributed to analyst fatigue. AI-based tools, such as those developed by Red Canary (a former portfolio company held in VC V and VC IV), can help address this challenge by accelerating elements of threat detection, automating aspects of analysis and context gathering and filtering out potential false positives. Drawing on more than a decade of proprietary threat and remediation data, Red Canary’s AI agents help cut investigation times by 90% on average(7) and allow human analysts to focus on more complex risks. We believe the company’s impact on SOC efficiency and resilience contributed to Zscaler’s decision to acquire Red Canary earlier this year, illustrating how these capabilities are influencing next-generation security platforms.
In IT operations, we are observing increased use of AI-powered automation tools as certain routine tasks become more closely connected to a company’s overall defense posture. Patch management, system monitoring and updates may appear routine, but failure to execute them effectively can leave companies exposed to vulnerabilities.
We have seen how AI-enabled automation tools are already providing companies with measurable results, improving efficiency, reducing burnout and strengthening resilience. We believe this theme will remain central to SOC and IT operations in the years ahead.
4. AI in Application Security: Keeping Pace with Modern Development
Applications and APIs support many aspects of the digital operations within modern enterprises, and we believe they also represent a growing area of security risk. The rise of AI is influencing this landscape by accelerating both the pace of software development and the speed at which attackers can discover and attempt to exploit weaknesses. We are seeing that traditional models of application security can face challenges in keeping pace with the scale and dynamism of modern environments. With frequent code releases, numerous applications operating simultaneously and evolving cloud architectures, we believe vulnerabilities may emerge before traditional cybersecurity methods identify them.
We believe AI-based tools are helping to change this paradigm. By analyzing application behavior, helping prioritize vulnerabilities and adapting protections as environments evolve, AI-enabled platforms can support more continuous security coverage relative to periodic manual testing alone. These capabilities may also enable security considerations to be incorporated earlier in development while also extending into production environments, which can create a more resilient layer of defense. Summit X and Summit XI portfolio company Invicti reflects this theme, by applying AI to help accelerate detection, improve accuracy and assist DevOps and security teams in managing application security without hindering development processes.
Looking Ahead: Innovation Opportunities for Growth Leaders
AI-enabled tools are contributing to a shift in how attackers operate and how defenders can respond, and we believe the opportunities in this theme are broad. We see identity and Zero Trust, threat detection and response, automation of security and IT operations, and application security as key areas where AI-enabled tools are influencing the competitive landscape; we believe each of these areas offers potential for innovation.
At the same time, we believe technology alone may not be enough. As AI continues to alter the pace and nature of cyber threats,(8) human readiness will remain a critical counterpart to automation and analytics. Europe II’s investment in Immersive reflects our belief that resilient enterprises will need to pair advanced technology with human capability, helping to ensure that people remain central to defense, even as the use of AI-enabled products and services increases.
At Summit, our vantage point, shaped by more over three decades and 20+ cybersecurity investments, supports our view that AI represents a significant shift in the sector. We believe the companies able to effectively apply AI-driven capabilities alongside human expertise will be well positioned to navigate evolving cybersecurity demands and help set higher standards for resilience, efficiency and trust across the digital enterprise. We remain committed to supporting the innovators that we believe are contributing to this transformation.
Growth Timeline
January 1, 2024
Acquired by Vista Equity Partners
Rebrands as InvoiceCloud
Began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KVYO on September 20, 2023
January 1, 2023
Launched Klaviyo Customer Data Platform (CDP) and reviews - Surpassed 130,000 customers
January 1, 2022
Entered into a strategic partnership with Shopify, including capital investment - Launched partnership with Wix and completed first acquisition, Napkin.io - Opened Sydney office
January 1, 2021
Completes IPO on September 23 (NYSE: ESMT)
January 1, 2020
Rebranded to EngageSmart
Introduced support for Apple Pay, Google Pay
January 1, 2017
Entered the wellness vertical with the acquisition of SImplePractice.
January 1, 2021
Raised additional capital in a funding round led by Sands Capital - Launched SMS product - Announced native integration with Prestashop and partnership with WooCommerce
January 1, 2020
Raised approximately $200 million in new capital from Summit Partners and Accel
January 1, 2019
Raised approximately $150 million in capital from Summit Partners Opened London office
January 1, 2009
InvoiceCloud founded
Focused on local government and utility verticals
January 1, 2018
Surpassed 10,000 customers
January 1, 2017
Launched a partnership with BigCommerce
June 1, 2016
Surpassed 1,000 customers
January 1, 2016
Raised new capital in a funding round led by Astrial Capital
January 1, 2015
Received SAFE financing led by Accomplice
January 1, 2014
Surpassed 100 customers
January 1, 2012
Klaviyo founded
January 1, 2021
Completes IPO (NASDAQ: LFST) on June 10
January 6, 2020
Announces majority recapitalization
January 1, 2020
LifeStance completes 50th acquisition. With COVID onset, transitioned from 300 telepsych visits per week to more than 40,000
January 1, 2020
2.3M patient visits, 370 centers and 3,000+ clinicians
January 1, 2019
1.4M patient visits, 170 centers and 1,400 clinicians
January 1, 2018
930k patient visits, 125 centers and 800 clinicians
January 1, 2017
LifeStance founded with backing from Summit Partners and Silversmith Capital Partners
January 1, 2019
Launced charity streaming - live streaming fundraising
General Atlantic invests alongside Summit and management team
January 1, 2018
Entered the non-profit vertical with the acquisition of DonorDrive
Introduced and integrated telehealth solution
January 1, 2015
Summit Partners invests
Entered the healthcare vertical with the acquisition of HealthPay24
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(1) Source: Cybersecurity News, Hackers Using AI to Automate Vulnerability Discovery and Malware Generation – Microsoft Report, October 17, 2025
(2) Source: SC World, How AI accelerated identity as the new security battleground. September 19, 2025
(3) Source: World Economic Forum, Non-human identities: Agentic AI’s new frontier of cybersecurity risk, October 15, 2025
(4) Source: Security Magazine, 90% of Organizations Experienced an Identity Incident this Past Year, May 29, 2024
(5) Projections or forward-looking statements contained herein are only estimates of future results or events that are based upon assumptions made at the time such projections or statements were developed or made. There can be no assurance that the results set forth in the projections or the events predicted will be attained, and actual results may be significantly different from the projections. Please see Important Considerations for a more fulsome disclosure with respect to projections or estimates.
(6) Source: Security Magazine, 90% of Organizations Experienced an Identity Incident this Past Year, May 29, 2024
(7) Source: Red Canary, Red Canary Expands AI Innovations to Cut Alert Overload, Accelerate Incident Response, and Simplify SOC Workflows, June 10, 2025
(8) Source: McKinsey, AI is the greatest threat—and defense—in cybersecurity today. Here’s why, May 15, 2025
About Summit Partners
Summit Partners is a leading growth-focused investment firm, investing across growth sectors of the economy. Today, Summit manages more than $44 billion in capital and targets growth equity investments of $10 million – $500 million per company. Since the firm’s founding in 1984, Summit has invested in more than 550 companies in the technology, healthcare and life sciences, and growth products and services sectors.