While the customer panels and WEF sessions were separate events, they aligned with my takeaways from WEF’s Davos 2026 event. AI has the power to change the world, but threat actors are using it now to find new ways of breaching organizations. Organizations are looking to simplify their cybersecurity by consolidating the number of vendors they use, and trust has become a significant contributor to purchasing decisions.
Fortinet is a well-established security company that is highly trusted because of its large install base, its industry validation, and its transparency with CVEs. Its platform advantage comes from all its products being built on its own common silicon, the Security Processing Unit, as well as having a single operating system that spans its products.
Conclusion: Intelligence by design
As Fortinet CEO Ken Xie (pictured below) noted, 2026 marks a turning point where security is no longer just a “checkbox” but a core function of the AI-driven enterprise. By integrating AI natively across its single operating system—rather than through fragmented acquisitions—Fortinet is attempting to flip the economics of cybercrime.
Through FortiOS 8.0 and the FortiSOC preview, Fortinet is providing a scalable foundation for “intelligent security by design”—a system that anticipates risks and stops threats at machine speed.
Zeus Kerravala
