Good morning. Averting cyberattacks and digital battle has turn out to be central to financial and enterprise technique.
Horizon3.ai, a cybersecurity startup that features expertise that labored for the CIA and U.S. Particular Operations Command, has appointed a brand new finance chief. Holly Gray joins as its first CFO, bringing greater than 30 years of expertise in public firm operations, compliance, and strategic finance.
Earlier than becoming a member of Horizon3.ai, Gray served as CFO at Exabeam, the place she led the corporate’s transition to a cloud-native mannequin, improved margins, and helped place Exabeam for acquisition by Thoma Bravo. Beforehand, at Forescout Applied sciences, she constructed monetary operations supporting its 2017 IPO and eventual acquisition by Creation Worldwide.
“There’s an incredible product match with Horizon3.ai available in the market,” Gray stated. “They’ve finished an unimaginable job of scaling so far.” She was drawn to the corporate’s trust-based tradition led by CEO Snehal Antani and his group. When belief comes from the highest, everybody can contribute to the corporate’s success, which is highly effective, Gray stated.
Based in 2019, Horizon3.ai introduced a $100 million Sequence D funding spherical in June, led by NEA, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, NightDragon, SignalFire, Craft Ventures, and 9Yards Capital. The corporate beforehand raised $40 million in a Sequence C spherical in August 2023. Horizon3.ai reported 101% year-over-year income progress, is Rule of 40 optimistic, and has accomplished greater than 150,000 autonomous penetration exams—simulated cyberattacks—worldwide, in accordance with the corporate.
Concerning Gray’s appointment, Antani stated Gray “is aware of what it takes to steer by complexity, drive operational self-discipline, and navigate each private and non-private markets.” He added that her management will likely be important for international growth and positioning Horizon3.ai as a frontrunner in offensive safety.
Sustaining momentum
Enterprise leaders right now are aware of how state and non-state actors exploit vulnerabilities to maximise disruption by cyberattacks. Antani lately instructed Fortune’s Diane Brady the protection trade now serves as a template for menace identification and asset safety within the non-public sector.
Antani, who beforehand served as the primary CTO of the Joint Particular Operations Command (2018–2021) and as CTO at Splunk, has constructed Horizon3.ai’s group, inclusive of consultants from the Nationwide Safety Company (NSA), CIA, and enterprise operations. His purpose: to bridge the hole between navy intelligence and Silicon Valley, leveraging AI brokers to establish and remedy rising threats.
Gray instructed me that it doesn’t matter what job operate of a company you’re employed in, “all of us should be centered on cybersecurity.” She’s most frequently seen this precedence ignored in the case of third-party distributors.
“At each group I’ve been part of, CFOs play a strategic position within the firm’s buying choices,” Gray stated. “I urge friends and our clients to take a vital eye on third-party distributors to verify they’re as centered on safety as we’re.”
As CFO of Horizon3.ai, Gray is centered on constructing scalable programs and processes that develop with the corporate, as a result of sturdy foundations are set solely as soon as, she defined. It’s like browsing—you need to keep simply forward of the wave for steadiness, however not to this point forward that you just lose momentum, she stated.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Neil Thomson was appointed CFO of Soho Home & Co (NYSE: SHCO), efficient Aug. 18. Thomson will succeed Thomas Allen, who will stay with the corporate by Aug. 29. Thomson has 30 years of expertise. He most lately served as CFO of Tasty Restaurant Group. Earlier than that, he was CFO of Del Frisco’s. Thomson additionally held a number of senior administration positions throughout 15 years at Yum! Manufacturers, together with CFO of India, chief improvement officer of Pizza Hut Worldwide, and chief progress officer of Pizza Hut Asia. The Soho Home is ready to be taken non-public by resort operator MCR Motels in a deal value $2.7 billion.
George Eldridge was appointed CFO of Abcuro, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology firm. Eldridge brings greater than 30 years of expertise. He most lately served as CFO of Aerovate Therapeutics, guiding the corporate by its IPO in 2021 and subsequent reverse merger with Jade Biosciences in 2025. Eldridge has additionally beforehand served as CFO at Proteon Therapeutics, Targanta Therapeutics, Therion Biologics, Curis (previously Ontogeny), and Boston Life Sciences.
Huge Deal
How is govt pay evolving in right now’s enterprise panorama? Korn Ferry’s newest International Whole Rewards Pulse Survey provides insights into what organizations can count on for wage will increase in 2026.
Some key findings: Regardless of 88% of firms anticipating income progress, one-third have already decreased wage budgets attributable to financial uncertainty, probably creating stress between expertise retention and value administration. Fifty-four % of respondents report that govt pay is simply “considerably aligned” with broader worker compensation. Simply 27% see significant alignment between efficiency and pay ranges, suggesting that compensation committees could also be approving will increase with out rigorous efficiency justification, in accordance with the report.
The survey collected responses from greater than 3,800 HR and whole rewards leaders throughout over 130 international locations.
Going deeper
From the report: “Sam Altman stated GPT-5’s launch was botched after backlash over the mannequin’s colder persona pressured OpenAI to reinstate GPT-4o for customers. He additionally predicted OpenAI might want to spend trillions on knowledge facilities to scale ChatGPT. As well as, Altman is eyeing brain-computer interfaces, a doable Chrome acquisition, and AI-driven social media, whereas conceding we could also be in an AI bubble.” Learn extra right here.
Overheard
“If we permit our cybersecurity info sharing framework to break down, it’ll devastate small companies, endanger the sick, and undermine America’s place as the worldwide chief in cybersecurity.”
— Cynthia Kaiser, SVP of Halcyon’s Ransomware Analysis Middle, warns in a Fortune opinion piece that the Cybersecurity Data Sharing Act of 2015 is ready to run out on Sept. 30. Kaiser calls it “one in all America’s most important cybersecurity protections” and the “spine of our nation’s cyber protection.” She previously served as deputy director of the FBI’s cyber division.
