Two local cybersecurity stalwarts, Rapid7 and Snyk, cut jobs over the past few weeks, as new leadership at both companies retrenches in the face of younger competitors focused on using artificial intelligence
The recent job cuts were relatively modest, with 21 people laid off at Rapid7, or less than one percent of the staff, the company said without further comment
Snyk cut 90 jobs out of about 1,500 workers, The Jerusalem Post reported. Snyk did not respond to requests for comment
With the release of new AImodels, such as Anthropic’s Mythos, which was briefly banned by the White House, the cybersecurity industry is under extreme pressure to counter the threat of AI-powered hackers while also using the technology to make their own operations more efficient. Boston has seen a crop of new cybersecurity companies, such as 7AI and Realm.Security, using AI from the start, while older, more established players such as Rapid7 and Snyk scramble to adapt
Both of those companies appointed new CEOs earlier this year as they sought to adapt to the rapid changes brought on by AI, among other factors
At Rapid7, Wael Mohamed, a 30-year industry veteran who has run several cybersecurity companies, took over for longtime CEO Corey Thomas last month. The company’s stock has jumped 42 percent since the change
At Snyk, CEO Peter McKay stepped down in April after six years, saying the company needed to find“a visionary, AI-immersed leader.” Chief financial officer Ken MacAskill took over as interim CEO
After taking the helm at Rapid7 last month, Mohamed said the company would need both to use AI for itself and to help customers defend against AI-powered attacks
“We are in a place where we’re going to have to reimagine how machines and humans are going to be working together,” he said, speaking at the William Blair investor conference in Chicago. “We’re excited that that same technology that’s going to put tremendous pressure on our industry in the short term, it will become an enabler to allow us to do things we could not do in the past.”
Rapid7’s existing customer base gives it an advantage over its newer, AI-focused rivals, according to cybersecurity engineer David Hunt, who left the company earlier this year. Hunt founded a new company, Pink Duck, based in Reading, to research how AI can be used to attack and defend computer systems
“The challenge for Rapid7 is can they figure out how to leverage AI before one of the small companies is able to grab some of their big customers,” Hunt said
Snyk and Rapid7 have also beenunder pressure for the past few years after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and investors lost patience with tech companies losing money, Deidre Diamond, CEO of cybersecurity recruiting firm CyberSN in Boston, said. Rapid7 laid off almost 20 percent ofits workforce in 2023, and Snyk made three rounds of job cuts in 2022 and 2023
“I call it the slow bleed,” Diamond said, noting that interest rates remain elevated. “I think a lot of organizations now wish they had just done deep, deep cuts instead of just these smaller cuts.”
Just 18 months ago, Snyk was talking about adding 250 jobs. But interim CEO MacAskill has said he is adjusting the company to account for the growing popularity of AI programming apps
Previously, Snyk helped human programmers ensure that the openon securing code making sure AI “agents” that make decisions and perform tasks don’t introduce vulnerabilities
“The way software gets built is changing faster than at any point in our careers, with AI and autonomous agents writing, deploying, and modifying code, and creating more security problems our customers face right now,” MacAskill wrote on the company’s blog last month. “We are simplifying our structure so we can move faster for you, and that includes reducing the size of some teams.”
Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman
