The Market Shifts to Autonomous Pentesting: Horizon3.ai Surpasses 100,000 NodeZero® Tests

Over 3,000 organizations accelerate security validation with faster, more frequent pentests.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Horizon3.ai, a global leader in autonomous security solutions, announced today that NodeZero® has surpassed 100,000 pentests conducted by over 3,000 customers, with projections exceeding 400,000 by the end of 2026.

As cyber threats escalate, organizations are shifting from periodic, compliance-driven pentests to continuous attack validation with NodeZero. This shift reflects a growing demand for evidence-based security strategies, enabling teams to find, fix and verify exploitable weaknesses before attackers strike.

Organizations are expanding their use of NodeZero at an unprecedented pace. In Q4 alone, sales cycles shortened by 34%, and enterprise deals closed 50% faster, reinforcing the urgency of adopting proactive security testing.

Horizon3.ai’s partner-first model is fueling growth, with MSSPs delivering NodeZero to the majority of its 3,000 customers. This strategy has driven a surge in partner-sourced pipeline and contributed to triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth.

Security Teams Must Verify, Not Just Trust

“Security teams can’t afford to rely on assumptions,” said Snehal Antani, CEO of Horizon3.ai. “They need proof, not promises. The rise in NodeZero adoption marks a fundamental shift—security leaders are prioritizing adversary-driven attack validation to fix weaknesses before attackers strike.”

Real-World Impact: From Compliance to Continuous Validation

Across industries—including financial services, healthcare, government, military, transportation, higher education, and critical infrastructure—organizations are replacing outdated pentesting models with real-world, evidence-based security validation.

A leading healthcare provider, for example, replaced its annual pentesting cycle with monthly NodeZero assessments, reducing its mean time to remediation (MTTR) by 65% and closing high-risk exposures 10x faster. This shift has allowed its security team to rapidly eliminate exploitable attack paths rather than waiting months for manual testing reports.

From securing the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and ensuring compliance with PCI, ISO, NIS2, and HIPAA requirements to enabling organizations’ measurable reduction in cyber risk, NodeZero is helping security teams move beyond security theater to real risk reduction.

Customer Demand Signals a Permanent Market Shift

“The rapid adoption of NodeZero proves security leaders are rejecting legacy approaches in favor of attack-informed, measurable security outcomes,” said Matt Hartley, CRO, Horizon3.ai. “Security teams are prioritizing exploitability testing to eliminate blind spots, improve resilience, and prove their defenses hold up against actual threats.”

Security Can’t Be Assumed—It Must Be Proven

Test your defenses before attackers do—start your assessment with NodeZero at horizon3.ai today.

About Horizon3.ai

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero® Autonomous Security Platform offers integrated threat detection, autonomous pentesting, third-party risk management, and comprehensive governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) through NodeZero Insights™. It enhances organizational security by proactively identifying and remediating exploitable vulnerabilities, while strategically deploying deception and threat detection through NodeZero Tripwires™. Founded in 2019 by former industry leaders and U.S. National Security veterans, Horizon3.ai is at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation.

Follow Horizon3.ai: LinkedIn and on X, formerly known as Twitter.