1126: Turning Signals into Strategy in Hypergrowth | Holly Grey, CFO Horizon3.ai

When Holly Grey first examined Horizon3.ai, she saw more than a cybersecurity startup. She saw a technology that could change the way companies safeguard themselves. Traditional pen tests, she tells us, are human-driven, vary widely by auditor, and usually happen just once a year. Horizon3.ai, by contrast, “started out as a technology alternative to pen testing.” Its platform can be deployed “within minutes, not hours or weeks or months,” Grey tells us, and has already executed “over 100,000 pen tests.”

The system identifies exposures, connects them to known threat actors, and—most critically—prioritizes which vulnerabilities to fix. It integrates directly with tools like Jira, creates tickets, and confirms results after remediation. “Even as a CFO, I want to know we’re not exposed,” Grey explains. That value proposition has already attracted more than 4,000 customers, she tells us.

Her decision to join Horizon3.ai was equally deliberate. Grey noticed two respected colleagues had recently come aboard, including the CRO. That relationship, she says, is vital: “I need to know that I can trust that CRO implicitly.” After doing her own diligence, Grey was convinced of the company’s momentum: “It’s hard to grow over 100% year over year, and do that multiple years, without having product market fit.”

The timing was fortuitous. Just as the company raised $100 million in Series D funding, its VP of Finance resigned. Horizon3.ai was ready to appoint its first CFO. “Here I am,” Grey tells us, “and I could not be happier in terms of joining.”