‘Services companies, especially, are so ripe for disruption with artificial intelligence’ Tenex CEO and co-founder Eric Foster says.
Eric Foster, co-founder and former president of Cyderes, has revealed his next venture in the channel–automation-first, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure security services and platform provider Tenex AI, which has financial backing from storied venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
“Unfortunately, none of the legacy service providers are meeting the needs of the customers in this arena,” Foster told CRN in an interview. “It’s so sad to me how the VARs have forgotten what VAR was supposed to stand for. We see so many that are just added resellers that don’t actually add value. … We’re laser focused on making customers successful.”
Sarasota, Fla.-based Tenex bills itself as an AI-powered security service provider that will partner with MSPs. The company is led by heavy hitters in the security space, said Foster, who is Tenex’s CEO. Elias “Lou” Manousos–former Microsoft security corporate vice president and former CEO of Microsoft acquired RiskIQ–is Tenex’s chairman.
Edwin Solis, former head of Google Cloud security sales in the Central U.S. and Latin America, is Tenex’s chief revenue officer. And former Cyderes Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Ryan Shreve, is Tenex’s COO.
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Tenex AI
Cyderes–No. 93 on CRN’s 2024 Solution Provider 500–was notably led by “Shark Tank” reality TV star Robert Herjavec until October.
Along with funding from Andreesen Horowitz, Tenex has an undisclosed amount of funding from Shield Capital–which counts Manousos among its venture partners–and cybersecurity angel investors.
Zane Lackey, general partner at Andreesen, told CRN in an email that the VC firm also known as a16z invested in Tenex in part for “its exceptional leadership team, innovative vision, and potential to transform their market” as well as a team “with a proven history of building and scaling multiple $100M+ sales organizations in the cybersecurity space.”
“Their deep networks within the security community and strong relationships with major platform providers like Google and Microsoft distinctly position Tenex to drive rapid market adoption and establish itself as a leader,” Lackey said. Its AI-driven focus “directly addresses the chronic resource shortages and operational challenges faced by enterprises, offering custom solutions that align with customer needs rather than simply delivering tools.”
Lackey said he’d like to see Tenex expand beyond MDR to go into identity governance, compliance, vulnerability management and other security areas.
The Tenex Way
Tenex’s secret sauce is combining artificial intelligence-driven detection and automation with hands-on human experience to disrupt security services providers missing the AI revolution, Foster said. He aims to deliver security services faster and more efficiently leveraging the latest technologies.
The services provider’s flagship offering is a managed detection and response (MDR) service that combines Google Cloud security with AI models to maximize enterprises’ cloud security investments while improving cyber resilience.
“We’ve seen so many service providers try to bolt AI onto their solutions,” he said. “We’ve seen them try to say, ‘We’re going to start with Google, too. But we’re also going to work with these five other providers.’ And they just don’t get it. It’s not how Google wants to work with somebody. It’s not what the customers want. They want specialists who focus on and understand the platform.”
Tenex charges customers based on percent of cloud security platform spend. It leverages proprietary generative AI technology to automate routine security tasks, saving human oversight for complex scenarios.
Along with Google and Microsoft, Tenex is partnered with other cutting-edge security vendors, including Doppel and Wiz. Foster is open to acquiring more companies to grow, but he sees more organic growth in the near future to take advantage of security services in the AI era.
“There’s a general belief right now that AI and automation-enabled services are going to be the new software-as-a-service,” he said. “You can take a services organization and transform it to have the growth and the financial profile that used to be reserved for SaaS companies. … We think we’re stepping into an incredible market opportunity that needs our services.”
A16z’s portfolio includes Wiz, Character.ai, Databricks, Pinecone and OpenAI. Shield Capital portfolio companies include Resilience, Mimic and Armada.
