The latest shake up at Google DeepMind, including Demis Hassabis stepping back from the CEO role and Alphabet’s stock falling 5% on the news, has put leadership risk in AI firmly on your radar. When a core AI hub such as DeepMind is more tightly pulled into Google’s wider structure, it can shift expectations for competitors, suppliers and partners across the sector. This article looks at 3 large, established AI exposed stocks from our sector screener that appear positioned to be positively affected by this news. You will see where sentiment risk sits and where some investors might see potential resilience.
Overview: Cloudflare provides cloud-based security, networking and developer services that help businesses run fast and secure internet applications, protect against cyberattacks and manage AI and web traffic at the edge of the network.
Operations: Cloudflare generates about US$2.3b in revenue from its Internet Telephone segment, with sales spread across the United States, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the rest of the world.
Cloudflare sits at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity and internet performance. This may be especially relevant as investors question Google’s AI direction and look for other platforms that support secure, scalable AI workloads. The company is unprofitable today, and analysts expect earnings and margins to improve, helped by demand for zero trust security and its Workers and AI products that support AI agents, identity controls and new monetization models. That opportunity comes with real trade offs, including a rich valuation, pressure on gross margins and heavy competition from hyperscalers. For investors watching how the agentic web and AI security unfold, Cloudflare’s partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic and its expanding product set may be important beyond the headline numbers alone.
Cloudflare’s AI edge network story is accelerating, yet its rich pricing and unprofitable profile leave a lot beneath the surface. See how the analyst forecasts for Cloudflare line up with that tension before the next twist appears.
Overview: Datadog provides a cloud based observability and security platform that helps companies monitor, analyze and secure their applications and infrastructure, including AI and large language model workloads, across multiple cloud providers in one place.
Operations: Datadog generates about US$3.7b in revenue from its Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure segment, with around US$2.5b from the United States and about US$1.0b from international customers.
Datadog sits at the heart of how enterprises run and troubleshoot complex AI driven systems, which becomes more important as investors question Google’s AI direction and look for vendors that help keep cloud and AI costs and reliability under control. The company’s observability, security and AI tools are described as mission critical, with demand for unified monitoring, rising international contribution and recognition as a Leader in observability platforms. At the same time, the stock trades on rich revenue and earnings multiples, recent margins have softened, and competition from hyperscalers and open source tools is intense. For investors, the key question is whether Datadog’s AI focused positioning and customer stickiness can justify that premium and offset concentration and cost risks.
Datadog’s premium story depends on whether its AI focused platform truly justifies those rich multiples or if something is being glossed over. Examine its growth, margins and competition in detail with the analysis report for Datadog
Overview: Zscaler is a cloud security company that routes user traffic through its own platform to protect against cyberthreats, secure access to private applications and data, and apply zero trust policies across internet, SaaS and internal systems, including AI tools.
Operations: Zscaler generates about US$3.2b in revenue, almost entirely from subscriptions to its cloud platform and related support services, with sales concentrated in the United States and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and growing contributions from Asia Pacific and other regions.
Zscaler matters to AI focused investors because its zero trust and AI driven security tools sit in the path of rapidly growing cloud and AI traffic, at a time when Google’s DeepMind reshuffle has pushed AI execution risk to the forefront. The company is still reporting losses, yet revenue growth, guidance lifts and recognition as a Leader in SASE and Security Service Edge suggest it is winning larger enterprise deals and deeper wallet share. That comes with real trade offs, including rich revenue multiples, share price volatility, heavy reliance on external funding and intense competition from hyperscalers and other security vendors. The question is whether Zscaler’s role securing AI agents and data can justify that risk profile as the story develops further.
Zscaler’s AI security story is accelerating, while rich revenue multiples and losses keep many investors cautious. Get the full picture in the analysis report for Zscaler for a potential twist that is easy to miss.
The three stocks covered here are only a starting point, and the full Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sector screener surfaced 37 more companies with AI related narratives that could sit in a similar conversation. Use Simply Wall St to identify, filter and analyze the specific catalysts and storylines that matter to you so you can focus on the highest conviction ideas instead of scrolling through endless tickers.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data
and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your
financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data.
Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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About NasdaqGS:DDOG
Datadog
Operates an observability and security platform for cloud applications in the United States and internationally.
Excellent balance sheet with reasonable growth potential.
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