Fortinet's Approach to Bridging the Cybersecurity Talent Gap

Current State of the Cybersecurity Talent Market

The current cybersecurity talent market is characterized by a significant skills gap, leading to increased breaches and repercussions for organizations. Companies like Fortinet are actively addressing this by fostering diverse talent pools and enhancing their workforce through strategic partnerships and new R&D initiatives.

"The very best talent builds the very best cybersecurity, and we have ample runway ahead of us to revolutionize, innovate, and, of course, consolidate this year and well into the future. I'll now turn the call over to Burt for our financial updates. Thank you." --- (CRWD, earning call, 2025/Q1)

"Key findings from the report include: Organizations are increasingly attributing breaches to the cyber skills gap. Breaches continue to have significant repercussions for businesses, and executive leaders are often penalized when they happen. Certifications continue to be highly regarded by employers as a validator of current cybersecurity skills and knowledge. Numerous opportunities remain for hiring from diverse talent pools to help address the skills shortage." --- (FTNT, press release, 2024/06/26)

"Combined, Fortinet will gain over 900 customers and talented sales and engineering teams.And I'll just pause here to offer a very warm welcome to team members from both companies.Continuing with our Q2 highlights, we've taken the lead in partnering with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA through a secure by design pledge and are leading with our responsible transparency practices." --- (FTNT, earning call, 2024/Q2)

"Research and Development Center: The new space has been designed to facilitate the company's high-impact research and development activities, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among employees including engineers and developers, as well as advancing the development of Fortinet's industry-leading cybersecurity technology with the contribution of local talent." --- (FTNT, press release, 2024/09/10)

"We recently welcomed National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) Director, Cheri Pascoe to our HQ in Sunnyvale, California." --- (FTNT, Twitter, 2024/07/15)

Fortinet's Initiatives and Educational Partnerships for Talent Development

Fortinet is actively addressing the cybersecurity talent gap through its Training Institute, which offers diverse educational programs and partnerships across industries and academia. Initiatives like the NSE Certification and the SASE Fast Track training program exemplify their commitment to continuous learning and skill enhancement in the cybersecurity field.

"Tune in to FortinetLIVE as #Fortinet's Sarah Ryba interviews our recent #Accelerate24 Ultimate Fabric Challenge winners about their careers and how our #Fortinet Training Institute helped boost their skills for the competition! 👇 https://t.co/pTuspG4uBE https://t.co/n1FL0kqBez" --- (FTNT, Twitter, 2024/06/11)

"#Fortinet’s emphasis on continuous learning has empowered me to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving field." --- (FTNT, Twitter, 2024/07/16)

"And to offer one final example, the customer partner of SASE Fast Track training program at Fortinet, which launched in January is already umber two most attended technical training session, trending only a single vendor SASE partner, SD-WAN." --- (FTNT, earning call, 2024/Q1)

"The Fortinet Training Institute’s ecosystem of public and private partnerships around the world extend to industry, academia, government and nonprofits to ensure we are reaching and increasing access of our cybersecurity certifications and training to all populations." --- (FTNT, sec filing, 2024/Q1)

"As part of the Fortinet Training Advancement Agenda (TAA), the Fortinet Training Institute also provides training and certification through the Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification, Academic Partner, and Education Outreach programs.Learn more about FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence and research and Outbreak Alerts, which provide timely steps to mitigate breaking cybersecurity attacks.Learn more about Fortinet's FortiGuard Security Services portfolio.Read about how Fortinet customers are securing their organizations.Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram." --- (FTNT, press release, 2024/08/05)

Role of Automation and AI in Cybersecurity

Automation and AI are pivotal in enhancing cybersecurity operations, as seen in CrowdStrike's Falcon platform and Palo Alto Networks' AI-driven security solutions. Google’s Gemini tool exemplifies AI's role in threat detection, while Fortinet's innovations in FortiOS further integrate these technologies, addressing the cybersecurity talent gap effectively.

"And once the data is in, cybersecurity experiences are enriched with the Falcon platform illustrating alert specific, attack surface specific and campaign specific events coupled with automated response through Fusion SOAR playbooks and Charlotte AI actions." --- (CRWD, earning call, 2025/Q1)

"AI Access Security, AI SPM, and AI Runtime Security put us at the forefront of securing AI adoption." --- (PANW, earning call, 2024/Q1)

"Cybersecurity analysts are using Gemini to help spot threats, summarize intelligence, and take action against attacks, helping companies like American Family Insurance aggregate and analyze security data in seconds instead of days." --- (GOOG, earning call, 2024/Q1)

"Our dedication to over 20 years of organic innovation uniquely enables 30+ networking and security functions to work together, and we take great pride in enhancing the operating system that has already set the industry standard with the release of FortiOS 7.6. News Summary Fortinet® (NASDAQ:FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced the latest version of its FortiOS operating system and other major enhancements to the company's cybersecurity platform, the Fortinet Security Fabric." --- (FTNT, press release, 2024/04/02)

"growth and innovation as well as safeguards to build cybersecurity's most resilient AI-powered platform." --- (CRWD, earning call, 2025/Q2)

Challenges in Cybersecurity Talent Acquisition

The cybersecurity sector faces significant challenges in talent acquisition, exacerbated by the complexities of implementing AI technologies. Companies like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks highlight that these challenges can slow decision-making processes and impact overall business growth.

"I know you're gaining share and doing well, but many aren't. And I'm wondering if that's a function of their challenges in figuring out how they're going to implement AI and to what extent that's causing a slowdown in decision making process?" --- (CRWD, earning call, 2025/Q1)

"While these areas present significant opportunities for us, they also pose challenges and risks that we must successfully address in order to sustain the growth of our business and improve our operating results." --- (PANW, sec filing, 2024/Q4)

Future Outlook on Cybersecurity Talent Development

Fortinet is actively addressing the cybersecurity talent gap by fostering collaboration through the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity, promoting intelligence sharing to combat cybercrime. Additionally, their secure-by-design strategy enhances cyber resiliency, indirectly cultivating essential skills within the cybersecurity workforce.

"Working with global leaders as a founding member of the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity (C4C), Fortinet is helping to encourage intelligence sharing across the industry to reduce global cyberattacks and disrupt cybercrime." --- (FTNT, press release, 2024/05/07)

"Choose secure-by-design products to enhance #cyber resiliency. 🔐 #Fortinet's Jim Richberg discusses the importance of adopting a secure-by-design strategy to minimize the number of vulnerabilities, and reduce the need for future patches." --- (FTNT, Twitter, 2024/07/15)

Impact of Cybersecurity Skills Gap on Businesses

The cybersecurity skills gap significantly impacts businesses, with 87% experiencing breaches due to insufficient skills. This gap leads to longer sales cycles, delayed purchases, and increased commitments, affecting overall operations and financial health. Fortinet is actively working to bridge this gap by empowering veterans and military spouses.

"Security breaches linked to skills gaps are rising. 📈📊 Our latest 2024 Global Cybersecurity #SkillsGap Report reveals that 87% of organizations experienced a breach in the past year due to a lack of cybersecurity skills." --- (FTNT, Twitter post, 2024/07/29)

"But I do believe that we're going to start to see a real shift in the skills that are necessary to be successful in everyone's job between now and 2030." --- (MSFT, conference, 2024/06/06)

"🎖️ We're dedicated to bridging the cybersecurity #SkillsGap, focusing on empowering veterans and military spouses." --- (FTNT, Twitter post, 2024/07/29)

"We have seen certain impacts on our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, liquidity and capital and financial resources such as longer sales cycles, delayed purchases and increased commitments with certain suppliers and increased inventory and inventory purchase commitment reserves." --- (FTNT, sec filing, 2024/Q2)