As featured in the Business Observer on December 19th, 2025, ‘Sarasota Cybersecurity Firm Combats Evil On Way to $100M Goal,’ the fast-growing Sarasota cybersecurity firm Tenex is scaling rapidly to meet rising global demand for AI-driven protection. It’s a digital battle that’s critical to win, especially as cybercrime already cost the global economy $10.5 trillion in 2025 alone.
According to Tenex CEO Eric Foster, cybercrime is no longer just teenagers experimenting with hacks on laptops in their bedrooms. It’s a global, organized enterprise, often backed by nation-states and sophisticated criminal networks. With trillions of dollars lost every year by mom-and-pop stores and large enterprises alike, the stakes have never been higher.
Transforming from Niche Industry to Global Imperative
It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that cybersecurity was just an IT function. Now, it’s at a board-level priority. Advanced protection is now essential to economic stability, especially as cybercriminals heavily target financial institutions, critical infrastructure operators, and public agencies.
An example of that broader shift, and answering the call for elevated cybersecurity measures, is Tenex. After emerging from stealth early in 2025, Tenex quickly surpassed $18 million in revenue and is expected to exceed $40 million by the end of 2026. But long term? Tenex has its sights set on building a $100m+ business and expanding its workforce to hundreds of employees.
At the heart of Tenex is a leadership that doesn’t just see cybersecurity as a business opportunity, but as a responsibility to protect communities and organizations from very real and very organized digital threats.
AI Native, But Human-Driven
In a world where AI is rapidly displacing workers, Tenex is aiming to do the opposite while leveraging AI’s many benefits. Tenex is AI-native, meaning its platform was designed around AI from the outset rather than a legacy system retrofitted with AI later.
Using AI, Tenex’s cybersecurity system focuses on managed detection and response (MDR) services that quickly identify, triage, and respond to threats in real-time. When complex incidents are identified, they’re escalated to human analysts. This creates a hybrid model in which scale and speed are driven by AI, while judgment and oversight are provided by humans.
Most importantly, despite being AI native, Tenex’s security operations center (SOC) doesn’t eliminate human roles in favor of AI. Instead, it amplifies them. AI automates repetitive tasks and speeds up analysis, which leaves cybersecurity professionals to focus on higher-value tasks.
Rapid Expansion Amid Investor Confidence
Strong growth at Tenex has attracted significant investor backing. In September 2025, they secured $27 million in Series A funding, led by Crosspoint Capital Partners in California, with participation from a range of investors, including:
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
- Shield Capital
- DTCP
- DeepWork Capital
- Florida Opportunity Fund
This funding validates the company’s execution of cybersecurity measures and market demand for AI-driven solutions. As customer adoption grows, additional capital raises are expected to support further scaling.
What does that scaling look like? CEO Eric Foster says Tenex has big plans. They intend to operate offices in Sarasota, Kansas City, and San Jose, and to enter Europe, likely in the United Kingdom or Germany, where public administration and critical infrastructure are continually under threat.
Talent As a Growth Engine
You don’t name a company ‘Tenex,’ which means 10x or 10 times something, and not see exponential growth in its future. According to Eric, Tenex had nearly 70 employees in November 2025 and was expected to have nearly 300 by the end of 2026. With multiple locations set to open across the United States and Europe, the growth plan is to add approximately 200 employees per year.
There’s no denying that having dozens of job openings at any given time is a logistical nightmare, but Eric says they aren’t having any trouble finding people.
Bellini Capital founder and CEO, Arnie Bellini, who is also the founder of Tampa software company Connectwise, had previously said in a statement that he planned to connect Tennex with a community of tech startups and solution builders, along with top graduates from the University of South Florida’s Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing.
Tenex also plans to offer aggressive relocation packages to attract world-class hires. However, that’s not to say that every new hire has to be top talent. Eric is also passionate about hiring entry-level talent that they can develop. He can even recall that one of his best hires was someone right out of high school.
Turning the Tide in the Cyber War
For decades, cybercriminals have been ahead of the game. They have outpaced IT solutions and exploited gaps in our technology, efficiency, and speed. Thanks to AI, the tide is about to change.
Tenex combines automated threat detection with skilled human analysts. The goal is to reduce losses, harden defenses, and make organizations more resilient. Companies like Tenex may play a defining role in transforming cybersecurity now and into the future.
Learn the Benefits of the Tenex AI Platform
The modern security operations center is at a breaking point. It’s expensive, complicated, and missing critical security threats due to the sheer volume of noise. If you’re ready to identify and resolve IT threats faster and more efficiently than ever before, it’s time to explore the Tenex Solution: Your Agentic MDR.
Choose your security plan and contact us today. We look forward to providing you with AI-powered security operations that bolster your business’s resilience and readiness.