AI-powered security operations (SecOps) with Google Cloud: PwC

Matthew Wilden

Principal, Google Cybersecurity Alliance Leader, PwC US

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Cyberattacks don’t wait for business hours. And neither can you. As threats grow more sophisticated and digital environments more complex, traditional security operations (SecOps) are reaching a breaking point.

According to PwC's 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights survey, only 2% of organizations say they’re fully cyber resilient—a clear signal that yesterday’s approach wasn’t built for today’s threat landscape.

It’s clear threats aren’t slowing down, but is your SecOps strategy built to match them? PwC and Google Cloud Security are transforming security operations, shifting organizations from reactive defense to true resilience. Read on to see how.

When rule-based security isn’t enough

To understand what should change, let’s start with two foundational concepts: SOC and SecOps. A Security Operations Center (SOC) is the team on the front lines—monitoring systems, detecting threats, and responding to incidents. Security Operations (SecOps) encompasses the broader strategy, processes, and technologies that enable the SOC’s work. This includes platforms such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response), which are core tools of many SecOps programs. Google Security Operations brings these capabilities together, combining SIEM and SOAR into a unified solution. Together, they form the backbone of an organization’s cyber defense, protecting data, systems, and business operations.

As SecOps programs matured, Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms emerged with a clear promise: Reduce analyst fatigue by automating repetitive detection and response workflows. SecOps teams have long relied on rule-based, deterministic automation to manage the flood of alerts—if a condition is met, trigger an action. But many of today’s threats don’t fit neatly into predetermined rules, especially as SOC teams require deeper context and judgment to respond effectively.

Modern SecOps platforms already provide powerful automation capabilities, from advanced detection engineering to automated playbooks and response workflows that reduce manual effort at scale. Agentic AI builds on that foundation. Rather than simply executing predefined scripts, intelligent AI agents can interpret alerts, investigate activity across data sources, and surface prioritized insights, augmenting existing automation with adaptive reasoning.

Agentic AI can also connect disparate signals, recommend next steps, and allow analysts to focus on higher-value work, such as hunting emerging threats or refining detection strategies. The goal isn’t to replace automation—or the analyst—but to elevate both. AI isn’t driving the car; it’s enhancing the engine and giving the driver better visibility, speed, and control.

Google Cloud built its SecOps platform for the threats you're facing today. As a cloud-native solution, it can ingest and query large datasets quickly, correlating threat intelligence and integrating enterprise context into core workflows. AI sits on top of this quality data layer, allowing teams to move faster, connect the dots across environments, and spend less time buried in the manual work of triaging and investigating incidents.

Unlike older platforms shoehorned into the cloud, Google SecOps was purpose-built for scale and integration. The payoff? Organizations can consolidate threat monitoring, event analysis, and response orchestration into a single view. Less tool sprawl, better visibility, and fewer gaps for threats to hide in. This architecture also makes it well positioned for AI adoption. Because it runs on a fast, scalable, cloud-native foundation, intelligent agents can analyze massive volumes of security data in near real time—without the performance bottlenecks or cost inefficiencies that often limit legacy platforms. As more AI-driven capabilities are introduced, the platform is also built to scale with them, not strain under their weight.

Within Google SecOps, SIEM, SOAR, and Google Threat Intelligence (GTI) operate as a unified platform—not separate tools stitched together, but tightly integrated capabilities working from the same data foundation. We focus on leveraging native integrations with Google Threat Intelligence, so events are automatically matched against what's happening in the broader threat landscape. No manual lookups required. Because detection, enrichment and response occur within the same environment, threat intelligence is applied in real time across both monitoring and automated workflows. On top of that, Google AI-powered agents connect the dots across your environment, piecing together what an attack actually looks like from start to finish. Instead of wading through thousands of unrelated alerts, your analysts can see the full story and zero in on what actually matters.

Empowering human analysts

Modern SecOps platforms are changing what it means to be a security professional. The focus shifts from sifting through alerts and chasing down leads to validating AI-generated insights, tuning detections, and building proactive defenses.

This couldn't come at a better time as the cybersecurity talent shortage doesn’t appear to be letting up. PwC’s Global Digital Trust Insights survey consistently shows that many organizations struggle to attract and retain cybersecurity professionals—a challenge that only intensifies as digital transformation accelerates. Agentic platforms, when deployed alongside strong processes and human experience, help organizations get more from existing talent and reduce burnout.

How PwC and Google Cloud Security work together

Technology alone doesn't solve cybersecurity challenges. Tools need strong processes, well-structured data, and teams that know how to use them. That's where our collaboration with Google makes the difference, so you can strengthen defenses, reduce risk, and respond faster when it matters most.

Today’s threats demand more than standalone solutions. With a $400 million, three-year investment in AI-powered security collaboration with Google Cloud, PwC is helping organizations modernize security operations and build intelligence-led defenses that keep pace with evolving threats across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

PwC brings deep experience in cybersecurity strategy, implementation, and transformation. We help organizations assess readiness, structure data, optimize workflows, and build governance frameworks built for the long haul. Because deploying technology is only the first step. Real transformation is what sticks.

In practice, that looks like sitting side by side with security leaders to refine detections, help make sure the right data feeds the platform, and connect SecOps processes directly to business risk. That means tapping into Google’s global view of cyber threats and real-time threat intelligence informed by frontline insights and billions of daily signals so you’re not relying solely on what’s happening inside your own environment.

We also build governance controls that keep each decision audited, repeatable, and tied to what the business cares about, because moving fast only matters if you're moving smart.

The result is a shift from reactive security—where analysts are often buried in alerts—to intelligent security operations where insights can be trusted, actions are deliberate, and workflows actually work.

The days of cybersecurity sitting in the background are over. And enterprises that pair Google’s AI-powered platforms with PwC's know-how can build security that's proactive, integrated, and built to withstand whatever comes next.