In a bold move underscoring the escalating arms race in cybersecurity, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. has agreed to acquire Madrid-based startup Onum for approximately $290 million, a deal that CEO George Kurtz describes as pivotal for advancing artificial intelligence-driven defenses. The acquisition, announced amid CrowdStrike’s robust second-quarter earnings, integrates Onum’s innovative data pipeline technology into the Falcon platform, promising to streamline real-time threat detection and reduce costs for enterprises grappling with massive data volumes.

Kurtz, in an exclusive interview, emphasized how Onum’s capabilities address a critical pain point: the overwhelming influx of telemetry data in modern security operations. “What we do at CrowdStrike is as old as time,” he told Fortune, likening cybersecurity to ancient battles but highlighting AI’s role in modernizing the fight. By filtering and prioritizing high-value data, Onum acts as both a pipeline and a sieve, enabling faster AI-native analytics without the bloat of traditional systems.

Accelerating AI-Native Security Amid Rising Threats

This acquisition comes at a time when AI is not just a tool for defenders but a weapon for adversaries, with Kurtz warning that hackers are “democratizing destruction at mass scale” through generative technologies. Drawing from recent earnings calls, he projected CrowdStrike’s annual recurring revenue could hit $10 billion, fueled by demand for advanced protections. Posts on X from industry watchers echo this sentiment, noting how the deal positions CrowdStrike to dominate the next-generation security information and event management (SIEM) market, especially as rivals like Splunk face disruption.

Analysts point to Onum’s real-time telemetry processing as a game-changer, allowing CrowdStrike to ingest diverse data sources—from cloud workloads to endpoint signals—while slashing ingestion costs by up to 80%, according to details shared in the Tech Funding News report. Kurtz elaborated that this isn’t merely about data volume but quality, enabling AI models to detect anomalies in milliseconds, a necessity in an era where breaches can cascade globally.

Strategic M&A in a Volatile Market

CrowdStrike’s history as a serial acquirer—since its 2019 IPO, it has snapped up companies like Humio and Preempt Security—frames the Onum deal as part of a deliberate strategy to consolidate strengths in AI and cloud security. In discussions with CRN, Kurtz highlighted an “inflection point” in SIEM, where legacy systems falter against AI-powered threats, and Onum’s tech supercharges Falcon’s Next-Gen SIEM by optimizing data flows.

The timing aligns with broader industry shifts, including Google’s aborted $23 billion bid for Wiz, which Kurtz viewed as validation of cybersecurity’s value. Recent web searches reveal enthusiasm on platforms like X, where CrowdStrike’s official account shared Kurtz’s CNBC appearance, stressing ownership of the data pipeline as key to market leadership. This acquisition, expected to close in the fiscal third quarter, injects Onum’s 50-person team into CrowdStrike’s operations, blending Spanish innovation with Silicon Valley scale.

Navigating Post-Outage Resilience and Future Visions

Yet, the deal follows CrowdStrike’s high-profile software update mishap in July 2024, which disrupted global systems and drew scrutiny. Kurtz addressed this head-on, asserting in the Fortune interview that the company’s reacceleration in net new annual recurring revenue—up 33% year-over-year to $3.86 billion—demonstrates resilience. Industry insiders, per Constellation Research, praise the move for enhancing Falcon’s ability to filter “high-quality” data, crucial for AI-driven security operations centers (SOCs).

Looking ahead, Kurtz envisions an AI-native SOC where automation handles 90% of alerts, freeing analysts for strategic tasks. This vision, bolstered by Onum, could redefine enterprise defenses, especially as AI amplifies both risks and remedies. As one X post from a cybersecurity analyst put it, CrowdStrike is emerging as the “premiere AI cyber” player, outpacing competitors in a field where data mastery equals survival. With regulatory pressures mounting and cyber threats evolving, this acquisition signals CrowdStrike’s bet on intelligence over sheer scale, potentially setting the standard for 2025’s security innovations.