IBM Says AI Spending Isn’t Crowding Out Cybersecurity. These ETFs Are Gaining Momentum – Amplify Cybersec
Publish Date: 2026-07-14 16:36:00
Source Domain: www.benzinga.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. The catalyst came from IBM’s latest earnings commentary. CEO Arvind Krishna said enterprise customers shifted capital spending toward servers, storage and memory to secure supply-constrained AI infrastructure ahead of expected price increases. At the same time, he said “rapidly evolving, industry-wide cybersecurity concerns” remained a key area of customer focus.The remarks reassured investors that cybersecurity is proving resilient even as companies devote billions of dollars to building AI infrastructure. Rather than replacing security budgets, the rapid deployment of AI appears to be expanding them.AI Is Creating More Work for CybersecurityThe relationship between AI and cybersecurity has evolved rapidly over the past year.As companies roll out generative AI tools and autonomous AI agents across their operations, they face a growing need to secure AI models, protect sensitive data, verify machine identities and defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Security vendors are also embedding AI into their own platforms to improve threat detection and automate incident response.That has helped shift the investment narrative. Instead of viewing cybersecurity as a traditional software segment vulnerable to AI-driven disruption, investors are increasingly treating it as one of AI’s structural beneficiaries.CrowdStrike, one of the largest holdings across several cybersecurity ETFs, has gained more than 80% year to date, reflecting optimism that AI adoption is increasing demand for cloud-native security platforms.Cybersecurity ETFs Stand to BenefitTuesday’s rally extended across several cybersecurity-focused ETFs.Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG), one of the day’s best-performing thematic funds, gained more than 6%. The ETF tracks companies that derive a significant portion of their revenue from cybersecurity, with major holdings including CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Okta. Its pure-play approach makes it a direct way to invest in the sector’s growth.The AI Trade May Be ExpandingIBM’s comments suggest the next phase of the AI investment cycle may be broader. As enterprises invest in AI infrastructure, they also appear willing to protect those investments with increased spending on cybersecurity.For ETF investors, that could strengthen the case for looking beyond chipmakers. If AI deployment continues to accelerate across enterprises, cybersecurity ETFs may become an increasingly important way to gain exposure to the next leg of the AI ecosystem, where protecting AI systems becomes just as critical as building them.Photo: Shutterstock
