Have you had enough yet? Enough of the complexity, the uncertainty, the lack of visibility? Today’s IT leaders are trying to manage the most complex environments in history, with data whizzing among public and private cloud platforms, on-premises data centers, edge servers and more. Pity the poor security chiefs: With all that to keep safe, it’s a wonder they ever sleep.
In a conversation with BizTech Managing Editor Bob Keaveney, Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at leading security vendor CrowdStrike, argues that a simpler approach to security — with fewer point solutions and deeper visibility — is not only possible, but imperative.
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BIZTECH: What’s your take on the current state of cloud security? How are organizations doing?
BERNARD: Cloud security is evolving rapidly, and organizations are facing a critical moment. On one hand, we’re seeing tremendous innovation and accelerated migration to the cloud, with businesses leveraging its scale and speed to transform operations. AI is an accelerant to cloud adoption, data creation and innovation. On the other hand, the attack surface is expanding just as quickly. Adversaries are more sophisticated, often targeting identity, AI and cloud workloads as entry points.
The good news is that more organizations are recognizing the limitations of fragmented tools. The future of cloud security lies in consolidation — integrated platforms that deliver visibility and protection across hyperscalers, SaaS apps, data centers and hybrid environments. Leaders are starting to treat cloud security as a business-critical investment rather than an afterthought. That shift is overdue—and essential.
READ: How to achieve a stronger cloud security strategy.
BIZTECH: What are the biggest challenges in securing hybrid environments with multiple cloud providers and on-premises data?
BERNARD: Securing hybrid environments is like trying to secure multiple moving targets. You’re juggling multiple ecosystems, each with their own security frameworks, policies and vulnerabilities, while the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Many organizations are overwhelmed by an ever-growing number of solutions all operating in silos. This fragmented approach forces security teams into firefighting mode, caring and feeding multiple products and their consoles, while reacting to threats instead of preventing or remediating them. Blind spots multiply, response times slow, and adversaries exploit the chaos in between these point products.
The solution is innovation-led consolidation. Integrated platforms, built on continuous innovation, provide unified visibility, detect active threats, and enable seamless remediation across evolving cloud and on-premises environments. Simplifying security allows organizations to focus on stopping breaches, not managing complexity. The key is consolidating on a platform that doesn’t just keep pace with threats but stays ahead, out-innovating the market with proven expertise and a relentless focus on adversary-driven defense.
BIZTECH: What are organizations getting wrong when it comes to cloud security?
BERNARD: Organizations often fall into one of three traps. Some believe their cloud providers handle everything, leaving critical gaps that adversaries are quick to exploit. Others are living in the past, stuck with legacy solutions that haven’t evolved to address modern threats.
Finally, some deploy a dozen or more vendors, only to find most aren’t operationalized or integrated, and costs become oppressive.
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Compounding these issues is a disconnect within organizations themselves. Cloud adoption is often led by DevOps or engineering, leaving security teams out of the process on an island. This creates gaps in expertise, visibility and authority, leaving security teams struggling to protect what they didn’t design, don’t know about and sometimes don’t understand.
To get it right, businesses must align security with strategy from the start. Tools should be operationalized to protect environments while reducing complexity.
BIZTECH: How does artificial intelligence change the cloud security equation?
BERNARD: AI is reshaping security at every level. For users, it’s about balancing productivity with protection—ensuring employees use sanctioned tools without exposing sensitive data. For organizations, it’s about securing the entire AI lifecycle: protecting the data that trains AI models, safeguarding the environments where these models are created and embedding security into each and every AI integration.
Organizations need solutions that provide insight into AI activity—including unsanctioned use cases across the company, protect their models, and ensure secure deployment. AI for security and security for AI—it’s the next evolution of cloud security, and those who master it will lead the pack.
BIZTECH: Does the very nature of the cloud — its flexibility and speed — create its own security challenges?
BERNARD: Absolutely. The cloud’s ability to scale instantly and drive innovation is both its greatest strength and its biggest challenge. It expands the attack surface and introduces new risks faster than traditional security models can handle.
Just as we had to secure the first computers and data centers, we now have to secure the cloud. This is where a unified, platform approach becomes essential. CrowdStrike’s platform is built to scale with the cloud’s speed, providing visibility and protection across hybrid environments without slowing innovation. The question isn’t whether the cloud creates challenges—it’s how prepared you are to meet them head-on.
LEARN MORE: How can your organization simplify your cloud migration?
