Increased demand for data protection and automation is driving substantial revenue growth in the space of AI and cyber security, says OpenText’s top executive.

Mark Barrenechea, the OpenText CEO and chief technology officer, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Monday that increases in revenue could be attributed to expanding consumer appetite for data security and automation.

According to the company’s second-quarter earnings, released last week, revenue rose 71 per cent on an annual basis reaching US$1.5 billion.

OpenText said in a press release that cloud revenue reached $450 million during the quarter, marking a 10-per-cent year-over-year increase.

Barrenechea said the second quarter “was a record quarter for us.”

“Universally, customers want to understand their data. That’s what AI is here to do — to help unlock that,” he said.

Barrenechea also spoke about the upcoming OpenText security summit, set to take place on Tuesday, where the company will present its second generation of advanced cyber security auditing technology called Fortified Audit Assistant. 

According to a media release by OpenText, the new security software increases developer efficiency and general cyber security through machine learning. 

“What we’re seeing is that customers want to get out of the business of IT, be more secure, and understand their data and unlock its value,” he said. 

For the rest of Barrenechea’s interview with BNN Bloomberg, watch the video above.