Tech CEOs Highlight AI as Top Priority for 2025, Emphasizing Collaboration with Channel Partners

10 Cybersecurity CEOs On AI's Impact On The Market In 2025

In 2025, CEOs at top cybersecurity companies are focusing on some common themes when it comes to the AI opportunities ahead -- while also emphasizing the differentiation their tools are bringing, of course. As part of CRN's CEO Outlook 2025 report, CEOs from 10 of the largest and most-influential cybersecurity companies provided their perspective on AI's impact on the market and AI channel opportunities 2025. All 10 cybersecurity CEOs emphasized that AI is core to their product strategies -- whether that means embedding GenAI-powered capabilities across their portfolio or utilizing AI in new ways to automate threat detection and response. Without a doubt, there is a strong consensus that AI is not merely an add-on for cybersecurity, but is in fact a main pillar for the future of the field. [Related: 5 Emerging GenAI Security Threats In 2024] Meanwhile, securing the usage of AI itself is a major running theme for many of the top cybersecurity companies CRN heard from. And crucially, whether it's launching new GenAI-powered capabilities or protecting against AI-related risks, these cybersecurity CEOs are emphasizing their partnerships with solution and service providers as the way to securely and effectively deploy AI. "We foresee AI revolutionizing the collaborative business landscape with our channel partners," Zscaler Founder and CEO Jay Chaudhry said in an answer to CRN's CEO Outlook survey. Among the other CEO respondents from top cybersecurity vendors were Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten and Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport. CRN posed the question: What impact do you expect AI to have on the business you and your partners do together in 2025? What follows are the answers provided by 10 top cybersecurity CEOs.

CEO Outlook 2025: The 'Massive' AI Opportunity

CRN goes on a quest to see what the industry's top technology CEOs have to say about a range of challenges and opportunities for their business in 2025 and how they will be working with their partners to tackle them. Far and away the biggest opportunity the tech world's top CEOs see in 2025 lies in harnessing artificial intelligence. Take it from IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, who said that capturing the "massive" AI and hybrid cloud opportunity will continue to be IBM's singular focus in 2025. "There is major work to be done to infuse AI into core systems, data and workflows," Krishna said in written responses provided for CRN's annual CEO Outlook project, which surveys a slew of the industry's top vendor and solution provider executives. Chipmaker AMD is watching closely as its customers' AI adoption journeys progress from pilot programs to full-scale enterprise deployments, said Lisa Su, AMD's chair and CEO. But while AI is taking center stage in the hype cycle, it's still early days for the technology, and vendors and partners must work together to deliver on its transformational value, she said. "AI is poised to positively impact practically every aspect of how businesses operate at scale. ... Working together with our partners, these learnings help us optimize hardware and software, uncover market trends and rethink how we address customer needs," Su said. The past 12 months have been profound in terms of AI acceleration and innovation, said Cisco Systems Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins, who, like Su, believes AI is still in the early stages of adoption. "Customers are asking questions like, 'Is my infrastructure ready to support these new models, how do I make sense of all my data, and what kind of talent do I need to support my AI strategy?'" he said. That's opening the door for vendors to work hand-in-hand with partners to create personalized, managed services, Robbins said. To see where more than 170 CEOs will be placing their bets this year and how they will lean on partners to tackle a host of emerging technology opportunities, be sure to check out the 2025 CRN Outlook database.

CEOs From AWS, Cisco, SAP And More On Their Top Priorities In 2025

Though their expertise may differ greatly, the one thing that many of the world's top tech CEOs all have in common in 2025 is their commitment to artificial intelligence. AI has officially moved past the buzzword stage. AI and generative AI are being embedded into existing tech products. It's also responsible for the launch of countless new cloud services. IT vendors are using AI to boost customer satisfaction and empower their channel partners. It's the reason why CEOs from the likes of Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, SAP, Hitachi Vantara and Nutanix, all put AI at the top of their priority list in 2025. Here's what some of the world's most prominent tech CEOs had to say about their plans to develop intelligent AI-based tech offerings, offer training around AI, and harness AI to help customers with their business transformation plans. And check out CRN's CEO Outlook 2025 for more thoughts from these leaders and how they and their companies will be working the channel in 2025.

How The CEOs Of AMD, HP, Lenovo And Acer Plan To Seize On AI In 2025

The CEOs of AMD, HP Inc., Lenovo and Acer see AI as a significant opportunity for their companies and channel partners in 2025, with one remarking that the "multi-year AI adoption journey" is "progressing from pilot programs to full-scale enterprise deployment." The statements were made in their written responses for CRN's CEO Outlook 2025 project, which was published Monday with views shared by the chief executives of more than 170 vendors and solution providers in the IT channel ecosystem. AMD CEO Lisa Su, who made the comment about AI projects moving from pilot programs to enterprise deployments, said her company is using AI across its engineering, sales, operations and general administrative functions to inform its strategy. [Related: CEOs From AMD, Cisco, Dell, IBM, HPE And More Explain Toughest Customer Challenges In 2025] "Working together with our partners, these learnings help us optimize hardware and software, uncover market trends and rethink how we address customer needs. By working together and harnessing the power of AI, we're positioned to deliver even greater value to our customers," she wrote. HP CEO Enrique Lores highlighted how his company's AI strategy is intended to "drive smarter, more connected experiences for business and employees." "AI is at the core of this strategy, powering innovations that deliver insights, automation, and personalized solutions to improve collaboration and productivity," he wrote. Yuanqing Yang, Lenovo's CEO, said his company intends to stand out by "making AI more private and personalized," allowing it to "deeply" understand the "user's needs and preferences," according to Yang, who became Lenovo's CEO in 2009. "By integrating AI capabilities into our devices, infrastructure, and services, Lenovo is equipping our partners to deliver transformative solutions that enhance productivity, streamline processes, and unlock new revenue streams," he wrote. Acer CEO Jason Chen, meanwhile, emphasized his company's "dedication to enhance -- not replace -- human capabilities through technology." "By incorporating AI in our latest innovations, we aim to empower people to do and achieve more," he wrote. What follows are statements from the CEOs of AMD, HP, Lenovo and Acer on how their companies plan to seize AI opportunities with channel partners this year.