Case Study - Darktrace

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UK Tech unicorn bringing radical new cyber security approach to Asia Pacific

Country: Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, Philippines, Thailand

In just six years, cyber security company Darktrace has gone from being founded by mathematicians at the UK’s University of Cambridge to boasting the most widely-used enterprise Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the world.

Darktrace is one of the rare companies that investors refer to as a ‘unicorn’ – a privately owned start-up worth more than $1bn – it was valued at $1.65bn in September 2018.

Now, the company has over 40 offices around the world and its technology is used by more than 3,000 businesses globally. In Asia-Pacific, its growth has been explosive. Supported by 153 employees in 13 offices, Darktrace has more than 1,000 deployments of its technology across the region. Its users include household names such as Telstra, International Baccalaureate, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, and Mandarin Airlines.

Co-CEO of Darktrace, Poppy Gustafsson said: “Due to the rapid pace of technology innovation, cyber security is a huge concern globally. But after a string of high-profile attacks, coupled with increased connectivity in enterprises and critical infrastructure across the region, it’s particularly high on the agenda for businesses in Asia. This landscape has created unprecedented demand for Darktrace’s cyber AI platform.”

A new approach

The company’s success is largely thanks to the radically different approach it takes to cyber defence compared with traditional solutions.

Poppy Gustafsson explained: “Traditionally, combatting cyber-crime has always been about building walls to keep attackers out. The problem is that sophisticated and innovative threat-actors will always find a way to get around them.”

“We approach this challenge in a fundamentally different way, looking instead at what is happening inside a network and using AI to detect and combat any irregular activity in real time, before it can do damage.”

Darktrace describes its technology as an ‘immune system’ for organisations, identifying activity that doesn’t belong in the digital business and autonomously containing the threat as soon as it is detected.

It offers its customers a significant new weapon in the ongoing arms race against increasingly advanced attackers. Powered by AI, the Darktrace’s cyber AI platform operates 24/7, 365 days a year. And every 3 seconds, its Autonomous Response AI fights back against a cyber-threat, preventing it from escalating into a crisis.

The business is also unusual for a tech company in the way it sources its employees, with a focus on employing young and bright talent, regardless of gender, and training and promoting them from within – an ethos that starts at the top of the business with its two female CEOs. Across its Asia operations, 36 per cent of Darktrace’s workforce are women, a figure that’s far above average for a tech, let alone a cyber security, organisation

Continued expansion plans

Darktrace has no intention of being complacent following its success, and continues to carry out a highly active programme of market education and awareness to further meet its growing customer demand.

This includes regularly exhibiting and speaking at a wide range of tech and industry events and attending trade missions around the region, supported by the UK’s Department for International Trade (UK DIT).

Darktrace has benefited from DIT support across the region to help establish and grow its Asia-Pacific business – from hosting customer receptions at the British High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand, to being delegates on a trade mission to Australia and Singapore.

Poppy Gustafsson said: “Since our inception, Darktrace has been a global company. UK DIT has been instrumental in connecting us with decision-makers worldwide, helping position us as global leaders in the cyber AI sector.

Another great example of how the UK brings innovation to life.

The UK Government’s Department for International Trade (DIT) helps connect international buyers with UK goods and services to meet their needs, supports overseas companies to locate and grow in the UK, drives both inward and outward investment, negotiates market access and trade deals, and champions free trade.