There’s been an explosion of buzz around the AI SOC market. More than 40 vendors are now claiming to do something in this space, but as with many emerging technology categories, the result is a lot of excitement and a lot of confusion.
In this video and in the article below it, I want to provide some clarity. What exactly is “AI SOC”? Where did this category come from? And how can security teams cut through the noise to find real value?
The origins of the AI SOC: An old problem meets new tech
The rise of the AI SOC stems from two converging forces. A very old problem and a very new technology.
The old problem is the persistent talent shortage in cybersecurity combined with the overwhelming volume of security alerts. Security teams have been drowning in these alerts for years, struggling to keep up with investigation and response.
The new technology is AI, especially large language models (LLMs) and adjacent innovations, which open up an opportunity to finally address that shortage by automating some of the human decision-making process.
The 3 layers of security operations
To understand where AI fits in and how it can help, let’s zoom out and look at the broader security operations stack.
There are three main layers:
Detection (SIEM, XDR) is the first level which handles converting raw logs and other telemetry data into actionable alerts.
Triage and investigation (SOC) is the middle layer where human analysts determine which alerts are real incidents worth escalating.
Response and case management (SOAR) is the final layer that manages incident remediation with case assignment, and workflow automation.
Each layer presents opportunities for AI. For example, in SIEM/XDR, AI can improve detection logic and reduce false positives. For SOC, AI can simulate the investigative reasoning of human analysts. And when applied to SOAR, AI can accelerate workflow creation and automate routine case handling.
In each of these areas, vendors are loosely using the term AI SOC to describe what they are doing. And that is why it’s important to know what problem you are trying to solve and which ‘AI SOC” solution is appropriate for you.
What AI SOC usually means
All that said, when people refer to AI SOC, they’re usually talking about that middle layer. The part focused on automated alert triage, investigation, and escalation.
That’s where Intezer focuses: providing 24/7 managed alert triage, investigation, and response powered by a decade of deep forensic analysis tooling combined with flexible and adaptable LLMs.
Our system automatically investigates alerts, surfaces only what truly requires attention, and escalates only up to 4% of alerts to human analysts.
This is where the market’s energy, and customer need, are currently concentrated. Teams want to scale their response capabilities without adding headcount, and AI SOCs make that possible.
How to evaluate AI SOC vendors
With so many vendors entering the field, it’s important to evaluate them based on clear, measurable criteria. Some of the key metrics that I’m hearing from our customers and prospect that they consider, include:
- Accuracy: How precise are the AI-driven investigations?
- Speed: How quickly can alerts be triaged?
- Scale and coverage: Can the system handle all your alerts in a timely fashion?
- Noise reduction: What percentage of alerts still require human review?
- Context and transparency: Can you understand how the AI reached its conclusions, or is it a black box?
For more on this, see our guide to evaluate AI SOC tools (with questions to ask vendors).
The road ahead
AI SOC is one of the most exciting and fast-evolving categories in cybersecurity. It’s also one of the messiest, but that’s often a sign of real innovation happening.
For years, the industry has been searching for a way to truly solve the alert overload and talent shortage problem. With the arrival of AI-driven investigation technology, we’re finally seeing that vision come to life.
A recent SACR market analysis report examined these metrics across leading AI SOC vendors which can be very helpful for evaluating which solution is right for you. And I definitely recommend reading about Intezer in the report 🙂.
At Intezer, we’re proud to help security teams reduce noise, focus on real threats, and scale their operations intelligently.
If you’re exploring this space, we’d love to be your partner in building a smarter SOC.
Itai Tevet
