At the Summa Equity Annual Investor Meeting in Oslo, I had the privilege of joining Jacob Frandsen on stage for a conversation about the state of cybersecurity and the broader forces shaping technology companies today. The dialogue revolved around four big questions. Each one central to how investors, founders, and operators should be thinking about the future:

1. Balancing Investing in Innovation vs. Delivering Profitability

“It’s not innovation or profitability — it’s knowing when and how to balance the two engines that drive growth.”

• Innovation as survival ? At smaller scale, innovation is paramount and innovation creates the moat that ensures relevance. Without it, companies risk being commoditized.
• Profitability as discipline ? Operational excellence, sales efficiency, and cost control are non-negotiable as you scale.
• Two-engine model ? Run one engine for profitability, another to push the edge of innovation.
• AI disruption ? Both of areas of profitability and innovation are nicely coming together with AI: AI applied in any are of a company are driving profitability, time to market, etc. On the other hand, entire cyber products are being rewritten with AI at the core. Missing the AI wave on either side kills your future relevance.

2. AI and Cyber: Opportunity and Risk

“AI is both a multiplier of capability and a source of new risks — success comes from knowing when and how to use it.”

• Force multiplier ? AI accelerates development, marketing, sales, detection engineering, and lowers barriers for non-experts.
• AI-led attacks ? Still emerging, but attackers will adopt quickly — as defenders we must keep pace.
• Security for AI ? A number of new challenges we are facing. This will likely grow into its own market, but the fundamentals (data protection, trust, governance) remain the same.

3. Defensible Positions for Emerging Cyber Companies

Especially in the light of large security platforms like Crowdstrike or Microsoft or SentinelOne, how can smaller companies and startups be relevant at all?

“In cybersecurity, defensibility isn’t just about tech.”

• Wedge strategy ? Start narrow, with an overlooked market or product gap. For example, the MSP / SMB segment is still significantly underserved but presents a vast opportunity.
• Data gravity ? Unique datasets become the backbone of long-term defensibility, especially with AI to mine the data and make it actionable.
• Ecosystem first ? Build API-driven integrations that make you indispensable within workflows, rather than standing alone. Modern security organizations that are using one of the large platforms are still using about 20 other products to fill gaps. If those products are integrated into the larger platform it greatly reduces the complexity and ease for the operators. For the security vendors it opens up the opportunity for technology partnerships on the flip side.

4. Europe vs. US: Different Playbooks

“US is about speed and boldness; Europe is about trust and staying power — the opportunity for EU business is bridging both playbooks.”

• Speed vs. trust ? US rewards rapid scaling and bold claims; Europe emphasizes trust, compliance, references, and credibility. European customers are rarely early movers on new technologies.
• Market fragmentation ? Europe is highly localized; VARs and telcos dominate, with significant regional differences in regulation and go-to-market.
• Talent edge ? Europe offers strong technical talent from world-class universities. ETH anyone?
• Opportunity ? EU players can win by leaning into local strength; US entrants will struggle to replicate that quickly in all the markets. Adapting a product to local markets with different languages, different tax codes, cultures, labor laws, data privacy laws, etc. is a lot of work. That is why you see most US companies expand into UKI first and then slowly entering some of the countries in mainland Europe.

Closing Thoughts

The conversation reinforced for me that cybersecurity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It intersects with innovation cycles, global talent pools, regulatory environments, and the transformative force of AI. Companies that thrive will be those that balance innovation with discipline, embrace ecosystems, and play the long game across diverse markets.

I left the stage energized — not just by the challenges, but by the opportunities for European companies to seize if we approach them with clarity and conviction.

The post On Stage in Oslo: A Conversation on Cybersecurity, Innovation, and Global Markets first appeared on Future of Tech and Security: Strategy & Innovation with Raffy.