As AI safety and rogue agents dominate headlines, cybersecurity stocks are climbing and investors are pouring massive capital into startups building security for an AI-native world. Companies like Instinct and Simile are pulling in nine-figure checks and valuations that would have seemed absurd just a few years ago.

Shardul Shah, a partner at Index Ventures, has had a front-row seat to this shift. He's spent nearly two decades investing in cybersecurity and enterprise software, including six consecutive rounds in cloud security startup Wiz, which Google acquired for $32 billion earlier this year in one of its largest acquisitions ever.

On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Shah joins Rebecca Bellan to explain why periodic, human-in-the-loop security can no longer keep up - and why Index keeps investing in AI-native security companies at stages that once demanded far more proof. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads at @EquityPod.