Sentinel One Pioneers AI-Powered Cybersecurity Solutions for Modern Enterprises

Exclusive interview with Ezzeldin Hussein, Regional Senior Director Sales Engineering, (META)

How does the SentinelOne Singularity platform streamline cybersecurity operations, and what are the key benefits of using this unified platform?

Since we’ve talked about my journey from data centers, let me share a common question I used to ask CIOs: “How many vendors are you working with for storage? Servers? Networking?” Typically, the answers ranged from one to five vendors. But when I asked about cybersecurity, the answer was often 60 to 120 vendors. This vendor sprawl creates a headache for cybersecurity teams and CISOs. At SentinelOne, our mission has been to address this challenge. Consolidation is now a key trend in cybersecurity. Ask any CISO today, and they’ll tell you their main goal is to downsize from managing 120 vendors to maybe 5 or 10.

The SentinelOne Singularity platform helps achieve this by offering a unified solution. Instead of relying on multiple, disconnected security products, this platform provides all the features and functions needed in one place. It secures endpoints (Windows, Mac, Linux), workloads (in data centers or on multi-cloud environments), identity, data security, and more—all in one platform. What sets the Singularity platform apart is its use of AI. We’ve been leveraging AI since 2013 and have now integrated generative AI, which is critical and highly relevant today.

How does Purple AI enhance threat detection and the efficiency of teams managing complex threats?

The simplest way to explain Purple AI is by asking customers if they use ChatGPT—and the answer is always yes because everyone uses it today. Now imagine giving your security team a tool like ChatGPT, integrated into the platform. With Purple AI, your team doesn’t need to worry about complex queries, syntax errors, or spending hours troubleshooting. Instead, they can use natural language to ask questions like: “Do I have an attack in my environment? Where is it coming from? Which machines are affected? Who is logged in?” The answers are displayed instantly.

Since we’ve integrated generative AI, Purple AI goes beyond simple detection. It guides your security team, speeds up detection, and makes threat-hunting far more efficient. Two key factors are critical for effective threat management: speed and intelligence. Purple AI delivers both. The speed comes from instant access to actionable information, enabling the SOC team to detect, respond to, and mitigate threats quickly. The intelligence comes from analyzing data to detect patterns and behaviors that traditional, manual processes might miss. Purple AI leverages large language models, a robust knowledge base, and global threat intelligence to make this possible.

What challenges have you faced when introducing new products like Purple AI and the Singularity platform to the market?

When you introduce new technology, customers are often skeptical. I always tell them it’s simple: try it. Let’s agree on an objective, create a pilot, and allocate some time and resources. Our team will work with yours to show how Purple AI can fill gaps or address missing elements in your environment. Our focus is on demonstrating ROI. Purple AI isn’t just something to purchase for fun—it delivers tangible benefits. For example, threat-hunting activities that used to take hours now take seconds. This drastically reduces the workload for SOC teams.

One feature SOC teams particularly appreciate is Purple AI’s ability to summarize incidents. After spending time investigating an attack, the team still needs to create a report for the CISO. Many team members struggle with this, especially since writing isn’t their strong suit, and English might not be their first language. With Purple AI, they can generate a clear, well-formatted, 3-page report in seconds. This saves them hours and ensures that critical updates are communicated effectively. This is why we believe the future of cybersecurity lies in generative AI—not just for analysis, but to make sense of results, communicate efficiently, and act quickly.

What trends do you anticipate looking at future of cybersecurity through the lens of AI?

AI is no longer just a fancy tool. Attackers have started using it, and as they evolve, so must we. To defend against AI-based attacks, we absolutely need AI-powered defense mechanisms. The next era of cybersecurity will inevitably become AI versus AI. It’s like a scenario from a movie, but it’s happening now. Attackers are already integrating AI into their methods, making it easier than ever to execute sophisticated attacks. Before, creating malware required highly skilled individuals. Now, with AI tools, it’s accessible to anyone. Here’s the critical difference: attackers only need one single opportunity to breach your environment, while cybersecurity vendors and their customers must work 24/7 to ensure 100% protection. This is where AI becomes crucial—not just as a defense mechanism but as a virtual assistant that works tirelessly to identify and mitigate threats in real time.

In our region, certain cultural and social factors also play into this dynamic. For instance, during Ramadan, people often take time to break their fast. Or think about engaging in leisure activities, like watching a 90-minute football game. Even cybersecurity teams may want to take a break. Attackers, however, recognize these moments of reduced vigilance and are quick to exploit them. AI can bridge these gaps, continuously monitoring and analyzing activity, and promptly alerting us to potential threats, even when human attention is elsewhere.

Zero-trust will also be a major trend in the coming years. More organizations are looking to implement zero-trust frameworks because of the rising prevalence of identity-based attacks and insider threats. Securing identities will become a central focus as businesses work to mitigate risks stemming from compromised credentials or internal vulnerabilities. In summary, these trends reflect how the landscape of cybersecurity is transforming and how AI is playing a pivotal role in ensuring robust defenses in a rapidly evolving threat environment.

Could you share your experience at GITEX and reflect on your journey over 26 years with the event?

I’ve been attending GITEX since 1998. At that time, I was working in a software house and was focused on programming and coding, which I really enjoyed—and still do, if I get the chance. Back then, I developed software for hospital management information systems, covering everything from clinical management to backend functions like inventory, purchasing, and pharmacy. That was where my GITEX journey started.

My first GITEX in 1998 was all about presenting this software to customers. It was a completely different experience compared to today. Back then, there was a “shopper” area where people would sell products, and the exhibition had separate areas for hardware and software. Eventually, they removed the shopper area because it caused too much traffic and chaos. Fast forward to today, and now we have specialized sections like the Cybersecurity Valley, where companies in the same domain are consolidated. This creates a better environment for interacting with customers.

Over time, I shifted from application development to the infrastructure side, specifically data centers. I wanted to ensure that the applications I developed ran on robust infrastructure. That’s what led me to VMware, where I worked on virtualization, cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud environments as they matured. After addressing infrastructure challenges, I moved into cybersecurity to secure those applications and environments. It’s been a natural progression—starting with creating applications, then managing where they run, and finally focusing on securing them.