Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t a new technology, but it has undoubtedly made more of a splash over the past few years. Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike (CRWD 1.83%) has been using AI since its founding in 2011, and its stock has flourished this year, up 38% through Sept. 25.

Although CrowdStrike stock has ventured to the expensive end after its recent rally, with a price-to-sales ratio around 27, it’s still one of the smartest AI stocks for long-term investors to own due to the increasing need for cybersecurity solutions and the leadership role CrowdStrike plays in the industry.

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CrowdStrike has always been an AI-native platform, and the years of data it has collected and used to train its models have made its products top-of-the-line and the go-to cybersecurity platform for many of the world’s largest and most important businesses. It’s used by 300 of the companies in the Fortune 500 and 543 of the Fortune 1,000 companies, and CrowdStrike says eight out of the top 10 technology and financial services firms rely on it.

As the world becomes more digitally connected, the importance of cybersecurity is growing rapidly — and so is the market opportunity. CrowdStrike estimates that the total addressable market (TAM) for its AI-native security platform this year is $116 billion. By 2029, it expects the TAM to jump to $250 billion.

With CrowdStrike ingrained into the core security infrastructure of many companies — and the logistical and financial burdens that come with switching providers — it has set itself as a key player in an industry that’s destined for continued high growth.