Knostic Top 10 Finalist in RSAC™ Innovation Sandbox Contest: Secures Additional $5 Million Investment

After winning both the RSA 2024 Launch Pad competition and the Black Hat 2024 Startup Spotlight competition – the only startup to win both competitions in 2024 -  Sounil and I are happy to share that we're finalists in RSAC™ 2025 Conference Innovation Sandbox Contest. 

As part of this incredible recognition, we’re also receiving a $5 million investment to help accelerate innovation in cybersecurity. 

Thank you to RSAC for this incredible honor—and for recognizing the impact of our mission. Huge thanks as well to the entire Knostic team—this achievement was only possible because of your dedication and hard work.

While the intersection of AI and security is broad, the risk of data leakage from enterprise AI search tools - such as Copilot for Microsoft 365, and  Glean, and Gemini - is one of the  most significant challenges that CISOs face in the deployment and widespread adoption of AI in the enterprise. These tools lack the in-depth access controls required to ensure that query responses align with the user’s need-to-know boundaries. Without proper controls, these tools open the door to “oversharing” through the discovery of improperly secured sensitive files within the organization’s environment. 

Normal employees can now gain unauthorized access to sensitive information they should not be privy to, like salary information, sales revenue, M&A due diligence information, and more, simply by asking. It’s like giving an intern access to the CEO’s laptop on their first day. 

Knostic enables enterprises to safely adopt AI through setting need-to-know based access controls. The knowledge-centric capabilities enable organizations to accelerate the adoption of LLMs and agents, and drive AI-powered innovation without compromising value, security, or safety. Customers start with a readiness assessment for Copilot and other LLM-based Enterprise AI tools, allowing them to identify potential data leakage and oversharing before deploying AI at scale.

The RSAC™ Innovation Sandbox contest, competition is widely recognized as a catapult for success as the Top 10 Finalists have collectively celebrated more than 90 acquisitions and received $16.4 billion in investments over the last 19 years. Knostic will have three minutes to pitch the panel of judges before a question-and-answer round. For the first time, each of the Top 10 Finalists in 2025 will receive a $5 million investment to drive cybersecurity innovation.

The RSAC™ Innovation Sandbox contest kicks off at 9:30 AM PT on Monday, April 28 and winners will be announced at approximately noon the same day. The panel of renowned expert judges includes David Chen, Head of Global Technology Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley; Dorit Dor, Chief Technology Officer at Check Point Software Technologies; Niloofar Razi Howe, Operating Partner at Capitol Meridian Partners; Paul Kocher, Independent Researcher; Nasrin Rezai, SVP & CISO at Verizon; and Christopher Young, former McAfee CEO, Microsoft Executive, and Investor. Hugh Thompson, RSAC Executive Chairman and Program Committee Chair of RSAC™ Conference, will return to host the contest.

For more information regarding RSAC™ 2025 Conference, taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from April 28 - May 1, please visit https://www.rsaconference.com/usa.

To learn more about Knostic at RSAC 2025, visit knostic.ai 

About Knostic
Knostic was founded in 2023 by veteran cybersecurity experts and innovators Gadi Evron (serial entrepreneur, previously from Citibank and PwC) and Sounil Yu (former Chief Security Scientist at Bank of America), with the goal of ensuring the safe adoption of AI at enterprises at scale. Knostic is the world's first provider of need-to-know based access controls for Large Language Models (LLMs). With knowledge-centric capabilities, Knostic enables organizations to accelerate the adoption of LLMs and drive AI-powered innovation without compromising value, security, or safety. For more details, visit https://www.knostic.ai/

About RSAC
As the cybersecurity industry’s convening authority, RSAC brings together diverse minds to exchange perspectives, knowledge, and ideas. RSAC provides the world’s leading platform for uniting and advancing the cybersecurity community to create a safer society. RSAC is at the cutting edge of cybersecurity innovation and education. The company’s flagship event, RSAC™ Conference, is the largest and most influential global gathering in cybersecurity. RSAC gives cybersecurity professionals a platform to connect and grow. To learn more, visit OneRSAC.com.