As enterprises accelerate AI adoption across departments, cybersecurity firms are racing to address a growing class of risks that traditional tools weren’t designed to handle. Tenable’s recently announced planned acquisition of Apex Security now represents a shift toward securing the full lifecycle of AI – from development pipelines to employee-facing tools.
Tools like generative AI and large language models are often adopted quickly and without oversight, creating “shadow AI” environments: systems running beyond the visibility or control of IT and security teams. At the same time, threats like synthetic identities, manipulated datasets, and adversarial machine learning add complexity to the threat landscape.
These emerging risks demand a different approach. Traditional cybersecurity tools were built for known assets and predictable infrastructure. They weren’t designed to secure the dynamic, often opaque processes that power AI models, from training data pipelines to real-time outputs. As organizations continue to rely on AI for decision-making and automation, these gaps now create blind spots that attackers are eager to exploit. Addressing this evolving exposure requires tools built with AI in mind from the ground up.
Inside the Apex Security Acquisition
Apex Security was founded with a singular goal: helping enterprises navigate the unique risks introduced by AI technologies. Backed by a group of high-profile investors, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue, and Sequoia Capital, the company quickly positioned itself as a pioneer in managing security challenges related to AI model development, deployment, and usage.
Apex’s approach combines advanced telemetry, behavioral analysis, and policy enforcement to give security teams visibility into how AI is used across an organization and where it might be misused.
For Tenable, the acquisition is a strategic fit. The company has been steadily evolving its Tenable One platform into a more comprehensive exposure management solution. Apex’s capabilities extend that mission by bringing visibility into AI-related risks that traditional tools often miss. By incorporating Apex’s technology, Tenable intends to help its customers stay ahead of new threat vectors introduced by generative AI tools, synthetic content, and AI-powered automation.
“Apex Security is an innovator in AI security, with technology designed to help organizations secure both the AI they use and the AI they build, a problem that’s becoming more critical every day,” said Eric Doerr, chief product officer at Tenable. “Its solutions provide visibility, context, and control over AI-induced risk, spanning developers building custom AI models to employees using generative tools.”
What This Means for Tenable One Customers
For Tenable One customers, the Apex acquisition shows a deeper commitment to tackling AI risk on two fronts: the models companies build and the tools they adopt. As AI use accelerates across departments, often without security sign-off, CISOs face pressure to understand and manage a growing set of unknowns. Apex’s technology promises to bring those unknowns into view.
Once integrated into Tenable’s risk prioritization framework, Apex will add new layers of context to the platform’s existing insights by tying AI activity to known vulnerabilities, identity data, and asset inventories. This means security teams will be better equipped to answer critical questions: Where is AI being used? Is it safe? How exposed are we?
For operational teams juggling expanding responsibilities, the benefit is clarity. With Apex, Tenable positions itself to simplify decision-making in an increasingly complex environment, offering security leaders practical tools for navigating the fast-evolving risks of AI adoption.
“As AI becomes a transformative force in the enterprise, it introduces fast-moving, dynamic risks that many organizations are not prepared for,” Doerr added. “This acquisition will reinforce our preemptive approach to cybersecurity: helping customers eliminate exposures before they are exploited.”
The Competitive Implications
Tenable’s acquisition of Apex places it ahead of competitors still defining their AI security roadmaps. While many cybersecurity vendors discuss AI risk in larger terms, Tenable is taking concrete steps to operationalize protection for this new class of threats. Bringing Apex into the fold gives the company immediate technical depth and a team focused specifically on AI vulnerabilities.
The acquisition also positions Tenable to help shape emerging standards around AI security. As regulatory pressure builds and enterprises seek guidance, vendors with practical, deployable solutions will play a larger role in defining what “secure AI” means. This deal isn’t just about new features –it’s about setting the pace in a domain still being written in real time.
The Future of AI-Driven Cyber Risk Management
As AI continues to reshape the cyber risk landscape, organizations must act now to safeguard their systems. Building future-ready AI security means gaining full visibility into AI usage and adopting new frameworks that capture the unique risks AI presents. Traditional approaches won’t be enough.
Apex’s technology is likely to play a pivotal role in shaping how Tenable evolves its exposure management platform.
By embedding AI-specific risk detection and analysis, Tenable aims to offer customers a more comprehensive and strategic way to manage AI-driven threats. This acquisition represents more than just a technology upgrade but a step toward defining the future of AI security. For security teams, it’s a call to prepare for the challenges ahead, with smarter tools and clearer guidance leading the way.
