Microsoft Security business undergoes major restructuring: lays off hundreds, bets on AI defense

According to “Beating” monitoring, Microsoft’s newly appointed head of its security business, Hayete Gallot, is reorganizing a security department with more than 10,000 employees. At least 8 executives under the directors have been replaced, and hundreds of positions have also been cut in recent layoffs.

Microsoft is shifting resources to Security Copilot, code vulnerability scanning, and AI agent management tools. Traditional threat detection products such as Sentinel will see reduced investment, while Microsoft’s core endpoint security product Defender will receive higher priority.

Microsoft is also drawing on Anthropic’s AI security products. Its new tool, MDASH, can call multiple models to automatically search for vulnerabilities and has already been used to examine Windows. In July, Microsoft patched a record 622 vulnerabilities, saying that part of the increase came from MDASH.

This round of adjustments directly targets enterprises’ concerns about AI attacks. Microsoft wants to use AI security tools to drive growth while avoiding Anthropic and OpenAI taking away this new budget.