At TECH IL 2026, AI, Cybersecurity and the Future of Israeli Tech Take Center Stage

Globus’s TECH IL 2026 conference brought together three prominent figures in Israeli tech, Shlomo Kramer of Cato Networks, Ami Luttwak of Wiz and serial entrepreneur Liad Agmon, to discuss where the artificial intelligence revolution is taking the industry, the labor market and the Israeli economy. The conversation also touched on the weak dollar, which makes Israeli engineers more expensive in global terms, the recent giant exit in Israeli tech, and the uneasy question of what happens to junior workers when AI can do in an hour what used to take a month.

Kramer, a co-founder of Check Point and Imperva, called AI the biggest technological revolution he has ever seen. He said cyber will be one of the main beneficiaries because no company will deploy AI without protecting it, but he warned that venture capital is concentrating too much money in a narrow circle of AI-related companies. He said the market is in a temporary freeze, described AI as a bubble only in the economic sense, and rejected rumors that Cato Networks is being sold, calling them “a complete lie.” He said Cato grew 43% this year and will become a public company eventually. On the weak dollar, he argued that 60% to 70% of a tech company’s costs are people, and that Israel needs the right ecosystem more than direct government aid.

Agmon, who previously led exits including Dynamic Yield’s $300 million sale to McDonald’s, said he returned to entrepreneurship because he is happiest building things. At his new company Sancey, he is developing an AI-based device that acts like an “electronic friend” and personal companion. He said AI has let him cut staffing needs sharply, avoiding junior hires and relying on a small team of top performers, while using AI in nearly every meeting and task. Agmon said AI has already undermined the business model of many firms and will eventually replace people, even if in the short term it makes workers much more powerful. He also called plans to tax Unit 8200 graduates “populist nonsense,” arguing that their years of service should be taken into account.

Luttwak, one of the founders of Wiz, said the company’s sale to Google for $32 billion was the largest exit in Israel’s history and that its mission remains to change cybersecurity. He said AI has forced the entire sector to rethink its products and strategies, because attackers can now find and exploit vulnerabilities within hours rather than months. He said any company with AI capabilities that does not respond quickly will become irrelevant. Luttwak also said Israel has not done enough to prepare for the AI era, questioned how much the state can realistically do, and noted that today it is easier to start a company but harder to stand out and succeed.