AI Changes Focus to Real-Time Cyber Defense

Agentic AI , Application Security , Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning AI Changes Focus to Real-Time Cyber Defense Cisco's Jeetu Patel on How Machine-Speed Threats Drive Need for AI-Led Security Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) • April 20, 2026     Credit Eligible Get Permission Video Player 00:00 00:00 Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer, Cisco Artificial intelligence tools are compressing the time between vulnerability discovery and exploitation to minutes, forcing a shift in how organizations defend critical infrastructure. Defenders need faster detection, rapid mitigation and tighter integration between security and network operations, said Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer at Cisco. See Also: Defending Identity in the Age of AI Attacks Patel said early access to advanced models from Anthropic and OpenAI gives Cisco a timing advantage to harden systems before threats scale. Defenders may gain ground for the first time if they move faster than adversaries, but it requires real-time detection, automated enforcement and continuous feedback loops across the ecosystem. "Vulnerabilities are getting found at machine speed, and the time to exploit once these models get out in the wild is not going to be a matter of days, weeks or months, it's going to be a matter of hours and minutes," Patel said. AI tools are also playing a major role in software development, where automated coding changes traditional workflows, requiring continuous validation and customer insight. Patel said organizations must build AI fluency and adapt quickly as bottlenecks move across the development life cycle. In this video interview with ISMG, Patel also discussed: How machine-speed AI compresses vulnerability discovery and exploit timelines; The impact of real-time detection and enforcement in today's cyber defense strategies; What security teams need to consider as their organizations move to AI-driven coding. Patel oversees product strategy, engineering and platform innovation across networking, security and collaboration offerings. He aligns product road maps with business growth, drives AI-focused development and helps shape enterprise technology direction, drawing on leadership experience at Box, EMC and Syncplicity.