At Google Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas, Wiz co-founder Yinon Costica urged security teams to proactively use artificial intelligence to identify vulnerabilities in their own systems before malicious actors can exploit them. Speaking during the conference, Costica emphasized that organizations must adopt an offensive mindset in cybersecurity, leveraging AI-driven tools to simulate attacks and strengthen defenses.
His remarks came alongside announcements from Google Cloud about expanded integrations and new AI-powered capabilities within the Wiz platform, which became part of Google Cloud following its acquisition in 2025. The integration aims to unify cloud security across development, runtime, and infrastructure layers, enabling teams to detect and remediate risks more efficiently.
Costica, who previously served as VP of Product at Adallom (acquired by Microsoft) and helped build Microsoft’s cloud security business, has been instrumental in positioning Wiz as a leading cloud security platform. According to Google Cloud, Wiz is now trusted by over half of the Fortune 100 companies for securing everything from code to cloud to runtime environments.
During his session titled “Get real: Agents in the autonomous era,” Costica highlighted the shift from human-led to AI-led cyber defense strategies, noting that human oversight remains essential even as automation increases. He stated that security teams should use AI not only to detect threats but also to anticipate them by thinking like attackers.
“We are giving security teams the tools that can help them accelerate with AI and win AI by applying AI,” Costica said, according to reporting from The Register. This approach reflects a broader industry trend where organizations use generative AI and machine learning to automate threat hunting, vulnerability assessment, and incident response.
Google Cloud announced at the event that the Wiz platform now includes support for Databricks, allowing customers to secure data and AI workloads built on the Apache Spark-based analytics platform. This expansion addresses growing concerns about securing AI pipelines and large-scale data processing environments.
Google introduced three new AI-powered security agents in preview as part of its Google Security Operations suite: a Threat Hunting agent designed to detect unknown attack patterns, a Detection Engineering agent that identifies coverage gaps and generates new detection rules, and a third agent focused on automating security operations at machine speed.
These agents are intended to reduce the burden on human analysts by handling repetitive tasks, allowing security teams to focus on strategic decision-making. Francis deSouza, COO and president of security products at Google Cloud, described the vision as an “agentic fleet” that performs routine security work autonomously while remaining under human supervision.
DeSouza also emphasized that Google’s end-to-end control over its AI stack — from custom chips to foundational models — gives it a unique advantage in deploying timely and effective AI-driven security tools. “We are able to be at the cutting edge of models because we build our own models,” he stated during a press briefing.
The announcements underscore a growing focus on proactive, AI-augmented defense mechanisms in cloud security. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and AI-generated attacks become more prevalent, experts argue that organizations must evolve beyond reactive measures.
Wiz’s platform continues to expand its coverage across multi-cloud and hybrid environments, offering unified visibility and risk prioritization. Its agentless architecture allows for rapid deployment without requiring changes to existing infrastructure, a factor cited by users as critical for adoption speed.
Industry analysts note that the integration of Wiz into Google Cloud’s portfolio strengthens its position in the competitive cloud security market, particularly as enterprises seek consolidated vendors capable of addressing both infrastructure and application-level risks.
As of April 2026, Google Cloud has not announced a general availability date for the new AI security agents, which remain in preview. Customers interested in testing the capabilities are encouraged to consult official Google Cloud documentation or contact their account representatives for access details.
For ongoing updates on Wiz’s integrations and AI advancements within Google Cloud, users can follow the official Google Cloud blog or attend future sessions at Google Cloud Next events.
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