Gil Shwed: Cybersecurity market disconnected from reality

Speaking at the Globes Israel Business Conference, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) executive chairman Gil Shwed told Globes tech editor Assaf Gilead about the challenges facing the cybersecurity sector, the acquisitions his company has made, and if her personally plans to return to center stage.

Shwed began by assessing whether there is a bubble in tech stocks. “We need to separate the capital market from the real world,” he said. “AI is a revolution, not a bubble, but are there any stocks in the market that are overvalued? It could very well be. The chance that the revolution will change the world is high, but at the same time the chance that there are stocks that are overvalued on Nasdaq is also high. In 2001, there was a bubble following the Internet revolution, but 20 years later the Internet is still alive and kicking and will create more revolutions. The revolution happened, but the market was shaken.

“AI will be a force in everything we do, and especially in cybersecurity. A few years ago, they predicted that there would be a shortage of cybersecurity experts who operate the systems, but perhaps AI will close this gap, and humans will return to overseeing the systems. On the other hand, it could create an attack on all of our infrastructure. It used to take weeks or months, but today it is happening at a crazy pace. We need to protect the data we share with AI, and communication between agents can also be an opening for cybersecurity vulnerabilities. I believe that just as there were dangers on the Internet, which have also materialized, but the world is still safer than it was 40 years ago, so too is cybersecurity.”

A deal valued at $300 million

To adapt its operations to emerging challenges, Check Point bought Swiss company Lakera, which protects AI agents, for $300 million. “We were looking for companies that could help us in the field of AI, to strengthen our great product. We looked at several companies, including Israeli ones, that were excellent and we wanted to acquire them, but not all of them wanted to be sold, or wanted deals at a higher value. In the end, we came to the Swiss company and we are happy. It turns out that there is a depth of technology there that we haven’t encountered in years. The company has an independent model and makes sure that the communication between the agents is good.”

Shwed’s skepticism on the pricing of technology stocks concerns the cybersecurity field. “I sound like a broken record, but the question is whether we manage to sell to customers and create value for them and subsequently profit from the revenue. Today the market is disconnected, because it is measured by whether companies manage to raise money, not whether they create value for customers and translate it into profit. The private market is built on the fact that there are large companies that buy small ones and manage to address their problems. Wiz is a huge phenomenon, but they did not solve the problem of creating value, but rather transferred it to Google.”

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As for competition from the tech giants, which have recently taken on significant cybersecurity activities, Shwed said, “There is a livelihood for all and you can see it with cybersecurity companies. The competition in our market is major and I would not underestimate it, but at Check Point we are proving that it is possible to generate several decades of customer value, revenue and profits, and after that returns for shareholders. So it is definitely possible to succeed at this.”

Shwed spoke about being the company’s biggest shareholder, even after selling a little over a million Check Point shares last quarter, for about $205 million. “I hope to remain the biggest shareholder. To date, I have mainly exercised options, in anticipation of their expiration. So far, waiting for the finish line before exercising them has proven itself to be a successful policy. I may sell shares, but that is really not my strategy or policy.”

As for the question of whether he is happy with his new status, a year after taking a step back from managing the company, which he left in the hands of Nadav Zafrir. “I have not been CEO for a year. I get up in the morning and someone else has to solve the problems and I really enjoy it. It’s something different to help someone in the CEO role, and to my delight, Nadav Zafrir does a great job. I find that working in a much less intensive way is fun. In the meantime, I really enjoy it that I don’t work 12 hours a day.”

Full disclosure: The conference was held in cooperation with Bank Hapoalim and Phoenix Group and sponsored by, Bezeq, El Al, Tnuva, Electra, Armis, Haifa Group, Hamilton Lane Israel, Doral, Shikun & Binui, BlackRock, Bazan, Pagaya, KPMG, Nespresso, Egged, Zeekr, ICL and the Israel Medical Association, and with the participation of Israel Ports. Co., Mekorot, Ashdod Port, and the Israel Innovation Authority.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 23, 2025.

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