The Six Foundations of the Future Cybersecurity Platform

Hello, Cyber Builders 🖖

Cybersecurity teams deal with daily challenges; every conference echoes the same concerns. Imagine using a single, smart platform that combines all your security tools. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by a sea of disjointed alerts, you would get a clear, unified view that makes protecting your business more straightforward and effective.

Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?

I guess that is what every vendor claims, especially the big ones. They would solve all issues with their platform; you don’t need one extra tool to cover the latest threats of moving to a new infrastructure because they will take care of it in their platform. But the claim is partial, and everyone knows it. Don’t think it is limited to our dear cybersecurity world.

It is also valid for marketing tools trying to help with customer interaction. If you think that the cybersecurity tools landscape is crazy, think twice. The 2024 Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic tracks 14,106 martech products (27.8% growth YoY)

Salesforce or Hubspot are not the single one-stop shop they claim to be, and Palo Alto, Microsoft, or Crowdstrike won’t be either.

If so, what matters? In one of my latest posts, I discussed the need for the rationalization of security products and the difficulties of the daily life of Alex, a fictional security professional. Have a look 👀

In this post, I’d like to explore the characteristics of cybersecurity platforms in more depth and share six features that must shape future platforms.

• Why the “one-platform-to-rule-them-all” promise is misleading – and what matters when choosing a cybersecurity platform.

• A look back: The Six Pillars of Cybersecurity Platforms – how they shaped today’s security landscape.

• The Evolution: From Pillars to Foundations – the six key shifts that will define the future of cybersecurity platforms.

• What’s next? – Why security platforms must move beyond technology and into intelligent ecosystems empowering security teams, partners, and customers.

I laid out a vision for a modern cybersecurity platform two years ago. Six core elements formed the foundation—principles that still hold today.

Let me recap the post for you.

1. At its core, cybersecurity is a data problem. Every attack, every misconfiguration, leaves behind traces—hidden in vast streams of logs. The challenge isn’t just collecting data; it’s making sense of it. A great platform doesn’t just gather information—it fuses scattered, unstructured data into a clear, actionable picture.

2. From there, threat intelligence takes center stage. Raw data is meaningless without context. By mapping it to known attacker techniques, platforms can separate real threats from the noise, helping security teams focus on what matters.

3. Scalability is another must. Security threats evolve constantly, and rigid, outdated systems can’t keep up. That’s why modern platforms embrace agile methodologies—pushing continuous updates and adapting in real time.

4. AI plays a critical role, too. It acts as an assistant, clustering data, filtering out noise, and guiding analysts through complex investigations. It helps lower the entry barrier, making security more accessible to a broader range of professionals.

5. A seamless user experience (UX) ties everything together—no more jumping between disconnected dashboards or wrestling with clunky interfaces.

6. Finally, true value creation. A cybersecurity platform isn’t just about protecting data—it should benefit its users and partners exponentially. Like leading commercial platforms, the best security solutions thrive when they empower an entire ecosystem.

Many vendors claim to follow these pillars but often miss the most important one—true value creation. Instead of building an open ecosystem, they keep the value to themselves, unlike true platform leaders like Nvidia.

The six technical pillars I laid out two years ago still hold firm. But cybersecurity doesn’t stand still—it evolves. And now, we need more than just a solid technical base. We need foundations that push security platforms beyond tools and into security intelligence, scalability, and impact.

Here’s how our thinking must evolve:

There has been no change here—everything we do in security starts and ends with data. But the challenge is no longer just about collecting it.

The real battle is making sense of it, correlating it, and turning it into actionable intelligence.

Traditional Threat Intelligence is too narrow. Sharing Indicators of Compromise (like IP addresses or domain names) isn’t enough.

We need Security Intelligence—a broader understanding that includes incident response playbooks, security regulations, threat modeling, and security-by-design principles.

From compliance/risk management to security operation, a giant gap still makes cybersecurity a challenging field to enter.

AI alone isn’t the answer—but AI Agents are. These are not just tools for analyzing data but doers that bundle expertise, security intelligence, and automation to take real action.

Too many security tasks remain undone simply because teams don’t have time. AI Agents help scale expertise, ensuring critical actions happen, not just get recommended.

Cloud platforms like AWS, Snowflake, Microsoft, Google, OVHCloud, OutScale, and Scaleway have solved the technical side of scaling. The real challenge is scaling security operations teams, hiring talent, and building efficient workflows.

The next evolution in security platforms must focus on people-first scalability, helping teams do more with their resources.

Security tools are improving, but let’s be honest—the user experience (UX) still has significant gaps.

Security teams need intuitive, seamless workflows, not clunky dashboards that slow them down.

Why can’t checking your security status be as simple as checking your social media? The next generation of platforms must make security effortless. Platforms that truly prioritize UX will define the next generation of cybersecurity.

The future belongs to platforms that empower an ecosystem of customers and partners—not just those that sell more services.

Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) fear that vendors are shifting from tech providers to direct competitors, offering full-service solutions.

We’ve seen this pattern before—EDR tools became XDR platforms, and now they’re turning into managed services. The winners will be those who build a true community—like Cisco in networking or NVIDIA in GPUs—where the platform fuels an industry, not just a single company.

Cybersecurity platforms are at a crossroads. Sticking with the old ways—siloed tools, manual processes, and rigid architectures—won’t cut it. The real winners will be those that embrace these six foundations: intelligent data use, security intelligence, AI-driven action, people-first scalability, seamless UX, and actual value creation.

Creating ecosystems that empower security teams, partners, and customers is what I see in the future.

Let’s discuss this in the comments. If this post resonates with you, share it with your network because the future of cybersecurity starts with the right conversations. 🚀

Laurent 💚