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Platform Wars: Cybersecurity's New Era

Davide Sciannimonaco — 5 August 2025

The Palo Alto-CyberArk and Google-Wiz mega-deals signal a fundamental shift in how enterprises buy and deploy cybersecurity.

Bottom line

  • Platform consolidation and identity-cloud convergence are increasingly the dominant forces in cybersecurity investment.
  • Enterprise demand for unified security is creating winner-takes-all dynamics, validating our platform-focused portfolio strategy.
  • We're still in the early innings of a cybersecurity investment supercycle driven by AI and cloud transformation.

The convergence trends highlighted by these acquisitions align perfectly with our investment thesis: now is the time to double down on platform plays within the Cybersecurity sector.

What happened

Last week, Palo Alto Networks Inc announced the acquisition of Cyberark Software Ltd (both in our portfolio) in a deal worth ~$25bn, making its way into the top-3 M&A by size in the industry after the acquisition of Wiz by Alphabet earlier this year.

Impact on our Investment Case

These deals confirm our stance on the trends shaping the industry (and our portfolio). Cybersecurity is still at the early innings of an investment supercycle, significantly driven by technological transition. Digitization has made IT networks a critical infrastructure for enterprises, and cybersecurity is not an option any longer. A new generation of players is taking over, relying on AI and cloud-enabled technologies.

Platform consolidation is accelerating

The industry is rapidly moving from best-of-breed point solutions to comprehensive platforms. Both deals signal that scale and horizontal integration are now table stakes, with major players consolidating identity, cloud, and network security under single umbrellas. This raises barriers for smaller players and validates platform-centric investment strategies.

Identity and cloud security are converging

As enterprises operate across multi-cloud environments, identity has become the new perimeter. These recent deals highlight the rising importance of identity management (CyberArk's strength) and cloud security (Wiz's domain). As cybersecurity architecture shifts towards a zero-trust approach, these domains become inseparable.

Enterprise buyers are reshaping the market

Fortune 500 companies increasingly demand unified security operations: fewer vendors, integrated dashboards, and cross-domain visibility. This enterprise pull is driving consolidation and creating winner-takes-all dynamics in key security categories.

Our Takeaway

The Palo Alto-CyberArk and Google-Wiz acquisitions confirm the trends that are shaping how the industry innovates and competes: identity as the foundational security domain, multi-cloud/multi-environment coverage, zero trust, and the convergence with AI. These are the long-term drivers that have underpinned our Cybersecurity portfolio since its inception. Our strategy is positioned to capture exactly these trends, although we tactically adjust the portfolio for risk management purposes. 

Companies mentioned in this article

Alphabet (GOOGL); Cyberark Software Ltd (CYBR); Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW)

Davide Sciannimonaco

Davide Sciannimonaco

Investment And Research Coordinator (Scientific Research)

Read more from Davide Sciannimonaco.

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