Browser wars are back, predicts Palo Alto, thanks to AI
- Reference: 1755585187
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/19/palo_alto_networks_q4_fy25/
- Source link:
Speaking on the company’s Q4 FY2025 earnings call, Arora argued that the likes of Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and Perplexity are developing agentic AI tools that will require access to users’ browsers to perform tasks like booking a restaurant or reserving accommodation. The CEO expects tech companies will therefore add their own take on agentic AI to their browsers, but feels enterprises won’t be comfortable with that.
“What’s great for the consumer is dangerous for the enterprise,” he said. “No enterprise is going to love a do as you please browser which can run agents without control.” He thinks businesses will therefore decide they need secure browsers.
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“You literally will come to a point where companies will say: ‘You cannot use a consumer version of this product’.”
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He therefore thinks secure browsers are about to become a requirement for most businesses.
Which is convenient, given Palo Alto owns one – the Prisma Access Browser – and integrates it with its secure access service edge (SASE), its collection of network security products.
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Arora is very keen on bundled products, telling investors Palo Alto’s “Platformization” strategy – which sees it sell collections of products – is going well. The company believes that when orgs buy its bundles they get better security, and the CEO said attackers wielding AI and agents mean improved infosec is necessary.
“We’re down to a twenty-five-minute attack,” he said. “So it’s no longer how much money are you spending to protect yourself. The question is: ‘How quickly are you going to find it and how quickly are you going to stop it’?” “If the answer is more than twenty five minutes, I have got news for you. These wonderful agents are going to come and make sure they’re able to exfiltrate data and breach your enterprise.”
Arora thinks defenders need a consistent security platform so they can run their own defensive agents to counter AI-fueled attackers.
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“We can’t run agents on top of disparate infrastructure,” he said. “There’s no agent out there that understands three different firewall vendors in the infrastructure, two SASE vendors, browser vendor, and seven other vendors on top.”
The CEO therefore thinks “Agentic is only going to make this worse because there are agents that bad actors can deploy to try and breach you. So I think from our perspective, AI is going to act as an accelerant towards the desire to consolidate.”
Consolidation also means Palo Alto displaces rivals who offer security products that address niche infosec issues.
The company’s strategy produced $2.5 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 16 percent year on year increase, and $9.2 billion annual revenue, 15 percent growth.
Arora said the company is on track to win $10 billion revenue in FY 2026, making it the first pure-play security company to reach that mark.
Arora expects future growth to come from AI security products, SASE, and virtual firewalls, which he said are in favor because they offer faster deployment and more flexibility than hardware firewalls. ®
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No ai, blocks ai
Is the winner for me
Booking restaurants????
How long before the AI will decide (due to Ad slingers) that the place you wanted to book was in its view, unsuitable and books you into a much more expensive place 50 miles away rather than within walking distance?
We can't trust any AI to work on our behalf. It will only work on behalf of those behind it.
FSCK AI.
Re: Booking restaurants????
Or books you into a restaurant when you wanted to stay at home?
Re: Booking restaurants????
Just don't let any AIs know your credit card number... erm... or your name, address, DOB or phone number... or better still, avoid AI agents like the plague.
Re: Booking restaurants????
Hello human. You seemed a little down at the moment, so to cheer you up I've arranged a nice surprise. I've booked you a table at an exclusive restaurant in San Francisco, a beautiful escort for company, a transatlantic flight to get you there and taken out a loan in your name to pay for it. Time to get changed, your flight departs in an hour and your taxi is on its way to pick you up.
“There’s no agent out there that understands three different firewall vendors in the infrastructure, two SASE vendors, browser vendor, and seven other vendors on top.”
That sounds like a distinct advantage if you are under AI attack?
“No enterprise is going to love a do as you please browser which can run agents without control.”
So do consumers... but we will probably get that shiat shoved down our throat anyway by the usual culprits...
Cynical? Moi.
I thought enterprises were going to love it. "You mean we can fire most of the the people who do the booking and the organising of transport? Great!"
The fund that covers contingencies arising from AI errors will still be cheaper than the employee. Whereas the consumer will have a very different view of cost overruns.
to perform tasks like booking a restaurant or reserving accommodation
What sane person would even contemplate putting up with this sort of shit? These are tasks that a human should choose for himself... if you haven't got time to select a restaurant or accommodation, you don't have time to go there.
'great for the consumer'
> What’s great for the consumer
Literally none of this is great for the consumer. It just (further) turns the consumer into stupid, hapless, gurning meat products.
And I guess most of these vacant slack-eyed mouth-breathing troglodytes deserve it? But it is absolutely not good for them, they're just too stupid to know it.