Fortinet (FTNT) Goldman Sachs Communicopia + Technology Conference 2025 summary

AI and security integration

• AI-driven security operations now represent 11% of business, growing at 35% last quarter, with three main AI categories: AI Assist, AI Protect, and AI Secure AI.

• Over 550 AI-related patents support a long-term commitment to AI innovation, with internal and customer-facing applications.

• Security needs differ between AI training and inference, with enterprise adoption driving new requirements.

• AI is used internally for R&D and finance, focusing on risk management and securing prompt injection and LLMs.

• ASIC chip development enhances AI infrastructure security and supports high-performance data center protection.

Network security and product evolution

• Network security remains the top market, driven by increased traffic from AI, OT, and IoT devices, which often require network-based protection.

• FortiOS integrates 30+ functions, enabling efficient, scalable security solutions and supporting the evolution from firewalls to unified platforms.

• SASE functionality is being integrated into firewalls, with unified SASE now a $1B+ business growing over 20%.

• SD-WAN integration with security has led to market leadership, and similar strategies are being applied to SASE.

• OT security is a significant growth area, generating over $1B annually and growing more than 20% year-over-year.

Customer engagement and growth drivers

• Upselling SASE and networking products increases deal sizes, with only 13% penetration in large enterprises, indicating substantial growth potential.

• COVID-era customers are now optimizing for AI and new security risks, driving upgrades and expanded product adoption.

• Growth is led by new functions, speed improvements (new ASICs), and expanding attack surfaces, not by refresh cycles.

• OT security adoption is accelerating due to increased device connectivity and unique protection needs.

• Enterprise customers are expanding budgets for new functionality and OT security, with regular upgrade cycles and white space in manufacturing.