ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, today announced an investment of €40 million into the future of AI-powered cybersecurity, as the company warns of a rapidly emerging new attack surface driven by autonomous and agentic AI systems. The commitment comes in response to a shift already visible in ESET's own data. Since March 2026, ESET technologies have scanned nearly 800,000 unique AI skills, with more than 3,000 blocked as outright malicious.
ESET invests €40M to expand R&D team to 1,000 researchers and engineers.
Since March 2026, scanned 800,000 unique AI skills; flagged 25,000 as suspicious, blocked 3,000+ as malicious.
13-fold surge from approximately 60,000 publicly available skills observed at beginning of 2026.
Investment focuses on three areas: independent security-first foundational AI models, layered AI security stack, new generation AI SOC.
Developing ESET Secure AI Relay as secure intermediary between users, AI agents, applications, and AI models.
ESET LiveGrid, LiveCortex, and LiveGuard are existing AI-powered technologies being expanded.
“Cybersecurity is entering a completely new era,” said Richard Marko, CEO of ESET. “Artificial intelligence is no longer only a tool for defense. It is becoming part of the attack surface itself. Our investment is focused on ensuring that AI strengthens cybersecurity rather than weakens it – and on building technologies capable of protecting organizations in a world of autonomous AI.”
“We believe the future of cybersecurity cannot depend entirely on models controlled by Big Tech,” Marko added. “In cybersecurity, sovereignty matters.”
“ESET has long led the way in applying AI to cybersecurity,” said Juraj Jánošík, ESET VP of Artificial Intelligence. “What's changing now is the role that AI plays. AI tools are becoming part of everyday work, agentic systems are expanding the attack surface, and security teams need faster ways to respond to threats. This investment lets us work across the full horizon: securing AI use, building AI models for cybersecurity, and bringing autonomous capabilities into security operations under human oversight.”
Independent security-first foundational AI models: ESET will accelerate the development of its own security-focused AI models designed specifically for cybersecurity applications, optimized using cybersecurity telemetry and real-world threat intelligence gathered over almost 35 years.
Building a complete layered AI security stack: ESET is building a comprehensive AI-native security architecture including ESET Secure AI Relay – a secure intermediary layer between users, AI agents, business applications, and AI models. ESET AI Skills Checker (free tool launched at RSAC 2026) together with enhanced versions integrated into ESET products is designed specifically for the emerging ecosystem of agentic AI systems.
Building the new generation AI SOC: A new generation of AI Security Operations Center (SOC) technologies designed to address the growing scale and complexity of modern detection and response environments, making advanced AI-powered cybersecurity accessible to mid-sized and smaller organizations through highly automated, supervised protection technologies.
ESET provides cutting-edge cybersecurity to prevent attacks before they happen. By combining the power of AI and human expertise, ESET stays ahead of emerging global cyberthreats, both known and unknown — securing businesses, critical infrastructure, and individuals. Whether it's endpoint, cloud, or mobile protection, ESET's AI-native, cloud-first solutions and services remain highly effective and easy to use.
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