Five Years Since IPO And Just Getting Started

As CrowdStrike marks the fifth anniversary of its IPO, the company stands as a testament to the visionary leadership of CEO George Kurtz and the unwavering commitment to cybersecurity innovation. From its inception, CrowdStrike set out to redefine how organizations approach security, and today, it is not only a recognized leader in the field but also a vital force driving the future of cybersecurity.

I have known Kurtz since the early 2000s—back in his Foundstone days. I have followed his career through McAfee and to founding CrowdStrike. I recently spoke with Kurtz about the milestone and the momentum the company has.

A Stellar Q1 Performance

CrowdStrike’s recent Q1 2025 earnings report highlighted record achievements, setting the stage for continued success.

The company reported a net new Annual Recurring Revenue of $212 million, a 22% year-over-year increase, and an ending ARR of $3.65 billion, marking a 33% growth from the previous year. These figures underscore CrowdStrike’s ability to continually attract and retain customers in a competitive market.

The company’s subscription gross margin also reached a record high, surpassing 80%, which speaks to its operational efficiency and the value customers find in its services. Deals involving cloud, identity, or Falcon Next-Gen SIEM modules more than doubled year-over-year, and the number of deals involving eight or more modules grew by an impressive 95%.

Such milestones are not just numbers; they are indicative of the trust and reliance major organizations place on CrowdStrike. As of Q1, Falcon, CrowdStrike’s flagship product, has been selected by 62 of the Fortune 100 as their preferred cloud security provider. This trust has recently been further validated by CrowdStrike’s inclusion in the S&P 500, reflecting its importance and influence in the market.

Visionary Leadership and a Clear Future Path

When I talked to Kurtz, he reflected on the journey from founding CrowdStrike to its present status as a cybersecurity powerhouse. “When I started CrowdStrike, the vision was to create a security platform company that could meet the real pain points of our customers,” Kurtz shared.

“Customers were spending a lot of money on security, but they were still being breached,” he added. Kurtz stressed that CrowdStrike started with the right approach and a focus on addressing the needs of customers—and they executed on that mission to deliver the outcome of stopping the breach as opposed to just blocking malware.

Kurtz’s philosophy has always centered around data, seeing it as the key to effective cybersecurity.

We also discussed that some of the areas that CrowdStrike has excelled in are things that didn’t have defined category segments when CrowdStrike first started developing them. “We pioneered a lot of these things that didn’t have names and really came from the fact that we had a really great apparatus—the agent. We had a great data structure. We had a great platform that was able to visualize and search all this data. And then we wrapped it with, we didn’t call it the Overwatch service, but Overwatch and its whole goal was stopping breaches, and I think that’s a big part of our success.”

Richard Stiennon, author of “Security Yearbook 2024: A History and Directory of the IT Security Industry,” and principal analyst with IT-Harvest shared some his insight with me regarding CrowdStrike. “Crowdstrike earned their current success with a better product. The founders recognized that AV solutions could not keep up with signatures and had to change. They won out over Cylance, and Mandiant to take the lead.”

Innovation at the Core

CrowdStrike’s commitment to innovation is evident in its recent advancements. The integration of Artificial Intelligence into its platform is transforming how security operations are conducted. The company’s AI-driven assistant, Charlotte, is designed to not only answer security-related queries but also take action on behalf of users, drastically reducing the time required to respond to threats.

“What we really focused on is, ‘How do we create an AI, or virtual SOC analyst that has the collective wisdom of the decade-plus of CrowdStrike’s knowledge?’ But then what? The exciting piece to us is that Charlotte is able to take action on behalf of our customers. It understands how to use our workflows.”

Kurtz’ enthusiasm for AI came through as he talked about the capabilities of Charlotte and what it can do. He described how the Charlotte AI can understand how to use Falcon Fusion SOAR or real-time response. It can provide information to a security analyst. It can decode obfuscated PowerShell. It can give you a PowerShell script or a Bash script that will actually roll out patches or take remedial action.

Expanding Horizons

Looking ahead, CrowdStrike is focused on broadening its capabilities and addressing more complex security challenges. The launch of Falcon Foundry allows customers to create their own applications within the CrowdStrike ecosystem, enhancing their ability to manage and act on security data. This move represents a significant step towards making CrowdStrike’s platform even more versatile and user-driven.

Additionally, CrowdStrike is making strides in areas like Next-Gen SIEM, identity protection, and cloud security. These areas are seen as critical growth drivers for the company in the coming years. Kurtz emphasized that the next five years will be about solving even harder problems using the vast amounts of data CrowdStrike has and emphasized that he is committed to driving innovation and delivering solutions that keep CrowdStrike customers safe.

The Road Ahead

As CrowdStrike celebrates this significant milestone, it’s clear that the company is just getting started.

With a strong foundation built on innovative technology, a data-centric approach, and a relentless focus on stopping breaches, CrowdStrike is well-positioned to lead the cybersecurity industry into the future. The accolades and financial milestones achieved are a testament to its success, but the real story is in what lies ahead.

As Kurtz aptly put it, “The outcome of security investments should be stopping breaches. That’s our mission, and it’s what drives us every day.”