Fortinet (FTNT) Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 summary

AI and cybersecurity market trends

• AI is driving a new wave of security needs, with rapid growth in enterprise and service provider segments, especially neocloud providers who make decisions faster than traditional carriers.

• Internal segmentation and machine-generated traffic are increasing, requiring enhanced visibility and control within enterprise data centers.

• Regulatory requirements, especially in Europe, are fueling demand for sovereign and on-premise AI security solutions.

• Hybrid models combining on-premise and cloud security are preferred by enterprises, opening new market opportunities.

• AI-driven vulnerabilities are emerging, prompting customers to seek multi-layered protection and faster patching cycles.

Product and service innovation

• Over 20 AI-enabled products have been launched, with a focus on secure operations and infrastructure.

• New bundles, such as SD-WAN Service Bundle and SASE starter licenses, are designed to increase service attach rates and ease customer adoption.

• The new FortiOS offers enhanced AI visibility, allowing customers to monitor traffic, model usage, and data context.

• Pricing uplift from new bundles can reach 50-55%, with additional upsell potential from AI security configurations.

• Service revenue growth is supported by both hardware sales and new software subscriptions, such as FortiAI gate.

Customer behavior and market dynamics

• Customers are buying higher-capacity devices, reflecting increased network security needs and planning for future requirements.

• Enterprises are reconsidering cloud versus on-premise AI deployments due to rising cloud costs and the need for secure GPU clusters.

• Buying behavior has shifted, with more executive-level engagement and urgency driven by AI threats and geopolitical risks.

• Channel inventory is tightly managed with a 90-day registration window, discouraging excess inventory and price speculation.

• Memory pricing has stabilized for DDR4/DDR5, reducing supply chain volatility and supporting consistent gross margins.