Microsoft Security Business Undergoes Major Shake-Up: Hundreds Laid Off, Betting Big on AI Defense

According to Omdia research, Microsoft's newly appointed Chief Security Officer, Hayete Gallot, is restructuring the over-ten-thousand-strong security department. At least 8 executives under the previous CSO have been replaced, and hundreds of positions have been eliminated in recent layoffs.

Microsoft is shifting its focus to the Security Copilot, code vulnerability scanning, and AI Agent management tools. Traditional threat detection products like Sentinel will see reduced investment, while the core endpoint security product, Defender, is being given higher priority.

Microsoft is also drawing inspiration from Anthropic's AI security products. The new tool, MDASH, can invoke multiple models to automatically find vulnerabilities and has been used to inspect Windows. In July, Microsoft patched a record-breaking 622 vulnerabilities, attributing part of the increase to MDASH.

This restructuring is directly targeting enterprises' concerns about AI attacks. Microsoft aims to drive growth with AI security tools while preventing companies like Anthropic and OpenAI from seizing this new budget.