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.
Read MoreHer 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.”
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CFOTL: So let’s step off the CFO-path discussion for a moment. Horizon3.ai—your latest opportunity—you joined only a few months ago, likely within your first 100 days as CFO. Tell us about Horizon3.ai. What is this opportunity? What is the company about and its offerings about?
Grey: Horizon3.ai started as a technology-driven alternative to pen testing. Traditional pen tests are human-led security audits done annually; results can vary by the auditor, and the cadence leaves gaps. Our founders asked, “What if you could understand posture more frequently and reduce dependency on a human auditor?” Today, we deliver pen-test depth with the breadth of vulnerability scanning—highlighting exposures that actually matter. We’ve run over 100,000 tests, continuously improving our protocols. Customers deploy in minutes, see exposures and associated (threat actors), and—more importantly—what to fix first and why. We integrate with Jira or other ticketing tools, guide remediation, and verify the fix. Internally we use it, and more than 4,000 customers do as well.
CFOTL: Your timing is interesting. A few months before you arrived, Horizon3.ai raised (about) $100 million in a Series D—during a more selective market. What made this the right moment for you?
Grey: I try to be strategic. I saw a former colleague I highly respect join Horizon3.ai, then noticed another trusted leader (now our CRO). That CRO-CFO trust is critical, so I reached out. I’d already done diligence and saw not just a strong product but clear product-market fit—you don’t grow 100%+ year over year for multiple years without it. By coincidence, the VP of Finance had resigned the day before, and the company—fresh off the Series D—was up-leveling to its first CFO. The fit was right, the team was right, and the opportunity to help scale was compelling.
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