Security-focused solution providers are helping customers navigate two once-in-a-generation technology shifts that are converging to create unprecedented cybersecurity risks: the arrival of AI and the impending impact of quantum computing. If solution providers can be adaptable and nimble enough to complete the preparations before the clock runs out and the full force of AI and quantum threats have arrived, it could be the channel’s defining moment. @CRN cybersecurity reporter and Senior Editor @KyleAlspach spoke with the following solution provider, managed service provider (MSP), managed security service provider (MSSP) and vendor executives for their insights and perspective on the convergence of these shifts for our September cover story: - @cjkonrad, vice president of global cyber, @wwt_inc - Rob Gregory, CISO, @Optiv - Kathryn Hall, senior vice president of services, Optiv - Zack Finstad, vice president of cybersecurity, Logically - Troy Saunders, CISO, @LogicalisUS - Phillip Tobolski, director of cybersecurity, Logicalis U.S. - Ryan Whelan, managing director and global head of cyber intelligence, Accenture - Gary Brickhouse, CISO, GuidePoint Security - Chris Schueler, CEO, @Cyderes - @donmonistere, president and CEO, General Informatics - Chesley Choudhury, founder and chairman, TanChes Global Management - Timothy Hollebeek, industry technology strategist, digital certificate authority @digicert - Jason Soroko, veteran cryptography specialist and senior fellow, @SectigoHQ - Daniel Bernard, chief business officer, @CrowdStrike - John Ackerly, co-founder and CEO, @virtruprivacy - Michael DePalma, vice president of business development, @OpenTextSec, @OpenText

Intel spin-off Cornelis Networks is opening a new front in its challenge to @nvidia with its entry into scale-up networking, which is meant to give companies building rack-scale AI computing platforms an open alternative to the latter company’s proprietary NVLink interconnect. The startup announced today that its scale-up move has the potential backing of Qualcomm and that it has also raised $205 million in new funding from investors. While Cornelis didn’t share any details about what it called a “collaboration” with Qualcomm, leaders from both companies signaled the potential to integrate their technologies together. @DylanOnChips has the details, including what Cornelis CEO @LisaSpelman shared in an interview, here:

While Qualcomm has focused on big deals with hyperscalers like Meta and Amazon, the growing need for enterprises to rein in the high costs of cloud-based frontier AI models will likely push the vendor to build a channel for its data center products, veteran tech analyst Bob O'Donnell told @DylanOnChips.

In an interview with @DylanOnChips, @Lenovo North America President @RTMcCurdy said the vendor’s data center business is winning over a wider constituency of customers that includes multinationals, large corporations, SMBs and public sector firms.