AI Changes Focus to Real-Time Cyber Defense

Cisco's Jeetu Patel on How Machine-Speed Threats Drive Need for AI-Led Security Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) • April 20, 2026

Artificial intelligence tools are compressing the time between vulnerability discovery and exploitation to minutes, forcing a shift in how organizations defend critical infrastructure. Defenders need faster detection, rapid mitigation and tighter integration between security and network operations, said Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer at Cisco.

See Also: Defending Identity in the Age of AI Attacks

Patel said early access to advanced models from Anthropic and OpenAI gives Cisco a timing advantage to harden systems before threats scale. Defenders may gain ground for the first time if they move faster than adversaries, but it requires real-time detection, automated enforcement and continuous feedback loops across the ecosystem.

"Vulnerabilities are getting found at machine speed, and the time to exploit once these models get out in the wild is not going to ...