THE CRUNCH
Sophos says an AI agent built on OpenAI's Daybreak has cut its cyber-threat investigation time by 96% and now automates 52% of its managed detection and response cases, while human analysts retain oversight. The figures come from Sophos and OpenAI's own announcement, so they are vendor-reported results rather than independently verified benchmarks.
Managed detection and response, or MDR, is a service where a provider's analysts monitor and investigate security alerts on customers' behalf. Automating just over half of those cases would be a meaningful shift in how such work is staffed, though the announcement does not detail how the 96% time saving was measured or which cases remain fully human.
The claim of preserved human oversight is the notable qualifier here: Sophos positions Daybreak as handling routine investigation work while analysts stay in the loop on decisions, rather than replacing them outright.