Cristian Rodriguez, Field CTO for the Americas at CrowdStrike, discusses how artificial intelligence and evolving threat dynamics are reshaping cybersecurity.

Rodriguez brings a unique perspective—equal parts technical and creative—describing how CrowdStrike continues to innovate in an era defined by speed and complexity. He notes that attackers are evolving just as quickly as defenders, with AI being used on both sides of the battlefield. The challenge, he says, isn’t just about developing smarter algorithms—it’s about building systems that can think, adapt, and act autonomously while maintaining trust and transparency.

The conversation explores how AI is being embedded into CrowdStrike’s platform to augment human analysts rather than replace them. Rodriguez emphasizes that the goal isn’t to remove people from the equation, but to amplify their ability to detect, respond, and contain threats faster than ever before. The company’s approach centers on leveraging large-scale telemetry, real-time intelligence, and agentic AI to improve context and decision-making across the entire security operations lifecycle.

Rodriguez also reflects on the growing convergence of technology and culture within cybersecurity. Innovation, he argues, doesn’t just come from new models or tools—it’s driven by diverse teams willing to experiment and fail fast in pursuit of better defenses. That human element, paired with automation, is what will define the next phase of cyber resilience.

For practitioners, the takeaway is clear: AI-driven defense isn’t about replacing expertise—it’s about scaling it. As threats grow more autonomous, the defenders who blend creativity, collaboration, and machine intelligence will be the ones ready to ride the next wave of cybersecurity innovation.