Debate around artificial intelligence’s role as a threat or an opportunity heightened again, as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown of AI development. The European Parliament demanded a firmer EU response to hybrid threats, while the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre argued that the growing incorporation of AI models "almost certainly" presents an increased attack surface for adversaries to exploit.

Patrick Kane, partner in Apax’s Digital team, and Stefan Dziarski, partner at Permira, discussed AI-led cyber threat risks and the opportunities they open for dealmakers transacting with cybersecurity businesses, particularly those protecting financial services firms. Kane stated that AI is non-deterministic, and enterprise security practices have been built around deterministic rules. Model providers can only build guardrails to a lowest common denominator, which isn’t sufficient for financial services firms to confidently deploy agents. The real opportunity is the layer that protects the AI itself, and it must sit outside the model, because "a model can’t be its own guardrail." This means testing agents adversarially before launch, monitoring what they do in production, and putting validated expert judgment in front of security teams at the moment of decision.

Apax Digital Funds’ investments in Alice, an AI security company, and IANS, a tech-enabled research and advisory services, sit on both sides of this threat. Alice secures AI systems themselves, while IANS delivers practitioner-validated intelligence that helps security teams prepare for and protect their broader programs. Apax invested in Alice in late August, while IANS the firm backed in 2024.

As 2027 looms closer, Apax expects dealmaking in the segment to remain highly selective, with capital concentrated around businesses that can demonstrate durable differentiation and that structurally belong outside the labs themselves. Permira considers the segment an "exciting space." In August, Permira agreed to sell its stake in Bio Catch to Visa in an all-cash deal that values the fraud-intelligence company at approximately $2.4 billion. At exit, its ARR was north of $200 million.