Agentic AI represents the next wave of artificial intelligence, enabling systems to operate autonomously, make decisions, and execute tasks with minimal human intervention. While this promises immense benefits, it also marks the dawn of a new era of cyber threats. In this interview, Sharda Tickoo, country manager – India & Saarc, Trend Micro, speaks to Sudhir Chowdhary on the most effective approach for staying ahead of the curve. Excerpts:
What are the challenges and opportunities with agentic AI?
While AI introduces new dimensions to cybersecurity, many of the perceived ‘risks’ are actually opportunities for innovation and growth. For instance, challenges like adversarial attacks, data poisoning, or the complexity of agentic AI models highlight the importance of robust system design, continual testing, and close collaboration between human and machine intelligence. Rather than being drawbacks, these aspects represent areas where cybersecurity practices can evolve to make AI systems more secure, transparent, and trustworthy.
As AI becomes a tool for both threat actors and defenders, its responsible application is the key. Agentic AI can support real-time detection, continuous monitoring, and advanced pattern recognition; capabilities that enhance cyber resilience when combined with human oversight and transparent governance. By aligning AI with evolving threat intelligence, organisations can proactively stay ahead of risks while building more adaptive and intelligent security systems.
How has the industry adapted to integrate AI-driven solutions for enhanced security?
AI is transforming cybersecurity, with the market projected to grow from $22.4 billion in 2023 to $60.6 billion by 2028 at a 21.9% CAGR. It is reshaping security architectures beyond traditional defenses, enabling machine learning models to process over 100 billion threat indicators daily for predictive intelligence that surpasses reactive approaches.
AI-driven endpoint protection now detects novel malware, while cloud security leverages neural networks to counter multi-vector attacks in real-time. Threat hunting has evolved from manual processes to autonomous, continuous operations. Cybersecurity solutions with AI are automating critical security processes such as patch management, vulnerability updates, threat pattern recognition, and incident response, ensuring constant adaptation to the evolving threat landscape and providing 24/7 vigilance.
AI helps both hackers and those who fight them. Who will make better use of the tech?
AI is a powerful tool for both hackers and defenders, but its impact depends on adaptability, resources, and strategic innovation. The battle isn’t about absolute dominance but continuous evolution. The real advantage lies in proactive security with a hybrid approaches that integrate AI with human expertise, ensuring adaptability and resilience. Advanced AI continuously evolves using real-world intelligence and enterprise security data, adapting to new threats while developing more efficient resolution strategies.
A comprehensive cybersecurity platform that integrates intuitive AI can offer contextual guidance throughout the process, helping security teams reduce remediation times, significantly boost operational efficiency, and proactively enhance the overall security posture of the enterprise.
What is Trend Micro’s future roadmap and long-term strategy?
Trend Micro is advancing cybersecurity with a stronger focus on proactive protection, that centralises cyber risk exposure management, security operations, and protection layers – spanning networks, endpoints, cloud, email, identities, data, and AI – strengthening every aspect of an enterprise’s cybersecurity programmme. As part of this effort, we have recently launched Trend Cybertron, the industry’s first specialised cybersecurity large language model (LLM) designed to improve threat detection, risk assessment, and automated response. This AI-driven agent enables organisations to anticipate cyber threats, analyse security data more effectively, and take action faster to reduce potential risks.