CrowdStrike Expands AI Security Initiative To SMB Partners Via Distributors

CrowdStrike announced Thursday that it is expanding Project QuiltWorks, its frontier AI security initiative, to a broad coalition of managed service providers (MSPs), distributors, and other channel partners. The expansion includes major aggregators and distributors: Pax8, TD Synnex, Arrow Electronics, Ignition Technology, Nord Security, Westcon-Comstor, and Zip Security. The goal is to bring small and medium-sized businesses access to the same protection against AI-discovered vulnerabilities that large enterprises receive through CrowdStrike's Falcon platform.

According to Daniel Danielli, vice president of global scale partnerships at CrowdStrike, the initiative addresses a critical shift in cyber risk. Frontier AI models—specifically Anthropic's Claude Mythos and OpenAI's Daybreak models—are discovering vulnerabilities and exploits at unprecedented scale. "We wanted to ensure that access to the best cybersecurity technology wasn't just the domain of the largest enterprises who were able to digest the Falcon platform," Danielli said. "[It] should mean a lot to the SMB customers, that they're able to stand up to the most sophisticated cyberthreats that exist in the market."

The QuiltWorks framework does not grant partners direct access to frontier AI models themselves. Instead, CrowdStrike has built "harnesses" within and around the Falcon platform that apply capabilities from both Anthropic and OpenAI for vulnerability assessment and exposure mapping. Partners can then combine this AI-driven discovery with their own services such as prioritization and remediation. Participation requires either enrollment in CrowdStrike's Engagement Licensing Program (ELP)—which provides 60 days of Falcon platform access and allows partners to run templated assessments—or working through a distributor with ELP credentials. Partners must also have services capabilities to deliver remediation and mitigation strategies once vulnerabilities are identified.

CrowdStrike was an original member of both Anthropic's Project Glasswing and OpenAI's Daybreak Access (formerly Trusted Access for Cyber), programs designed to provide access to frontier AI models for vulnerability discovery. Danielli emphasized that CrowdStrike's deep embedding in both frontier AI labs is a key differentiator for channel partners. "We've got the harnesses built within and around the Falcon platform to be able to drive the assessment of vulnerabilities, the assessment of exposure that customers have—and drive the outcomes in a simple, digestible way," he said. "I think that's the key value for these downmarket MSPs."

The initiative addresses a practical pain point for small MSPs. Many downmarket service providers currently use dozens of legacy security tools—including legacy antivirus, legacy SIEM, and other legacy security technologies—stitched together, which creates significant operational burden on their security operations centers (SOCs). By consolidating multiple sensors and consoles into the Falcon platform, partners can reduce operational complexity while gaining access to enterprise-grade AI-powered threat detection. Danielli noted that the revenue opportunity for partners extends beyond platform licensing: the dollars earned from services delivery—remediation, mitigation, and transformation services following vulnerability assessment—can exceed licensing revenue. The QuiltWorks framework emphasizes partner leadership in customer conversations. "What we've done with the QuiltWorks framework very purposefully is put the partner at the front of the conversation," Danielli said. "This isn't about CrowdStrike leading the conversation. We know that it's not a single technology, a single partner, a single organization that's going to solve this frontier AI problem. We needed to bring the crowd together."