At a Glance

  • Cybersecurity startupHorizon3.ai announced on Tuesdaythat it has appointed Holly Grey as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a move aimed at driving growth for the company, which helps organizations discover and manage vulnerabilities susceptible to cyberattacks and ransomware by autonomously testing corporate networks, data, email, and other systems.
  • Snehal Antani, co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco, California-based company, highlighted Grey's experience in the cybersecurity sector, calling her a "proven operator" and noting that her leadership will be instrumental "as we expand globally and solidify our position as a leader in offensive security."
  • The appointment comes just two months after the company announced the completion of a$100 million Series D funding roundled by Menlo Park, California-based private equity firm NEA, with participation from SignalFire, Craft Ventures, and 9Yards Capital. According to TechCrunch, this markedNEA's second major investment in a cybersecurity startup in less than a month。

Deep Dive

The company's expansion plans come as cybersecurity budget growth slows. As CFO Dive previously reported,cybersecurity budgets are expected to grow by only 4% on average in 2025, down from 8% the previous year, with the tightening possibly stemming from concerns over economic uncertainty, even though businesses have ranked cybersecurity among their top five business risks.

According to a company press release, Grey brings more than three decades of experience in public company operations, compliance, and strategic finance. She followed a traditional CFO career path, earning a bachelor's degree in accounting from Boston College and starting her career as a manager at public accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Most recently, Grey served as CFO of cybersecurity company Exabeam, helping prepare it for acquisition by Thoma Bravo, per the release. In July 2024, Exabeam merged with Bravo portfolio company LogRhythm to become a pure-play vendor focused on security operations, according to a press release at the time. Prior to that, Grey served as senior vice president and vice president of finance at ForeScout Technologies, a company focused on the "Internet of Everything" space, where she built out financial operations and helped take the company public in 2017.

Founded in 2019, Horizon3.ai's autonomous penetration testing (or "pentesting") services enable organizations to view their security posture "from an attacker's perspective."

"Horizon3.ai is redefining what it means to be secure—by proving which vulnerabilities are actually exploitable, not just theoretically at risk," Grey said in a statement in the release. "I'm excited to help operationalize and scale that success as we enter a new phase of global expansion."