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Shownotes
As concern over AI safety and rogue agents continue to make headlines, it’s no surprise that cybersecurity stocks are rising, or that investors are pouring massive amounts of capital into startups trying to build the next generation of security for an AI-native world. We’re even seeing companies like Instinct (techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/viral-ai-startup-ins…) and Simile (techcrunch.com/2026/07/30/synthetic-user-start…) bring in nine-figure checks and valuations that wouldn't have made sense a few years ago.
With a front row seat to it all is Shardul Shah (linkedin.com/in/shardul-shah-3589062), a partner at Index Ventures who’s spent nearly two decades investing in cybersecurity and enterprise software — including six consecutive rounds in cloud security startup Wiz, which Google acquired for $32 billion earlier this year (techcrunch.com/2026/03/11/google-completes-32b…) in one of its largest acquisitions ever.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity (techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity) podcast, Shah joins Rebecca Bellan to break down why he thinks periodic, human-in-the-loop security can’t keep up anymore, and why Index continues investing in AI-native security companies at stages that once required much more proof.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
• Why Shah thinks cyber insurance should be most companies’ first move in managing AI-era risk
• What happens when a single attacker can deploy a 10,000-agent ransomware swarm, and why that could force cybersecurity to become more machine-to-machine
• How Wiz’s founders paved the way for a new generation of startups, including Frame and Enigma
• Shah’s take on “pacing the frontier,” and why he thinks even a slowdown in model capability wouldn’t cool off cybersecurity investment
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube (youtube.com/@TechCrunch), Apple Podcasts (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780), Overcast (overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity), Spotify (open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?s…) and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X (twitter.com/EquityPod) and Threads (threads.net/@equitypod), at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
Intro
Why AI is creating a new cybersecurity category
The cyber insurance layer most companies overlook
Why Index is betting on AI-native security platforms
Will Wiz become a talent factory for new startups?
What actually makes a founder worth betting on
The hard part of knowing when to double down
Why Shardul says he’s not a visionary investor
How AI could reshape the entire security stack
What makes an AI security startup defensible
Why he doesn’t want to find “the next Wiz”
Why investors are writing huge checks so early
What happens to AI valuations if the frontier gets paced
Outro
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