The ISC West 2026 conference marked a pivotal turning point for the industry, where Agentic AI and real-time intelligence moved from concept to core, becoming fully embedded within operational workflows and proactive response procedures. The industry doesn’t have a visibility problem—it has a time-to-action problem.
The security industry is experiencing a massive shift. We’re moving past the days of artificial intelligence experimentation and entering an era of practical, high-impact implementation. Security leaders want tools that actually do the work, rather than just organize data.
At ISC West 2026, this transformation took center stage. Conversations on the floor and during panels highlighted exactly where security technology is heading. Leaders are prioritizing Agentic AI, purpose-built tools, and deeper partnerships with technology providers. Following these themes, the strategic partnership between Dataminr and Crisis24 illustrates this new direction.
Key Takeaways from ISC West 2026
The discussions at ISC West 2026 made one thing clear: buyers are more AI-savvy than ever. They know what they want, and they know what falls short. Here is a look at the major themes that dominated the conference.
Agentic AI Moves from Experiment to Implementation
In 2025, the industry focused on the arrival of Agentic AI. This year, the focus shifted entirely to adoption as we are officially past the testing phase. Security leaders see the value of autonomous agents and are actively rewiring their workflows to include them.
Today, many security platforms still operate as “systems of record”—centralizing data but relying on humans to interpret and act before decisions are made. The industry is now shifting toward a “system of work” model, where AI agents don’t just surface information—they generate context, escalate critical events, and drive time-sensitive actions. This shift is critical to reducing investigation time and accelerating response.
AI agents, powered by real-time intelligence, are the most exciting area of the corporate security industry right now, and have the ability to fundamentally reshape how we protect people, facilities and business operations.
The Demand for Purpose-Built AI Solutions
Another major topic of discussion from the conference is that horizontal, one-size-fits-all AI products are no longer sufficient. Generic AI tools simply cannot handle the high-stakes, nuanced environment of global security.
Buyers want purpose-built AI specifically designed for risk management. They have experienced the frustration of investing in grand AI promises that ultimately failed to deliver actionable results. By adopting tools specifically built for their use cases, security teams can achieve far better outcomes.
Co-Designing the Future with Customer Input
The debate between building a custom solution internally or buying an existing product continues. However, experts at ISC West stressed the importance of a collaborative middle ground.
Customers must actively share feedback with product developers. Instead of trying to adapt frontier AI models for a specialized purpose—a process that requires massive maintenance and resources—security teams should partner closely with dedicated builders. By sharing their specific problem sets, customers can co-design solutions that align directly with operational workflows—a critical requirement as organizations move toward real-time, AI-driven decision-making.
Redefining Risk Management: The Dataminr and Crisis24 Partnership
As the industry demands more capable, purpose-built AI, leading companies are joining forces to deliver comprehensive solutions. At ISC West 2026, we were proud to demonstrate how the multi-year strategic partnership between Dataminr and Crisis24 represents a massive leap forward in critical event management.
This is not a traditional integration—it represents a shift in the operating model. Rather than separating detection, analysis, and response across disconnected tools, Dataminr and Crisis24 are enabling a connected workflow across: signal to intelligence to operations to response. This approach directly addresses the biggest gap in modern security: the time lost between detection and action.
Dataminr and Crisis24 Strategic Partnership
Learn how the partnership will create the industry’s most advanced Critical Event Management (CEM) platform with unmatched AI and agentic capabilities.
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