CrowdStrike Business Chief Says Partnerships Are the Main Opportunity for Israeli Startups

CrowdStrike Chief Business Officer Daniel Bernard says partnerships offer Israeli startups their main route to working with the cybersecurity company, with acquisitions playing a more selective role. In an interview published on November 12 during Tel Aviv University’s Cyber & AI Week, Bernard described a strategy centered on connecting startups’ technology to CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform and its customers. “Acquisition is the exception,” Bernard said. He said CrowdStrike employs more than 500 people in Israel and continues hiring, investing, acquiring companies and forming partnerships there. When considering an acquisition, he said, the company puts the team ahead of the technology and often buys relatively young businesses. Acquired teams develop Falcon modules while retaining scope to innovate and pursue their product roadmaps; the platform now has more than 35 modules, he said. Bernard argued that Israeli founders have historically put more emphasis on product development than on sales, marketing and building an international business. In his assessment, AI makes features easier to reproduce, raising the importance of customer trust and commercial execution. He said startups have improved their commercial capabilities over the past four to five years. He urged founders to budget for experienced commercial staff in overseas markets, give those teams decision-making authority and invest in branding. Bernard also said Israeli companies account for the vast majority of participants in CrowdStrike’s startup accelerator and that its Falcon Fund invests in numerous Israeli startups.