The Crucial Role of Building a Category in Generative AI Security: Insights from Itamar Golan

VentureBeat Interview: Itamar Golan, Co-Founder and CEO of Prompt Security

VentureBeat recently had a virtual conversation with Itamar Golan, the co-founder and CEO of Prompt Security, discussing the security challenges posed by GenAI for organizations of all sizes.

The discussion covered topics such as shadow AI sprawl, strategic decisions that led Golan to focus on building a leading platform rather than competing on features, and a real incident that highlighted the importance of securing AI applications. This led to SentinelOne’s acquisition of Prompt Security for an estimated $250 million in August 2025.

Golan’s journey to founding Prompt Security began with academic research on transformer architectures, predating their significance in today’s large language models. His experience in developing GenAI-powered security features using models like GPT-2 and GPT-3 emphasized the new attack surface created by LLM-driven applications. Prompt Security was established in August 2023, raised $23 million in funding, built a 50-person team, and achieved a successful exit in less than two years.

The conversation highlighted the growing costs of shadow AI breaches for enterprises, with a lack of basic AI access controls leading to significant financial losses. The proliferation of unauthorized AI apps in workplaces and the exponential growth in enterprise AI usage underscored the urgent need for robust GenAI security measures.

Golan discussed the strategic decisions that propelled Prompt Security to market leadership. By focusing on building a comprehensive platform for AI security, addressing data leakage, model governance, compliance, and other challenges, the company gained traction with customers. Providing real-time data sanitization and enabling safe AI usage surprised many clients and led to increased adoption and trust.

The interview delved into the evolving positioning and messaging of Prompt Security, emphasizing the importance of educating CISOs on the risks posed by AI sprawl and the need for proactive security measures. Golan shared a significant security incident that highlighted the democratization of cyber threats through AI and shaped Prompt Security’s product roadmap and market approach.

Following the acquisition by SentinelOne, Golan’s focus is on integrating AI security across the platform and enhancing runtime protection, visibility, and policy enforcement. The collaboration aims to embed AI security as a core component of overall defense strategies, safeguarding enterprises against emerging threats.

The Future of GenAI Security

The acquisition of GenAI startups by major cybersecurity firms underscores the increasing focus on AI security in enterprise environments. Companies like Palo Alto Networks, Tenable, and Cisco have made significant acquisitions, recognizing the importance of integrating security into AI adoption strategies from the outset.

Post-acquisition, Prompt Security’s capabilities will be integrated into SentinelOne’s Singularity Platform, enhancing MCP gateway security and providing model-agnostic coverage across major LLM providers. The collaboration aims to deliver comprehensive AI security solutions tailored to the evolving threat landscape.