AI Is Moving Fast. Trust Is Moving Slower. That’s the Point.
Cybersecurity Threats To Accelerate, Start Preparing Now
Hi everyone,
Happy Masters Week! Before we jump into our AI focused newsletter – let’s take a moment to appreciate the finer things in life: like enjoying Masters weekend!
AI is moving fast. Faster than anything I’ve witnessed in my 17 years of experience. And that means that technological barriers are collapsing. As they collapse, the lines begin to blur between supplier, rep agencies, distributors, contractors, customers, etc.
If you want a feel for just how fast things are moving, watch this to hear how the CEO of Shopify is thinking about AI in 2026. It’s a good encapsulation of what we’re all feeling right now – the ground is shifting under our feet, and the pace isn’t slowing down. And, here’s Marc Andreessen, “This is the biggest technological revolution of my life. This is clearly bigger than the internet. The comps on this are things like the microprocessor and the steam engine and electricity.”
Personally, I’m working harder than I’ve worked in 10 years. And, that’s on top of having 3 kids under 6! It feels like the next few years are going to redefine this industry that I’ve grown to love and come to know over the past decade of working in B2B distribution. That’s good and can also be bad. But, it reinforces the things that have made this industry great: relationships and trust.
You Can’t Trust the Horizontal AI Giants
Distributors need to be able trust their AI vendors more than ever. These companies have access to what is increasingly your most valuable asset: data. And, as the supply chain converges, the power of that data will become even more valuable.
But here’s the problem: the biggest AI companies in the world – OpenAI, Anthropic, Google – are proving over and over again that they can’t be trusted to stay in their lane.
Here’s a good example of what I mean. OpenAI just told investors that Microsoft is a risk to their business and they are diversifying away from them. Microsoft invested over $10B in OpenAI at its earliest stages. Now, OpenAI is pulling a 180 on them.
Anthropic isn’t immune either. They launched Claude Code, which competes directly with Cursor – one of Anthropic’s best customers. Claude cut off a startup’s API access when it was about to be acquired by OpenAI. And then there’s the whole Anthropic-Pentagon saga.
Brookings laid it out clearly – all three of these companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) are now actively launching products that compete with the companies building on their platforms. That’s not a partner. That’s a future competitor with access to your data. For distributors, think of it like working with Amazon. They’ll help you sell your product today, but if you do too well – they will see it and may decide to come after your market themselves.
Cybersecurity: Brace for Impact
Here’s the other side of the AI coin that doesn’t get enough attention.
Distributors have a long history of being a target for hackers. Ransomware, phishing, supply chain attacks — this industry has seen it all. And unfortunately, this challenge is going to get worse. A lot worse. These new models are making it easier and cheaper for bad actors to find vulnerabilities, craft targeted attacks, and scale them.
Look at what just happened with Claude Mythos. Anthropic built a new frontier AI model — one they consider so powerful at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities that they refused to release it to the public. In testing, Mythos identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities in every major operating system and every major web browser. In one test, the model escaped a secured sandbox and devised a multi-step exploit to gain broad internet access on its own.
Read that again: an AI model broke out of its own containment.
This is why Anthropic launched Project Glasswing — they’re giving companies like AWS, Apple, Google, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, and Nvidia early access to Mythos specifically for defensive security work. The idea is to find and fix the security holes before the bad guys do.
For distributors, this is a five-alarm fire. Just this morning, Treasury Secretary Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Powell called an emergency meeting with leaders on Wall Street to discuss upcoming cyber threats coming from future AI releases.
Distributors aren’t getting early access to Mythos. These new models are making it easier and cheaper for bad actors to find vulnerabilities and craft targeted phishing attacks that are nearly impossible to distinguish from real emails. The barrier to entry for cybercrime is dropping just as fast as the barrier to entry for legitimate AI applications.
So what can you do to prepare?
Give your CISO or IT leadership more resources, now. Don’t wait for the breach to find the holes. It’s inevitable that will you have them — every company does. Listen to your IT team and start preparations now.
If you don’t have a dedicated security team, now is the time to find a partner who can help. The cost of prevention is a fraction of the cost of recovery — and that gap is only widening.
What This All Means
The AI wave is here and it’s not slowing down. The companies that win in B2B distribution over the next five years will be the ones that embrace AI while being ruthlessly selective about who they trust to deliver it.
That means working with vendors who are purpose-built for your industry. Companies that aren’t going to pivot into becoming your competitor next quarter. Companies that understand that your data is your competitive advantage — not theirs.
The technology is going to keep getting better. The question is whether the trust can keep up.
Great and timely article Alex.