Cybersecurity has never mattered more. AI can now find and hit weak spots faster than any human.
So why is a top security firm cutting jobs? It thinks the fix is more AI, not more people.
SentinelOne sells software that guards company networks. Its tools watch for hackers and shut them down. That work is now changing fast.
SentinelOne is laying off 8% of its full-time staff. The plan is to pour more into AI and data. The firm had over 3,000 workers at the end of April. It expects a one-time $25 million charge from the move.
CEO Tomer Weingarten calls it a choice, not a retreat. He says his teams got more done once they leaned on AI tools. The firm reshaped its teams over recent months. The goal, he says, is a leaner and faster company.
The cut puts SentinelOne in crowded company. Wix just cut a fifth of its staff. Cisco cut about 5%. Atlassian let go of around 1,600 people in March. Block cut close to half its staff earlier this year.
The pattern is hard to miss. AI is pushing firms to shift money toward new tools. It also lets them automate more work. So more roles get trimmed along the way.
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The layoffs came with a soft outlook. SentinelOne guided to about $289 million to $291 million in sales this quarter. That's just under the $292 million analysts wanted. Its full-year call of $1.195 billion to $1.205 billion also fell short of the $1.21 billion target. The stock dropped around 6%.
Morgan Stanley said this should have been a strong quarter. Without a real bump to the forecast, they see the stock stuck. The market took the same view and sold.
Investors had hoped for a stronger outlook. They didn't get one. The soft guide drowned out the AI pitch. Cost cuts can lift profit later, but markets wanted growth now.
Security is at a turning point. One big driver is new AI. The latest models and AI agents can probe systems on their own. They find holes faster than people can. That raises the stakes for every firm.
So the threat is growing, not shrinking. That should mean more demand for firms like SentinelOne. It's why some analysts think the recent selloff went too far.
There's a fear working the other way too. Some investors worry AI tools will replace software firms. That fear has dragged several security stocks down this year. SentinelOne stuck to its full-year sales range anyway.
For now, investors want that demand to show up in the numbers. Talk is cheap, and the market wants proof. The next earnings report is where it gets settled.
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