According to Reuters, cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike announced on Thursday it is acquiring identity security startup SGNL in a deal valued at $740 million. The goal is to enhance CrowdStrike’s tools to counter AI-powered threats. SGNL, founded in 2021 by Scott Kriz and Erik Gustavson, offers a platform that manages access in real-time for human, machine, and AI identities. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated the company’s existing identity business already generates over $435 million in annual recurring revenue. The acquisition, to be paid mainly in cash with some stock, is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, with integration into the Falcon platform being “relatively easy” for users. SGNL’s entire small team will join CrowdStrike with no planned layoffs.
Identity is the new firewall
Here’s the thing: Kurtz nailed the modern threat landscape with his quote. Adversaries aren’t always smashing through digital walls with fancy exploits anymore. They’re logging in. They’re stealing credentials, hijacking sessions, and abusing the very access that’s supposed to be legitimate. That’s why this move is so logical. CrowdStrike bought Preempt back in 2020 to get into the identity game, and now they’re doubling down with SGNL’s “continuous identity” fabric. It’s all about moving beyond a simple “yes/no” check at login to constantly evaluating if a user’s or an AI agent’s behavior *after* login is still trustworthy. Basically, it assumes breach and asks, “Okay, you’re in, but what are you doing now?”
The AI agent problem
This is where the “AI threats” angle gets real. Businesses are starting to grant autonomous access to AI agents to perform tasks—think a bot that can automatically adjust cloud resources or process invoices. But what if that agent gets compromised or acts maliciously? It has an identity, too. SGNL’s tech, which CrowdStrike is betting $740 million on, is built to manage and secure those non-human identities in real time across cloud and enterprise systems. It’s a forward-looking bet. CrowdStrike itself is pushing AI agents in its security operations center, so they’re eating their own dog food and securing the recipe at the same time.
A pricey but strategic bet
So, is it worth three-quarters of a billion dollars for a startup founded just three years ago? For CrowdStrike, probably. They’re not just buying technology; they’re buying a team and a crucial piece of their long-term architecture. In the high-stakes world of enterprise security, being able to offer a unified platform that covers endpoint, cloud, and now a sophisticated identity fabric is a huge competitive moat against rivals like Palo Alto Networks and Microsoft. It locks customers in deeper. And let’s be honest, when your core identity business is already pulling in nearly half a billion dollars a year, a $740M acquisition to protect and grow that isn’t just sensible—it’s necessary. The real test will be how seamlessly they can stitch this “fabric” into Falcon without creating a tangled mess for customers.
