Tech Giants Intensify AI Investments to Strengthen Connected Economy

As businesses seek to strengthen the connected economy, they are harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster security measures and combat the ever-evolving landscape of sophisticated cyberthreats.

Accenture and Oracle announced a joint investment in generative AI solutions aimed at helping organizations securely extract more value from their data. Meanwhile, Proofpoint unveiled new email security offerings that combine predelivery, click-time, and post-delivery threat detection capabilities.

Accenture has developed a generative AI-powered Oracle assistant that aims to change how the two companies develop and deliver Oracle solutions. The assistant, which uses large language models contextualized with Oracle- and Accenture-specific data, generates responses for queries related to Oracle products and services and provides guidance during the software delivery lifecycle.

“Oracle continues to be at the forefront of enterprise AI, making generative AI available throughout our stack — from infrastructure to data and applications — to meet customers’ unique needs,” Greg Pavlik, senior vice president of AI and Data Management Services of Oracle, said in a news release. “We’re excited to be partnering with Accenture to deliver enterprise-class generative AI-powered solutions that address real-world business problems.”

Oracle’s Bet on Generative AI

In one case, Accenture said it used the Oracle assistant for a resources industry client, reducing the effort required for business process design by up to 70%. The tool is also being used for code development and testing systems, helping to reduce time spent on implementing new Oracle technologies and features. For a global telecommunications company, the assistant was used to augment test case creation, ensuring high-quality data and saving time and effort.

“Our clients are laser-focused on moving beyond generative AI experimentation to value realization. In fact, according to new Accenture research, 85% of C-suite leaders are confident they will achieve the expected ROI on their generative AI investments this year,” Lan Guan, chief AI officer of Accenture, said in the news release. “Together with Oracle, we’re delivering the enterprise-grade generative AI solutions organizations need to drive new value and completely reimagine business functions and processes.”

Growing Focus on AI Security

PYMNTS previously reported that AI is revolutionizing cyberthreat response by expediting and streamlining incident investigation through data analysis and pattern recognition. The importance of these innovations is underscored by the fact that losses due to business email compromise have hit a record high of $2.9 billion, according to the FBI 2023 Internet Crime Report.

Cybersecurity and compliance company Proofpoint said it detects over 4.5 million unique malicious URLs daily, an increase of 119% in the last three years. The company’s dataset shows that 1 in 7 clicks on malicious URLs occurs within 60 seconds of the message hitting the inbox, emphasizing the need for pre- and post-delivery protection capabilities.

Proofpoint is addressing the increasing risks associated with business email compromise (BEC) and malicious URLs. According to industry reports, these two techniques have been among the most widely used by cybercriminals since 2016. In response to these threats, Proofpoint has introduced a predelivery defense system to protect against social engineering tactics and malicious links. The company has also developed adaptive email security capabilities, incorporating a layer of behavioral AI-based defense applied after an email has been delivered to the recipient’s inbox.

The adaptive email security features are designed to monitor and analyze user behavior and interactions with emails, allowing the system to identify and respond to potential threats in real time. By employing AI and machine learning algorithms, Proofpoint’s solution is meant to adapt to the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and provide ongoing protection against new and emerging threats.

“The fragmentation across email security solutions allows threat actors to win again and again. Organizations need a simple, unified and effective way to catch every threat, every time, every way a user may encounter it, using every form of detection,” Darren Lee, executive vice-president and general manager, of People Protection Group, Proofpoint, said in a news release.

“Combined with our detection ensemble and email threat intelligence dataset — the largest and most advanced of its kind — our ability to offer end-to-end predelivery and adaptive email security sets a new bar for the industry.”