As cyberattacks become faster, more automated, and increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, many organizations are trying to defend themselves with fragmented tools, limited teams, and security models built for a different era.
Cleveland-based AgileBlue was founded to change that.
Established in 2019, AgileBlue set out to make sophisticated, autonomous security operations accessible to mid-market organizations facing enterprise-level threats without enterprise-level resources. Its founders saw an industry overwhelmed by disconnected tools, excessive alert noise, and too much responsibility placed on already stretched IT and security teams.
Their vision was to create a more intelligent model. One capable of detecting, investigating, and responding to cyber threats around the clock while preserving the judgment and accountability only experienced people can provide.
“Cybersecurity has traditionally forced organizations to choose between advanced technology and highly skilled people,” said Tony Pietrocola,
Co-Founder and President of AgileBlue. “AgileBlue was built on the belief that the strongest defense comes from combining both. AI delivers speed and scale, while people provide context, judgment, and accountability.”
Today, AgileBlue delivers an AI-native Security Operations (SecOps) platform that unifies protection across endpoints, networks, cloud environments, applications, identities, and productivity platforms. Its proprietary Sapphire AI technology analyzes and correlates security activity, investigates potential threats, makes critical decisions, and automates response actions before an incident can spread.
Behind the technology is a 24/7, U.S.-based Security Operations Center (SOC) staffed by cybersecurity professionals who continuously monitor customer environments and remain actively involved when human expertise matters most.
This balance reflects the company’s guiding philosophy: AI at its core. People where it counts.
AgileBlue’s innovation is not simply the addition of AI to an existing cybersecurity service. Its platform was designed around AI-driven security operations, allowing automation to perform the repetitive, time-intensive work that has traditionally consumed analysts’ attention. By filtering noise, connecting activity across an organization’s environment, and elevating the threats that truly require action, AgileBlue helps security teams move from alert management to meaningful risk reduction.
“Security teams do not need another dashboard filled with more alerts,” said Stephen Smith, Chief Technology Officer of AgileBlue. “They need technology that can understand what is happening, determine what matters, and act quickly. The goal is not automation for its own sake. It is better security outcomes.”
Joseph Marquette, Co-Founder & CEO
Tony Pietrocola, Co-Founder & President
Stephen Smith, Co-Founder & CTO
AgileBlue extends that model through its Strategic Advisory Group, or SAG. While the platform and SOC address the daily operational demands of cybersecurity, SAG helps leaders understand their broader risk, improve incident readiness, navigate compliance requirements, and build stronger security programs.
Led by experienced cybersecurity executives and practitioners, SAG provides virtual CISO leadership, security program development, risk and compliance guidance, incident readiness planning, tabletop exercises, and executive support during critical events. Customers gain not only technology and 24/7 monitoring, but also strategic leadership that many mid-market organizations would struggle to maintain internally.
“Technology can identify risk, but organizations still need experienced leaders who can translate that risk into action,” said Lee Buttke, Managing Director and CISO of AgileBlue’s Strategic Advisory Group. “SAG serves as an extension of the customer’s leadership team, helping them prepare before an incident, make informed decisions under pressure, and build long-term resilience.”
Since launching in 2020, AgileBlue has continued to evolve alongside the threat landscape. The company expanded internationally in 2021, introduced Sapphire AI in 2023, earned ISO-27001 certification in 2024, and secured a strategic investment from H.I.G. Growth Partners in 2025 to accelerate innovation and growth across North America and Europe.
Throughout that expansion, AgileBlue has remained rooted in Northeast Ohio.
The region’s technical talent, entrepreneurial resilience, established industries, and collaborative business community have provided a strong foundation for building a cybersecurity company with global ambitions.
Ohio is also home to many of the organizations AgileBlue was created to protect, from manufacturers and healthcare providers to financial institutions, public agencies, schools, and critical infrastructure operators.
“Ohio understands how to build things that last,” Pietrocola said. “That same mindset is embedded in AgileBlue. The company is addressing a global challenge with the practicality, determination, and sense of responsibility that define this region.”
Looking ahead, AgileBlue is preparing organizations for a world in which AI will be used on both sides of the cyber battlefield. Defending against machine-speed threats will require technology that can respond just as quickly, people who provide accountability, and strategic leaders who help organizations anticipate what comes next.
AgileBlue believes the future of cybersecurity will not be defined by more tools or more alerts. It will be defined by intelligent action, informed leadership, and measurable resilience.
From its home in Cleveland, AgileBlue is helping build that future, proving that transformative cybersecurity innovation can begin in Ohio and protect organizations around the world.
