Dan Ives Says the Tech Sell-Off Is Missing the AI Boom

Key Points

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes the recent sell-off in major tech stocks like Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow is overdone, as AI adoption is accelerating from experimentation to real deployment.
Ives points to easing geopolitical tensions and a shift toward risk-on sentiment as catalysts for a tech rebound, with 2026 shaping up as a major AI rollout year.
The analyst highlights that AI-driven threats are making cybersecurity a core layer of the AI stack, benefiting companies like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Zscaler.
Ives argues the market has been overly focused on macro risks and AI competition fears, while underlying enterprise demand for AI software and infrastructure is strengthening.
The setup suggests that if the risk-on shift holds, AI demand could begin to reprice the entire tech sector, with recent laggards potentially catching up quickly.

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Dan Ives is calling the turn. With geopolitical tensions easing after some ceasefire developments involving Iran, the Wedbush analyst sees a risk-on shift getting underway—and he thinks tech stocks, especially Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Salesforce, Inc. (CRM), and ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW), are mispriced right as AI demand starts to hit its stride.

AI Demand Is Hitting Now, Not Later

After weeks of talking to chief information officers, Ives says the message is clear: AI adoption is moving fast from the "let's try this" phase to the "we're deploying this" phase. Enterprises are actively figuring out where to use it, and 2026 is looking like a big rollout year.

That shift matters a lot. The market has been pricing software stocks like growth is slowing down—but Ives sees the opposite happening. AI is becoming a top priority for IT departments, with spending poised to scale into the trillions across software, semiconductors, and infrastructure.

In that context, the recent sell-offs in enterprise software look a bit disconnected from what's actually happening with demand.

Cybersecurity Becomes The AI Gatekeeper

Here's the thing about AI: it's not just creating new opportunities; it's creating new risks, too.

Ives points out that AI-driven threats are getting faster, cheaper, and more sophisticated, which expands the attack surface across cloud systems, identity management, and autonomous operations. That dynamic turns cybersecurity into a core layer of the AI stack—it's not just a side function anymore.

Companies like CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD), Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW), Zscaler, Inc. (ZS), Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP), and Rubrik, Inc. (RBRK) stand to benefit as enterprises pour money into securing their AI-driven workflows.

The Real Setup

The market has spent months worrying about macro risks and fretting that AI might replace some enterprise vendors. Ives is more focused on execution and demand—and he sees both getting better.

His take: the software sell-off is overdone, the concerns about AI displacing existing vendors are overblown, and the bottom for tech might already be in the rearview mirror.

If this risk-on shift sticks around, this isn't just a temporary bounce. It's a setup where AI demand starts to reprice the whole sector—and the stocks that have been lagging might not stay laggards for long.