BOSTON, July 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Neo, the Age tic Softwa e Co t ol compa y, today eme ged f om stealth with $100M i fu di g f om A d eesse Ho owitz a d Besseme Ve tu e Pa t e s, with pa ticipatio f om C aft Ve tu es a d Me li Ve tu es. Built by fo me Se ti elO e, Wiz, a d Palo Alto Netwo ks vete a s, Neo gives SecOps teams the i ve to y, postu e i tellige ce, att ibutio , a d policy co t ol to ma age e te p ise-wide age tic t a sfo matio a d secu e AI age ts, AI-e abled applicatio s, b owse s, ide tities, a d t aditio al softwa e with ewly i t oduced age tic capabilities. Neo will use the capital to apidly scale its go-to-ma ket a d e gi ee i g teams as e te p ises p io itize secu ity i itiatives to ma age apid age tic softwa e adoptio .
“E te p ise secu ity was built fo a wo ld whe e softwa e behaved p edictably,” said Nick Wa e , CEO a d Co-Fou de of Neo. “That wo ld is cha gi g fast. AI age ts a d age tic capabilities a e bei g embedded i to b owse s, develope tools, SaaS platfo ms, a d t aditio al applicatio s, givi g softwa e the ability to easo , act, i voke tools, a d move th ough wo kflows with valid use pe missio s. Neo gives e te p ises the eal-time co t ol laye they eed to u de sta d what age tic softwa e ca do, gove how it behaves, a d secu e adoptio without slowi g dow the busi ess.”
Age tic adoptio is cha gi g e te p ise e vi o me ts faste tha t aditio al secu ity p og ams ca adapt. Th eat su faces a e shifti g a d mutati g as employees adopt ew AI tools f om the bottom up, while established softwa e ve do s add age tic capabilities i to p oducts al eady app oved fo e te p ise use. As a esult, SecOps teams a e bei g asked to secu e auto omous softwa e ope ati g i side app oved busi ess applicatio s, ofte without the visibility a d co t ol ecessa y to gove its behavio . Acco di g to Ga t e , o ly 5% of e te p ise applicatio s featu ed age tic capabilities i 2025, but 40% will by the e d of 2026.
Neo add esses this gap by i t oduci g a eal-time co t ol laye fo evolvi g softwa e stacks, helpi g SecOps teams i ve to y the suite of tools u i g ac oss the e te p ise eve as they add ew age tic fu ctio s, u de sta d thei cha gi g capabilities a d isks, assess whethe they a e co figu ed safely, a d e fo ce policy befo e isky activity occu s.
“E te p ise softwa e is becomi g age tic, cha gi g how applicatio s behave, what they ca access, a d how wo k gets do e,” said Za e Lackey, Ge e al Pa t e at A d eesse Ho owitz. “Employees a e apidly adopti g AI age ts a d softwa e ve do s a e embeddi g age tic capabilities i to p oducts e te p ises al eady use. O ga izatio s eed visibility i to what this softwa e ca do a d the ability to gove its behavio i eal time. Nick, Shlomi, E a , a d the Neo team have built catego y-defi i g secu ity platfo ms befo e, a d we believe they’ e u iquely positio ed to build the co t ol laye this ew ge e atio of e te p ise softwa e equi es.”
Existi g secu ity a chitectu es we e built fo a diffe e t model of e te p ise softwa e, comp ised of dete mi istic applicatio s, huma use s, a d k ow paths of data moveme t. Age tic systems behave diffe e tly. They ca act i depe de tly, mimic use behavio , i he it pe missio s, chai tools, a d move ac oss wo kflows i ways that appea legitimate to secu ity tools built fo ea lie e as of softwa e. Secu i g this ew model equi es eal-time visibility i to both huma a d o -huma activity, att ibutio that maps actio s back to the espo sible use o age t, a d g a ula policy e fo ceme t i side the softwa e laye whe e age tic activity occu s.
“Age tic AI is c eati g a ew secu ity catego y as e te p ise e vi o me ts t a sfo m, becomi g la gely composed of softwa e that ca easo , act, a d i voke tools o its ow ,” said Elliott Robi so , Pa t e at Besseme Ve tu e Pa t e s. “Neo combi es a clea a chitectu al view of how to co t ol this ew softwa e laye with a fou di g team that has built e te p ise-g ade secu ity platfo ms at scale befo e. That combi atio matte s i a c owded ma ket. Visio is impo ta t, but executio will dete mi e the compa ies that defi e this ext e a of secu ity, a d Neo is tackli g o e of age tic secu ity’s ha dest p oblems.”
The Neo Platfo m delive s five co e capabilities:
Neove se-Powe ed Softwa e I ve to y: SecOps teams eceive a full i ve to y of AI age ts, AI-e abled applicatio s, plugi s, exte sio s, MCP se ve s, a d t aditio al softwa e becomi g age tic, e iched by Neove se, Neo’s co ti uously updated k owledge base of age tic softwa e capabilities, isks, a d behavio s.Capability a d Risk I tellige ce: Neo helps teams u de sta d what age tic a d o -age tic softwa e ca do, what it ca access, a d whethe it is co figu ed safely.Real-Time Att ibutio : Each actio p oduces a audit t ail, tyi g activity back to the huma , age t, applicatio , o ide tity espo sible.G a ula Softwa e Co t ol: O ga izatio s ca e fo ce g oup- o ide tity-specific policies fo tool calls, API access, data moveme t, a d age tic wo kflows.Native E fo ceme t: Neo e fo ces co t ols atively, e abli g o ga izatio s to block isky activity, malicious models, a d edi ect out-of-bou d p ompts without ha di g e fo ceme t off to a othe tool.
“AI is fu dame tally cha gi g how softwa e ope ates i side the e te p ise, c eati g a e ti ely ew co t ol a d secu ity challe ge,” said Michael Robi so , Pa t e at C aft Ve tu es. “Neo is buildi g the eal-time co t ol laye e te p ises eed to u de sta d, gove , a d secu e age tic softwa e at scale. Nick, Shlomi, a d E a b i g the a e combi atio of catego y visio , deep tech ical expe tise, a d p ove executio equi ed to defi e this ma ket.”
Neo’s fou de s have deep expe ie ce buildi g a d scali g i dust y-defi i g cybe secu ity compa ies. CEO a d Co-Fou de Nick Wa e desig ed a d built the Se ti elO e GTM o ga izatio a d, as COO, took the compa y public i 2021. Nick has ove two decades of cybe secu ity leade ship expe ie ce, i cludi g othe se io oles at Cyla ce, McAfee, a d Fo cepoi t. Co-Fou de Shlomi Salem p eviously led detectio e gi ee i g at Se ti elO e fo mo e tha a decade a d co-led the i -house th eat esea ch team whe e he built th eat acto p ofiles that powe ed the compa y’s e ti e secu ity platfo m. Co-Fou de E a Shi azi p eviously co-fou ded custome expe ie ce compa y EasySe d a d spea headed la ge, e te p ise-g ade esea ch a d developme t p og ams afte yea s spe t leadi g the IDF’s U it 8200 vul e ability esea ch g oup.
To lea mo e about Neo Secu ity, please visit www. eo.ai
A photo accompa yi g this a ou ceme t is available at https://www.globe ewswi e.com/NewsRoom/Attachme tNg/9f499434-17f7-49b2-90bc-7bb38d408eea
