How cybersecurity standout CrowdStrike aims to capitalize on the AI agent gold rush

CNBC

a day ago

Cybersecurity powerhouse CrowdStrike sees big business in helping companies safeguard their AI agents, which by design have access to vast amounts of their sensitive data. These artificial intelligence applications with human-like reasoning and problem-solving abilities are quickly becoming all the rage in corporate America. They are being used in a variety of ways — from customer support to task automation. In fact, a new survey of IT leaders by data firm Cloudera showed that 96% of them said they plan to expand their use of AI agents in the next 12 months. During a "Mad Money" interview Wednesday, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz told Jim Cramer the growth of AI agents, or agentics, is a "massive opportunity" for the company. Kurtz described these autonomous agents as "superhumans" with access to tons of proprietary company information, including identities and business workflows. He added, "AI agents could be in the billions, and CrowdStrike will be at the forefront of being able to protect those." Within its portfolio, CrowdStrike has seen traction with Charlotte AI, which Kurtz refers to as the company's agentic security analyst. Morgan Stanley analysts agree with Kurtz, saying AI agents are creating an opportunity for CrowdStrike because they expand the "surface area of IT to be protected," requiring heightened visibility, control, and protection. To be sure, it's still early innings for AI agent adoption — and while companies are spending no small fortune to develop and implement the technology, the return on investment is still up for debate. Enterprise software giant Salesforce has been a leader in AI agents, with its Agentforce platform. But it has also been subject to Wall Street skepticism, with analysts and investors questioning whether CEO Marc Benioff has put too much emphasis on AI agents at the expense of the company's core business. Salesforce, which reported earnings on May 28, said that combined annual recurring revenue (ARR) for its Data Cloud and Agentforce topped $1 billion, up from the $900 million provided in February. On "Mad Money" that night, Benioff told Jim that Agentforce was now an "over $100 million ARR product." While $100 million is pretty good for a platform that's less than a year old, it is a drop in the bucket when considering Salesforce's revenue in its latest quarter alone was $9.82 billion. From the Club's perspective, we believe AI agents are a double-edged sword, helping automate workflows while simultaneously creating a greater need for CrowdStrike's best-in-class cybersecurity solutions. Kurtz's discussion with Jim came after the Club name Tuesday evening reported better-than-expected quarterly results on many of the key metrics that investors focus on. The stock, which closed Tuesday's regular session at a record high, lost nearly 6% Wednesday on concerns about mixed guidance and questions about a federal government inquiry into information related to last year's massive IT outage that was caused by a botched CrowdStrike software update. Kurtz defended the company in the probe. Last week, we increased our price target on CrowdStrike to $500 from $400 after the print. However, we maintained our hold-equivalent 2 rating out of respect for the stock's recent run and overall 34% increase year to date. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CRWD, CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.