Citi Wealth CIO Warns “Infinite AI Agents” Will Accelerate Cybersecurity’s Share of Enterprise Spending

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By Thomas Richmond Published

Quick Read

  • CrowdStrike and Palo Alto reported 26% and 31% revenue growth respectively, with Palo Alto's next-gen security ARR surging 60% YoY.

  • Kate Moore warns that 2026 pullbacks have lasted only days, leaving cash-heavy investors with shrinking windows to buy at lower prices.

  • Moore argues AI has spawned nearly infinite attack agents across enterprise systems, making today's cybersecurity budgets dangerously underfunded.

  • Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Palo Alto Networks didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Citi Wealth CIO Warns “Infinite AI Agents” Will Accelerate Cybersecurity’s Share of Enterprise Spending

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Kate Moore, Chief Investment Officer at Citi Wealth, delivered a two-part message on CNBC on Tuesday, July 21: stay in the market, and pay attention to cybersecurity. “We are definitely game on. Yes, fully invested. And we have been fully invested on the equity side, she said, framing the market’s current rally as earnings-driven rather than valuation-led.

Why Citi’s CIO Says Sitting in Cash Is the Wrong Move

Her core argument is that earnings growth is driving the market forward:Earnings have been powering the equity market higher. It’s not been multiples. In fact, there’s been multiple contractions across every major market, more pronounced in the US and emerging markets areas more tied to the AI and tech side.” Moore noted that a significant amount of cash remains on the sidelines despite asset appreciation, and that pullback windows in spring 2026 lasted only days, forcing portfolio managers to act quickly.

Real GDP growth registered at 2.1% annualized as of the Q4 2025 results, and Core PCE reached 130.08 in May 2026, up 0.3% month over month. Moore added: “While fundamentals remain really strong and the macro environment is really supportive… I think these drawdowns are going to be short… They’re in and fast because nothing has really changed besides a little bit of sentiment.

“Infinite AI Agents” Are Expanding the Cybersecurity Threat

Moore’s second point was that cybersecurity has massive tailwinds that most investors aren’t fully appreciating. “We’re not talking about a single kind of cyber attack or a series of people that could be engaging in it, but almost infinite AI agents across a huge attack surface that could be taking down people’s data, ruining the operational situation for many companies,” she said, arguing security budgets remain too small a share of enterprise tech spend.

Here are some cybersecurity leaders that are likely to benefit:

CrowdStrike’s ARR Reaches $5.5 Billion

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD | CRWD Price Prediction) posted Q1 FY27 revenue of $1.385 billion, up 25.6% YoY, with non-GAAP EPS of $1.10 beating the $1.0675 consensus. Ending ARR reached $5.51 billion, and net new ARR of $255.8 million grew 32% YoY. CEO George Kurtz called it “the Mythos moment.” The stock’s forward valuation is rich at 164x forward earnings.

CRWD earnings explorer

Palo Alto’s Next-Generation Security ARR Climbs 60%

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) delivered Q3 FY26 revenue of $3.00 billion, up 31.1% YoY, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.85 versus $0.80 expected. Next-Generation Security ARR hit $8.10 billion, growing 60% YoY. CEO Nikesh Arora said, “The latest advancements at the AI frontier have increased the level of urgency around cybersecurity, and redefined the shape of the industry for the coming years.” Shares are up 89.28% year to date through July 20, 2026.

Zscaler’s AI Usage Jumps 91% as Its Stock Falls 33%

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) reported Q3 FY26 revenue of $850.48 million, up 25.4% YoY, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.08, extending its EPS beat streak to nine consecutive quarters. CEO Jay Chaudhry pointed to a 91% YoY growth in enterprise AI usage across 3,400+ applications. However, the stock is down 33.39% YTD through July 20.

SentinelOne Says the AI Era Requires “Machine Speed Defense”

SentinelOne (NYSE:S) posted Q1 FY27 ARR of $1.16 billion, up 23% YoY, with record net new ARR of $44 million growing 55% YoY. CEO Tomer Weingarten stated, “securing the AI era requires machine speed defense which only truly modern infrastructure can deliver.”

Cloudflare Calls AI Its “Biggest Tailwind” Ever

Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) delivered Q1 2026 revenue of $639.75 million, up 33.5% YoY, with current RPO growth of 34%. CEO Matthew Prince said AI is “shaping up to be the biggest tailwind we’ve ever seen in Cloudflare’s history.” Analysts’ average price target sits at $254.36, suggesting analysts see downside with the stock currently trading at $271.43.

What to Watch Next

Moore described the behavioral trap facing investors: “Many groups of investors, the individual investors, and anyone who relies on models, have been taught over and over again at increasing speed over the last five and ten years, that the longer you sit on the sidelines, the fewer your opportunities to buy on pullbacks. Palo Alto Networks’ NGS ARR grew 60%, while CrowdStrike guided for FY27 revenue of $5.914 billion to $5.959 billion.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Photo of Thomas Richmond
About the Author Thomas Richmond →

Thomas Richmond is a financial writer and content strategist with 5+ years of experience covering stocks and financial markets. He has published over 250 articles focused on individual stock analysis, helping investors better understand business fundamentals, stock valuations, and long-term opportunities.

Thomas previously served as a Content Lead at TIKR, a stock research platform, where he helped scale the company’s blog to hundreds of articles per month and contributed to a weekly newsletter reaching more than 100,000 investors.

He specializes in breaking down complex companies into clear, actionable insights for everyday investors, with a focus on fundamentals-driven research.

His work has also been featured on platforms including Seeking Alpha and Sure Dividend.

Outside of work, Thomas enjoys weight lifting and soccer.

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