AI Agents Are Being Drafted Into the Cyber Defense Forces of Corporations

The rise of generative AI and large language models has drastically shifted the cybersecurity landscape, empowering attackers with easy-to-use tools that create realistic video and voice deepfakes, personalized phishing campaigns, malware, and malicious code. This surge in AI-powered attacks has opened the door for AI on the defense side as well. Agentic AI is becoming deeply embedded in enterprises, not only in finance and legal sectors but increasingly in cybersecurity, where AI agents are emerging as key assets for detection, analysis, and alerts. Brian Murphy, CEO of cybersecurity technology company ReliaQuest, highlights the challenge: "It's a massive challenge to detect, contain, investigate and respond across larger companies. AI is allowing us to remove a lot of that noise, that tier one or tier two work, that work that's often not at all relevant to something that could be threatening to an organization." The pitch for agentic AI often revolves around automating menial or time-consuming tasks to free human workers for more strategic work. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy expressed strong conviction that AI agents will change how people work and live, envisioning billions of these agents helping workers focus less on rote tasks and more on strategic thinking. Murphy sees a similar trend in cybersecurity, where workers are inundated with tasks that lead to burnout and exacerbate talent shortages. He notes how AI has enhanced attackers' capabilities: "Those phishing emails, they used to look almost laughable with the misspellings and the fonts wrong. AI can take the average bad actor and make them better, and so the trick is if you're on the defensive side, they have to use AI because of the reality of what AI can do." ReliaQuest recently launched GreyMatter Agentic Teammates, autonomous, role-based AI agents designed to assist security operations teams by automating tasks typically handled by detection engineers or threat intelligence researchers. Murphy describes it as a "teammate" that multiplies the capability of incident response analysts. For example, when an executive travels internationally, every time their device connects to a network abroad, security teams are alerted and must verify the executive’s secure usage. An agentic AI teammate can automate this verification process and similar workflows for board meetings or off-sites, saving countless hours. Justin Dellaportas, Chief Information and Security Officer at Syniverse, notes that AI agents have automated basic cybersecurity tasks like log analysis and are beginning to automate actions such as quarantining flagged emails or restricting access for compromised accounts. "[AI] is being used by criminals to efficiently find vulnerabilities and exploits into organizations at scale," Dellaportas said. "Cyber defenders really need to lean into this technology now more than ever to stay ahead of this evolving threat landscape and the pace of cyber criminals." He describes the adoption of agentic AI in cybersecurity as a "crawl, walk, run methodology," emphasizing trust and verification before expanding AI’s role.

What AI Bots Mean for Cybersecurity Workers

Despite AI’s growing role, Dellaportas sees AI agents as augmenting cybersecurity professionals rather than replacing them. Murphy agrees, emphasizing AI’s role in addressing the skills gap and automating appropriate tasks. "There may be a shortage of trained and skilled cybersecurity professionals, but there's no shortage of people who would like to be trained and skilled at cybersecurity," Murphy said. He also acknowledges the need for education around deploying agentic AI and concerns about AI decision-making. Agentic AI’s use across business lines has eased discussions about its benefits and implementation. A May 2025 Gartner poll of 147 CIOs and IT leaders found 24% had deployed AI agents, with over half working across IT, HR, and accounting rather than external customer-facing functions. Avivah Litan, distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner, calls cybersecurity a "low-hanging fruit use case for AI," noting its early success in fraud detection and predicting digital security assistants will free staff to tackle new attacks. Murphy believes corporate adoption of agentic AI in cybersecurity may outpace sectors like finance or legal because companies recognize AI is being used against them and the only defense is to use AI themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How are AI agents being used in cybersecurity?

AI agents are being employed for detection, analysis, and issuing alerts in cybersecurity. They automate tasks like log analysis, quarantining flagged emails, and restricting access for compromised accounts, freeing up human analysts for more strategic work.

Will AI agents replace cybersecurity professionals?

According to experts like Brian Murphy and Justin Dellaportas, AI agents are seen as augmenting cybersecurity professionals, not replacing them. They help address skill gaps and automate repetitive tasks, allowing human experts to focus on more complex threats and strategic thinking.

What is the primary benefit of using AI agents in cybersecurity?

The primary benefit is the automation of menial or time-consuming tasks. This reduces the noise and workload for security teams, prevents burnout, and allows human professionals to concentrate on more critical and strategic aspects of cyber defense.

How quickly are companies adopting AI agents in cybersecurity?

While a May 2025 Gartner poll showed 24% of CIOs and IT leaders had deployed AI agents, with many in IT, HR, and accounting, experts like Brian Murphy believe that adoption in cybersecurity might outpace other sectors due to the direct threat of AI-powered attacks.

What is the "crawl, walk, run" methodology for AI adoption in cybersecurity?

This methodology, mentioned by Justin Dellaportas, suggests a phased approach to adopting agentic AI. It involves starting with basic tasks, building trust and verification, and then gradually expanding AI's role as confidence and capabilities grow.

Crypto Market AI's Take

The increasing sophistication of AI-powered cyber threats necessitates a parallel advancement in defensive AI capabilities. The deployment of agentic AI in cybersecurity is a critical step in this evolution, mirroring the broader trend of AI integration across various business functions. At Crypto Market AI, we understand the dual nature of AI – its potential for both offense and defense. Our platform leverages advanced AI and machine learning to provide robust market analysis, sophisticated trading strategies, and secure infrastructure. We believe that staying ahead in the dynamic cryptocurrency landscape requires continuous innovation and a proactive approach to technology, much like the adoption of AI agents in cybersecurity. Explore our AI-powered trading bots and market analysis tools to navigate the evolving digital asset space with confidence.

AI agents are being drafted into the cyber defense forces of corporations