7AI, a two-year-old cybersecurity startup, launched its first formal channel program Thursday to expand its agentic Security Operations Center platform through partnerships. The initiative follows the June hiring of Zachary Kilpatrick, a veteran of Cribl and Okta, as senior vice president for global alliances.
Simplicity as the core principle
The 7AI Alliance Partner Program introduces two tiers with deal registration, discounts, incumbency protection, and dedicated sales and technical resources. Kilpatrick described the program as a departure from the overly complex partner structures common in the past.
“The days of these very large, convoluted partner programs [are] in the past,” he said. “Ultimately, partners care about solution value—what problems can you help me solve for my customers—whether or not that’s going to be profitable for me, and whether or not that’s going to be sticky in my customer accounts.”
This focus on clarity and profitability aligns with a broader trend in cybersecurity partnerships. Nearly half of 7AI’s business already comes through the channel, demonstrating existing demand.
Partners see opportunity in agentic SOC
GuidePoint Security, a major cybersecurity firm, has worked with 7AI since the startup’s early days. Mark Thornberry, senior vice president for partnerships at GuidePoint, called the company’s growth “highly impressive,” noting strong performance in recent quarters.
“There’s a huge appetite at GuidePoint to partner with them,” he said. “For most of our customers—if it’s not their primary pain point, it’s certainly one of them.”
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The agentic SOC market is competitive, but Thornberry highlighted its importance for businesses struggling with security tasks. 7AI’s platform automates alert investigations and handles work traditionally done manually by analysts. The company reports its agents have managed over 7 million investigations so far.
A major opportunity for partners will come from building services around 7AI’s agentic SOC platform, including MSSPs incorporating 7AI into managed security offerings or system integrators deploying the technology within projects for security operations modernization. The formal partner program and Kilpatrick’s hiring indicate a more structured approach to partnerships, Thornberry noted.
The development comes as 7AI expands its operations. The company secured $130 million in a Series A funding round in December 2025, led by Index Ventures—the largest such round in cybersecurity at the time. 7AI was launched in 2024 by CEO Lior Div, a repeat entrepreneur in security who was formerly CEO and co-founder of Cybereason, and CTO Yonatan Striem-Amit, also formerly a Cybereason co-founder.
The program’s launch reflects a shift in how cybersecurity startups approach partnerships. While agentic SOC platforms automate processes, human involvement through integrators or in-house teams remains essential. For now, 7AI is betting that straightforward incentives will help it stand out in a competitive space.
Kilpatrick’s experience supports this strategy. Before joining 7AI, he led North America alliances at Okta for six years and later served as vice president for global go-to-market partners at Cribl. His hiring marked the company’s effort to strengthen its partner strategy, which could help it compete in the crowded agentic SOC field.
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