October 2, 2025

Locked and loaded

Hi there,

ITC Vegas is less than 2 weeks away. Join CB Insights analyst Chris Sekerak live for the Insurtech 50 Reveal on October 16. 

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And now, here is this week's Hot or Not.

Hot: AI agents in professional services

The rise of AI agents has consulting giants racing to reinvent themselves before clients cut out the middleman.

Leading firms have pursued more than 100 AI agent-related partnerships, investments, and acquisitions since 2023, per CB Insights data.

The existential threat is real: When enterprises can access AI expertise directly, why pay for PowerPoints?

Download the Future of Professional Services report to see what leading firms are building, where startup innovation is pointing, and 4 key opportunities for the next 2+ years.

Not: Unsecured AI

4 AI security startups were acquired in September alone: 

• Lakera (by Check Point) 
• Pangea (by CrowdStrike) 
• Calypso AI (by F5)
• Aim Security (by Cato Networks)

Most of these acquisitions are early-stage end-to-end platforms that combine offensive capabilities (red teaming, vulnerability management) with defensive features (incident response, alerts).

Using CB Insights’ predictive signals, including Mosaic company health scores and M&A probability, we’ve identified the AI security startups that could be snapped up next.

Hot: US defense tech 

Defense tech funding is projected to reach a record $18B by the end of 2025.

The US has captured 81% of dollars in 2025 YTD.

And the gap is widening: Europe has raised just $1.7B, while China's defense tech funding has dropped to its lowest point since 2019 at just $114M.

The largest US deals this year include: 

• World View, $2.6B Series E
• Anduril, $2.5B Series G
• Applied Intuition, $600M Series F
• Saronic, $600M Series C

See how venture capital is reshaping global defense in CB Insights' full military-startup complex report.

Not: AI agent deployment

Two-thirds of organizations surveyed by CB Insights say deploying agents is a priority, yet nearly half remain stuck in the evaluation phase. 

According to our latest survey, key implementation blockers are integration challenges with existing systems followed by security and compliance concerns.

See which companies are solving agents' biggest deployment challenges in our AI agent tech stack market map.

The +1

Flooded with error. The ranking runs backward.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal 

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. Want to learn about how AI is elevating customer engagement across insurance? Download insights from CB Insights' recent presentation at InsurTech NY.

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