ESET, the leading company in proactive threat detection, announced a €40 million investment in the future of AI-driven cybersecurity, as the company warns of a rapidly emerging new attack surface fueled by autonomous, agency-enabled AI systems.

The commitment — announced by ESET CEO Richard Marko at ESET World 2026 — comes in response to a shift ESET has observed in its own data. Since March 2026, ESET technologies have analyzed nearly 800,000 unique AI skills (modular components that instruct AI agents on how to perform tasks, use tools, access services, and interact with external systems). Approximately 25,000 of these skills were classified as suspicious, and more than 3,000 were blocked for being malicious.

This total represents a 13-fold increase compared to the approximately 60,000 publicly available skills observed earlier this year. According to ESET’s research team, AI skills are part of a rapidly growing layer in the software supply chain, often connecting sensitive systems to external repositories, plugins, datasets, and third-party services.

“Cybersecurity is entering a completely new era,” said Richard Marko, CEO of ESET. “Artificial intelligence is no longer just a defensive tool. It is becoming part of the attack surface itself. Our investment is focused on ensuring that AI strengthens cybersecurity rather than weakening it, and on developing technologies capable of protecting organizations in a world of autonomous AI.”

The initiative aims to strengthen ESET’s technological independence and European sovereignty in cybersecurity at a time when access to advanced artificial intelligence systems is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of global technology companies. “We believe that the future of cybersecurity cannot depend entirely on models controlled by large technology companies,” added Marko.

“In cybersecurity, sovereignty matters”

Backed by a three-year recruitment plan that will grow ESET’s R&D team to 1,000 dedicated research and engineering professionals, the €40 million investment will focus on three strategic areas:

• Independent, security-priority core AI models
• A comprehensive, layered AI security architecture
• The next-generation AI SOC

“ESET has long been at the forefront of applying AI to cybersecurity,” said Juraj Jánošík, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence at ESET. “What is changing now is the role that AI plays.” AI tools are becoming part of everyday work, autonomous systems are expanding the attack surface, and security teams need faster ways to respond to threats. This investment allows us to work across the spectrum: protecting the use of AI, building AI models for cybersecurity, and incorporating autonomous capabilities into security operations under human supervision.”

Standard, security-priority AI models

ESET will accelerate the development of its own security-centric AI models, designed specifically for cybersecurity applications. Unlike general-purpose AI systems trained on broad internet content, ESET’s models will be optimized using cybersecurity telemetry and real-world threat intelligence gathered over ESET’s nearly 35-year history.

The company will continue to expand its existing AI-powered technologies (such as ESET LiveGrid, ESET LiveCortex, and ESET LiveGuard) while exploring emerging AI concepts, including “World Models” capable of understanding behavior, context, and intent within digital environments.

Design, development, and implementation of a comprehensive, layered AI security architecture

As AI becomes more integrated into everyday business operations, ESET is developing a comprehensive, AI-native security architecture designed to protect organizations against emerging AI-driven risks and threats. The investment will include the development of ESET Secure AI Relay, a secure intermediary layer between users, AI agents, business applications, and AI models.

The leading cybersecurity company will also develop network-level safeguards and protections for communication between AI agents. ESET AI Skills Checker (a free tool launched at the RSAC 2026 conference), along with its enhanced versions integrated into ESET products, was specifically designed for this emerging ecosystem of agent-based AI systems.

Building the Next Generation AI SOC

A new generation of AI-powered Security Operations Center (SOC) technologies will be designed to address the increasing scale and complexity of modern detection and response environments. Instead of simply replacing analysts with AI agents, ESET aims to fundamentally rethink how cybersecurity telemetry is processed, correlated, and understood. The company’s vision is to make advanced AI-powered cybersecurity accessible not only to large enterprises but also to small and medium-sized organizations through supervised and highly automated protection technologies.

“Cybersecurity cannot grow simply by adding more alerts, more dashboards, and more complexity,” added Marko. “The industry needs to take another major leap forward. We believe that artificial intelligence should help make world-class cybersecurity simple and accessible to everyone.”

To learn more about ESET solutions, visit: https://www.eset.com/latam/empresas/protect-platform/ and/or simply https://www.eset.com/latam/

ESET invites you to delve deeper into cybersecurity by visiting: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For useful preventative information and details on services and products, visit https://www.eset.com/ve/ and their social media channels @eset_ve. You can also find them on Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

Information and images courtesy of ESET and Comstat Rowland Strategic Communications

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