In a world gripped by both awe and anxiety over artificial intelligence (AI), Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora offers a rare, grounded perspective: “AI isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of what’s next.” Speaking with Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath on the People by WTF podcast, Arora mapped out a high-stakes vision for the future of cybersecurity, AI, and innovation in India. 

At the core of that vision lies a clear challenge: we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible.

From hackers to warfare

If cyber threats once felt abstract or exaggerated, Arora is here to correct that impression. Today, cybercrime is a full-fledged global industry, generating over $10 billion a year and increasingly weaponised by state actors.

“Cyber warfare is integral to modern conflicts,” he said, referencing how Russia disabled Ukrainian logistics systems digitally before launching physical strikes. In his view, the battlefront is no longer just national borders or economic sanctions—it’s also lines of code.

Emerging technologies make this even more urgent. AI agents, autonomous systems, connected vehicles, and soon, humanoid robots—all expand the attack surface exponentially. “Malicious actors won’t need to hack humans,” Arora warned. “They’ll hijack their agents.”

He likens today’s cybersecurity landscape to the Wild West: unpredictable, unmapped, and full of opportunity for those who act early and think ahead. Real-time AI-driven security, not static defenses, will be the new normal.

The real value lies ahead

With AI dominating headlines, Arora remains clear-eyed and optimistic. He acknowledges the current wave of hype but believes the real transformation is only beginning.

“Intelligence is currently captive—it’s sold one interaction at a time. When it’s democratised, it will massively reduce costs and unlock economic value,” he explained.

That shift will demand a different kind of AI—one that’s domain-specific, capital-intensive, and built for solving unstructured, high-stakes problems. General-purpose tools will play their part, but the future, Arora insists, belongs to those who go deep, not wide.

“Domain-specific AI is going to be the future,” he said. And it will evolve far faster than any previous wave of technology.

India’s innovation gap

Arora’s observations on India’s startup ecosystem were direct: talent isn’t the issue—mindset is.

“Failure is not as easily accepted in India as it is in Silicon Valley,” he noted. Unlike Israel or the U.S., where entrepreneurial failure is often seen as a badge of experience, India still treats it as a stigma.

He believes India must move past that hesitation if it wants to lead, especially in AI. Despite the high capital requirements and a limited base of AI talent, Arora doesn’t mince words: “The unequivocal answer is yes—we should build foundational models in India.”

But doing so will require patient capital, risk-taking founders, and a culture that celebrates second chances.

Leadership lessons from industry titans

Drawing from his time at Google and SoftBank, Arora offered rare insights into the leadership styles that shaped him.

From Google’s Larry Page, he learned the criticality of staying product-obsessed: “Companies that lose sight of product eventually fail.” From SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, he took away something more abstract but just as powerful—the value of irrational ambition. “Masa’s big dreams and his willingness to defy norms taught me that ambition is deeply personal, often inexplicable.”

These lessons now shape his leadership philosophy: dream big, move fast, and build teams that thrive in change. “If your idea isn’t solving a problem 10X better, you’re solving the wrong problem,” he said.