Wiz CTO Ami Luttwak on Google Integration and the Future of AI Cybersecurity
Wiz co-founder and CTO Ami Luttwak discusses life after Google's historic acquisition, the convergence of AI and cybersecurity, and the new Scan for Good initiative.
Almost two years after Google officially announced its acquisition of Wiz in what became the largest exit in the history of Israeli high-tech, and following official regulatory approval earlier this year, the full fruits of this collaboration are now coming to light. Wiz is unveiling a new, highly unusual initiative aimed at preventing the next wave of cyberattacks on public entities and critical infrastructure.
In an exclusive interview, Ami Luttwak, CTO and co-founder of Wiz, discusses the company's evolving mission, life after the mega-exit, and how the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence has outpaced even his own predictions. He also sheds light on the strategic direction Wiz is taking alongside Google.
"Selling a company is more like an organ transplant"
"Cybersecurity is changing completely before our eyes… It will take the industry some time to fully grasp this shift, but we understand it, and that's why we're here. I don't think any body in the world is fully prepared for this. It's like a crazy drama unfolding at a pace no one ever predicted," says Luttwak. "This is one of the main reasons Google and Wiz joined forces: to combine our cybersecurity expertise with Google's leadership in the AI world, and figure out how to build something entirely new, knowing that the cybersecurity landscape is transforming."
Luttwak admits that when Wiz was founded, they could not foresee the exact convergence of AI and cybersecurity happening at such a breakneck speed. "Everything happening over the past few months is much faster than I ever imagined," he notes.
Despite orchestrating the largest exit in Israeli tech history, which turned its founders into billionaires, Luttwak emphasizes that reality is far removed from romanticized fiction. "Selling a company doesn't mean you now go to the beach. It's more like an organ transplant. In the first stage, the mission is to get the organ accepted by the body, and that is hard. We are now integrating into Google, understanding the potential, and aiming to achieve the magic of preserving a startup's speed, precision, and customer connection while collaborating with and learning from Google's experts."
Scanning for Good: Protecting Public Infrastructure for Free
As a direct result of the partnership between Wiz and Google DeepMind, Wiz is launching Scan for Good. This new initiative utilizes Red Agent, the company's AI-powered pentesting system, supercharged by Google's Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber model. Rather than serving paying enterprise clients, Wiz is deploying Red Agent to secure critical organizations, nonprofits, and infrastructure entirely free of charge.
"There are many organizations that are highly exposed and hold extremely sensitive data. Think of public services, schools, hospitals, municipalities, and the like," says Luttwak. "The goal of the project is to use the immense power of AI to protect these organizations, identify vulnerabilities, especially focusing on sensitive data directly exposed or exposed to AI, and patch the leaks as fast as possible."
Gal Nagli, Head of Threat Detection at Wiz, explains that Scan for Good operates on an opt-in format. Organizations must formally request to join the initiative before Wiz begins scanning their systems. Using DeepMind's specialized cybersecurity models, Wiz delivers comprehensive vulnerability reports to the relevant authorities and assists in remediation without any financial cost.
Redefining Cloud Security for the Age of AI
Luttwak defines Scan for Good as an essential market-education moment. As Wiz integrates deeper into Google Cloud, its scope is expanding far beyond traditional cloud security. The rise of AI means that everyone is now a builder, requiring security tools that are autonomous, fast, and accessible to every developer within an organization, rather than just dedicated security teams.
