Alphabet and Microsoft seem to dominate the artificial intelligence conversation. But don’t underestimate Palo Alto Networks as one of the next big AI plays, at least in the enterprise space, some analysts say. Analysts this week highlighted the cybersecurity provider and its central AI role on the heels of a strong earnings report and guidance lift that pushed shares up more than 12% during Wednesday’s trading session. PANW 5D mountain Palo Alto shares pop on earnings “As the only security vendor with critical mass of data across all major threat vectors (Network, Cloud, Endpoint), we think Palo Alto Networks is in a unique position to leverage AI to drive automation in security operations,” wrote Morgan Stanley’s Hamza Fodderwala in a Wednesday note to clients. The drive for AI resources has overtaken Wall Street in recent weeks after the blowout launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. On the enterprise side, many companies have begun asking how they can utilize AI tools to better understand their data and prevent security threats. During an earnings call with analysts this week, CEO Nikesh Arora commented on Palo Alto Networks AI push, calling the software company one of the “best positioned” to utilize machine learning to enhance security. Its new AI-based security operations center platform known as XSIAM could also represent “another leg of growth” for the company, he added. Goldman Sachs’ Gabriela Borges called XSIAM, which recently hit $30 million in bookings “one of the most compelling applications” of AI within the software industry. She added that the company’s “marketing and product leadership in this category are best in class.” Along with a slew of cybersecurity and software names, Baird’s Shrenik Kothari also named Palo Alto Networks a top AI pick , citing its use of machine learning to detect and respond to security threats. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting