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Matt Thompson takes Transmit helm as AI agent risks grow. Thompson Says Banks Must Move Beyond Blanket Blocks on Autonomous AI Agents Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) - October 19, 2026 Transmit Security selected Socure President Matt Thompson as its next CEO and tasked him with building infrastructure to manage autonomous artificial intelligence agent traffic. The Tel Aviv, Israel, customer identity and access management provider wants Thompson to move it from a human identity orchestration to building foundational agent trust infrastructure. Thompson said Transmit will expand beyond its core base of large financial enterprises into the mid-market by streamlining implementation and adopting self-service models. "This is a time in the market where everyone is being hit by agents and needing to figure out, in a good way and in a bad way, how to manage that because allowing anything and blocking everything is just not going to be possible for businesses to continue to grow and protect their customers and their enterprises," Thompson told ISMG. Thompson spent more than five years at Socure, where he helped the Nevada identity and risk intelligence vendor grow the business by more than 500%. Transmit focuses on orchestrating identities across applications and managing authorization after login, while Socure focuses on onboarding, first-time identity verification, and validating identity-data changes (see: Socure Secures $156M, Buys Fravity to Automate Fraud Reviews). Why banks can't just van agents. Thompson replaces Mickey Boodaei, who led the company since helping establish it in October 2014. He will remain involved as chairman of Transmit's board and involved day to day in implementing product strategy, while Thompson said he will take a larger role in shaping product strategy and setting priorities across the organization. "I see us providing foundational infrastructure for organizations to have visibility of what traffic is human traffic versus agent traffic," Thompson said. "That's kind of basic. Even as basic as it seems, it's a lot harder in practice." AI agents are actively executing tasks inside applications, and Thompson said the blanketed blocking policies in place at many financial institutions today are unsustainable long-term. Legitimate agent use cases are rapidly growing. AI agents are more iterative, adaptable, and persistent than humans, which Thompson said requires dedicated security controls and customized user journeys. "This isn't a tomorrow problem," Thompson said. "This is a yesterday problem for organizations to figure out, and a lot of them recognize they're behind. So they need a partner that's not just marketing that they can do things. They need a partner with real tech that can come in and start helping them identify and solve this and secure this problem today." Thompson said Transmit can differentiate human versus agent traffic, govern agent authorization, and enforce human-in-the-loop or human-on-the-loop verification during high-risk actions like initiating wire transfers or executing trades. He said Transmit possesses live, production-ready agent trust technology deployed at major financial institutions, separating them from competitors with market-only claims. "The agent trust infrastructure that we're providing to organizations not only helps with the security controls and risk management within the application, but it also will help enforce the human in the loop and the human on the loop protocols for organizations to make sure that agents are authorized to do things by humans where necessary," Thompson said. Why Transmit wants to expand beyond financial services. Financial institutions, investment-management platforms, and insurers face high near-term risk because customer applications can enable agents to access retirement accounts, make trades, or move money, Thompson said. Legitimate agents are growing in number and capability, and Thompson said agents continue to get through despite stated blocking efforts at many banks. "Banks are moving toward a posture of blocking everything, and they just can't do that forever," Thompson said. "They know that they need to figure this out because there are good agents, and the use of agents and the types of agents that humans can use to operate on their behalf is growing rapidly, and so they can't just block them forever." Thompson wants to expand Transmit's platform beyond large banking, insurance, and telecom providers into mid-market and broader industry segments by lowering onboarding friction and implementing self-serve capabilities. Customer identity puts emphasis on usability and experience, he said, but agentic security requires stringent controls across both enterprise workforce and customer-facing apps. "I want to help the company serve more industries and more of the medium and smaller business markets as well, because they all need this same kind of capability that Transmit offers," Thompson said. Thompson said he will closely track capital-efficient business growth, customer retention, net dollar retention, employee net promoter score, employee engagement and employee retention to measure customer success, partnership health, and organizational culture health. Thompson said he seeks to balance top-line capital efficiency with customer retention metrics and internal organizational health. "I spent the first decade of my career as an Army special operations officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. So about half of that time of my service in combat, fighting a very networked and persistent adversary in the Taliban, ISIS, Al Qaeda," Thompson said. I'm the kind of leader that marches toward the gunfire, and so I'm very much going to be leading Transmit into the hard stuff to help solve these problems."

Transmit Security receives the Morgan Stanley 2026 Innovation Award. Transmit Security * September 30, 2026 Recognized at Morgan Stanley's 24th Annual Tech Week for supporting seamless, secure authentication experiences for clients. President and Co-Founder Rakesh Loonkar accepted the Firm's 2026 Innovation Award on behalf of Transmit Security. Morgan Stanley presents this award to technology companies whose capabilities have materially contributed to the Firm's technology strategy and modernization. Transmit Security is proud to be named a 2026 winner. Why this work shapes what Transmit Security build. Financial institutions are a demanding test of new technology. Anything you deploy today must work across systems that were not designed together, or to hold up against threats that change faster than release cycles, and at the same time earn the trust of people who depend on it to move and safeguard their money. That's what makes its customer engagements so rewarding. The conversations that come out of work like this tend to be specific: about edge cases, about what happens on the third attempt rather than the first, about the difference between a policy that reads well and one that behaves well at scale. Those details constantly shape its roadmap. Where security and customer experience meet. Every login, account change, and transaction is a moment where an institution has to authenticate a customer. It's during these critical moments where cybersecurity protocols and reduced friction is paramount. A stronger approach treats customer identity and access management as one continuous decision across the customer journey through phishing-resistant authentication, constant verification, and real-time signals drawn from device, behavior, and context working together to confirm legitimate customers quietly and seamlessly. When these capabilities are orchestrated from a single platform, policies stay consistent across every channel instead of being stitched together from disconnected point solutions. AI is rewriting the rules, not just raising the volume. The rules are changing faster than most security stacks can absorb. Customers are already delegating real actions to AI agents, and bad actors have the same tools. Nearly every control in the modern security stack was built to detect humans from bots, but with the entry of AI agents, it is now much more difficult than ever to tell legitimate users from malicious intent. Getting ahead is not something any vendor does alone. Architectures are proven in production, inside institutions where the stakes are real and the details matter. Building alongside organizations that hold technology to that standard is what positions an innovator from a company that will be left behind in the new agentic era. What Transmit Security is building toward. Transmit Security is grateful to Morgan Stanley for this recognition, and to the teams on both sides who do the work behind it. "Better security and seamless authentication underpins our core mission and will be the future of banking and agentic AI," said Rakesh Loonkar, President and Co-Founder of Transmit Security. "Recognition from Morgan Stanley, after years of close collaboration in delivering on this principle, is an honor." If your institution is modernizing customer authentication, fraud prevention, and preparing for the future of agentic commerce, Transmit Security would be happy to walk you through its orchestration architecture that eliminates having to make the choice between blocking revenue and blocking adversaries.

Venice raises $33 million in funding. Venice, a cybersecurity startup specializing in adaptive privileged access management, recently emerged from stealth with a total of $33 million in funding, including a $25 million Series A round led by IVP. This funding positions Venice to challenge established players in the growing privileged access management (PAM) market. Venice, founded in 2024 by CEO Rotem Lurie and CTO Or Vaknin, both cyber intelligence veterans, develops an adaptive PAM platform that provides real time, just in time access controls for human, machine, and AI identities across hybrid environments including cloud, SaaS, and on-premises systems. The New York City-based company, with a team of about 35 people (40% women), aims to modernize traditional PAM by eliminating standing privileges entirely, reducing them by up to 99% for its enterprise clients in sectors like finance, media, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology. The $25 million Series A follows a $8 million seed round and is intended to accelerate product development and market expansion. Investors highlight Venice's potential to address escalating risks from AI driven attacks, where 86% of breaches involve compromised credentials. This capital infusion could enable faster deployment, Venice's agentless platform installs in about 1.5 weeks versus months for competitors, potentially disrupting a market dominated by legacy solutions. The PAM sector faces pressure from evolving threats, with enterprises managing tens of thousands of identities across dynamic systems. Venice's focus on hybrid environments sets it apart, but success depends on proving scalability against well funded rivals. Venice's emergence from stealth mode with $33 million in total funding marks a significant entry into the cybersecurity landscape, particularly in the niche of privileged access management (PAM). This funding, comprising an $8 million seed round led by Index Ventures and a subsequent $25 million Series A led by IVP, underscores investor enthusiasm for innovative solutions addressing the vulnerabilities posed by standing privileges in increasingly complex enterprise environments. Founded in 2024 as Valkyrie and rebranded to Venice, the company positions itself as a disruptor in a market projected to grow from $5.94 billion in 2024 to $11.23 billion by 2030, driven by the proliferation of AI agents and hybrid infrastructures that exacerbate access risks. At its core, Venice's platform redefines PAM by shifting from static, legacy models, such as password vaults and manual approvals, to a dynamic, adaptive system that grants access only when necessary and revokes it immediately thereafter. This "zero standing privilege" approach applies across human users, machines, and AI driven entities, discovering identities and entitlements in hybrid setups encompassing cloud, SaaS, on-premises, and AI systems without requiring agents, proxies, or extensive deployments. Early adopters, including Fortune 500 firms in finance, media, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology, report reductions in standing privileges by up to 99%, highlighting the platform's efficacy in mitigating breach risks where 86% of incidents involve stolen credentials. The funding round's structure reflects strategic alignment with cybersecurity trends. The Series A was spearheaded by IVP, a firm known for backing high growth tech ventures, with continued support from Index Ventures, which led the seed, and additions from Vine Ventures and Holly Ventures. Angel investors bring domain expertise, including Assaf Rappaport (Wiz co-founder and CEO), Raz Herzberg (Wiz CMO), Dor Knafo and Gil Azrielant (Axis founders), and Descope founders, signaling confidence in Venice's ability to navigate the identity security space. While specific use of proceeds isn't detailed across sources, the investment is poised to fuel product refinement, team expansion (currently around 35 members, with 40% women), and go to market efforts targeting large U.S. enterprises with complex hybrid setups. Venice's leadership, led by co-founders Rotem Lurie (CEO, previously head of product at Axis Security and a product manager at Microsoft) and Or Vaknin (CTO, with early roles at Transmit Security and Flow Security), emphasizes a people centric approach to security. Lurie, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumnus, has articulated the need for access controls that align with modern business tempos: "The way organisations manage access isn't keeping up with how business operates today... Venice is on a mission to provide real time access, granted only when required, and removed the moment it's not." This vision resonates in an era where AI agents amplify both operational efficiency and threat vectors, necessitating tools that adapt in real time to behavioral and environmental shifts. Competitively, Venice challenges incumbents like CyberArk (recently acquired by Palo Alto Networks and valued at $7.2 billion) and Okta, as well as emerging players such as Persona ($200 million Series D in 2025), Veza ($108 million Series D in 2025), and GitGuardian ($50 million raise in early 2026). Unlike many rivals focused solely on cloud, Venice's hybrid compatibility, handling both modern and legacy systems, addresses a pain point for enterprises still reliant on on-premises infrastructure, consolidating up to 10 disparate tools into one SaaS based platform. Deployment efficiencies, powered by AI automation, reduce setup time to 1.5 weeks from the typical six months to two years, potentially lowering costs by minimizing professional services. Lurie boldly claims the company could unseat market leaders within 18 months, citing early displacements at major clients like a 170 year old manufacturing giant and a global music conglomerate. Investor perspectives further illuminate the round's rationale. IVP partner Cack Wilhelm praised the urgency: "If every individual is going to have tens of agents working on their behalf, and privileged access tools were built for a static world of IT professionals, we need our identity concept to adjust to that." Index Ventures, having partnered since mid 2023, lauds the team's lean efficiency and customer traction, noting the difficulty of building a fully integrable solution for hybrid environments as a barrier to entry that Venice has overcome. This backing aligns with broader industry shifts, where identity security spending is expected to surpass $24 billion in 2025, growing at 13% annually. Social and industry buzz, as captured in recent X posts, amplifies the announcement, with endorsements from cybersecurity professionals and startup trackers highlighting Venice's focus on adaptive controls for AI era threats. Posts emphasize the company's New York City base and its rapid progress from stealth to serving global enterprises. Looking ahead, challenges include market consolidation, where the sector might favor a few dominant players, and proving long term scalability amid crowded competition. However, Venice's emphasis on comprehensive, root level solutions rather than incremental fixes, combined with its diverse team and strategic investors, positions it for potential leadership in redefining PAM for the AI age. The funding not only validates this approach but also equips Venice to pursue ambitious goals, such as broader adoption and further innovation in dynamic access management. | Funding Round | Date | Amount Raised | Lead Investor | Other Participants | Total Raised to Date | | Seed | 2024 (estimated) | $8 million | Index Ventures | N/A | $8 million | | Series A | December 2025 | $25 million | IVP | Index Ventures, Vine Ventures, Holly Ventures, Angel investors (e.g., Assaf Rappaport, Raz Herzberg, Dor Knafo, Gil Azrielant, Descope founders) | $33 million | | Key Competitors | Recent Funding | Market Focus | Differentiation from Venice | | CyberArk | Acquired by Palo Alto Networks (2025) | Traditional PAM with vaults and rotations | Venice offers agentless, real time adaptive access vs. CyberArk's static models | | Okta | Publicly traded | Identity management for cloud/SaaS | Venice consolidates hybrid environments, including on-prem, in one platform | | Persona | $200 million Series D (April 2025) | Identity verification | Venice emphasizes privileged access for non humans/AI, beyond verification | | Veza | $108 million Series D (May 2025) | Access governance | Venice provides just in time revocation, targeting enterprise sprawl | | GitGuardian | $50 million (February 2026) | Secrets management | Venice integrates broader PAM, including machine/AI identities | Please email Daily Company your feedback and news tips at hello(at)dailycompanynews.com