ServiceNow's Dibrov: AI agents need real-time identity security

ServiceNow's push comes as cybersecurity vendors CrowdStrike and Okta both pointed to rising AI security demand in their latest earnings, a signal that the market is starting to price in the governance gap Dibrov describes. ServiceNow itself is leaning into that demand: CEO Bill McDermott has described it as the fastest-growing cybersecurity company, an unusual positioning for a business long associated with IT service management. Dibrov said the growth reflects a portfolio spanning cyber asset management, operational technology and IoT security, vulnerability management, detection and response, and identity security.

The argument ServiceNow makes is that detection alone is not enough. Dibrov said boards want proof that risk is being reduced, not dashboards showing thousands of vulnerabilities, permissions or alerts, which shifts the conversation from exposure to remediation in measurable terms. He frames that as the difference between having tools and having done something.

The urgency is compounded by attackers' use of AI. Dibrov warned that AI gives smaller threat actors capabilities previously associated with nation-state groups, saying a single person can now cause big damage. He remains cautiously optimistic, arguing defenders have a home court advantage because they know their own environments and can use AI to spot abnormal behavior and close gaps before an attack takes hold.