CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Abnormal AI vs Guardz

Abnormal AI sells a behavioral security platform that protects email, identity, and AI. Guardz sells an MSP-ready security platform that brings identity, endpoint, email, data, awareness, and exposure protection together. CISO Tribune files both under Email security and Identity threat detection and response. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Abnormal AI
  • Guardz
Abnormal AI vs Guardz: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Abnormal AIAbnormal AI sells a behavioral security platform that protects email, identity, and AI.abnormal.aiGuardzGuardz sells an MSP-ready security platform that brings identity, endpoint, email, data, awareness, and exposure protection together.guardz.com
What it sells
  • Account Takeover Protection[3][12][19]Detects and remediates compromised Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace accounts.
  • Identity Threat Protection[3][11][12][15]Correlates signals to contain threats before and after authentication.
  • Email Productivity[12][18]Moves low-priority promotional email out of the inbox.
  • Email Security[2][8]An API-based and AI-native engine to prevent credential theft, ransomware, and impersonation threats.
  • Security Awareness Training[2][4][10]Pre-scheduled security awareness training that alters behavior.
  • Phishing Simulation[14]AI-generated phishing attacks tailored by tone, industry, and language.
Categories
Headquarters
San Francisco, United States[1]Not stated on its pages
Founded
2018[1]Not stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately held[2][12][14]Series D (USD 250 million round), August 6, 2024[2]Privately held[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Named customers
  • Domino’s[4]
  • Avery Dennison[5]
  • Valvoline[6]
  • Ingersoll Rand[7]
  • Save the Children[8]
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 4, 2026Abnormal AI appointed Don Jeter as Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the CEO and overseeing the global marketing team.[23]
  • September 24, 2026Abnormal AI previewed four AI Security suite products, including AI Agent Security and AI Cloud Security, with general availability planned for Q4 2026.[9]
  • August 27, 2026Abnormal AI expanded its email security platform with Control Center, Email DLP Rules and upgrades to its AI Phishing Coach.[10]
  • August 19, 2026Abnormal AI and OpenAI announced a strategic partnership, with Abnormal expanding its internal use of OpenAI and joining the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program as an early security partner.[25]
  • July 29, 2026Abnormal AI extended its behavioral security to cover identities, AI systems and insider threats.[13]
  • November 2, 2026Guardz added browser protection from Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Browser for Business to its security platform for managed service providers serving small businesses.[17]
  • March 3, 2026Guardz announced a strategic partnership with FoxPointe Solutions, a cybersecurity advisory firm focused on governance, risk management and virtual CISO services.[18]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen October 23, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[13]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, Guardz sells mainly to MSPs, and describes its platform as built for them. Guardz says small businesses find it difficult to keep up with their external posture. Guardz says MSPs can use a prospecting tool to attract new clients by showing the extent of SMEs' exposure. Guardz says even non-security experts can respond to cyber events. Guardz says it gives clients visibility and control with configurable admin roles.
Last verified
October 10, 2026September 30, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Abnormal AI and Guardz are both filed under Email security and Identity threat detection and response.
  • Both are privately held.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Abnormal AI's primary category is Email security; Guardz's is MDR and managed SOC.
  • Abnormal AI is also filed under Workforce AI usage security and AI model and agent security. Guardz is also filed under EDR and XDR.
  • Abnormal AI lists Account Takeover Protection, Identity Threat Protection and Email Productivity. Guardz lists Email Security, Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulation.
  • Abnormal AI is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.
  • Abnormal AI was founded in 2018.
  • Abnormal AI's latest recorded funding is Series D (USD 250 million round), dated August 6, 2024.
  • Abnormal AI publicly names Domino’s, Avery Dennison, Valvoline, Ingersoll Rand and Save the Children.

What it sells: Abnormal AI

What Account Takeover Protection does[3][12][19]
Account Takeover Protection learns normal sign-in, device, and behavioral patterns for each user. It remediates a confirmed compromise by signing out all open sessions, blocking access, and forcing a password reset. Abnormal AI says it correlates Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace sign-in signals with communication behavior. It identifies session and token-based attacks that defeat MFA.
What Identity Threat Protection does[3][11][12][15]
Identity Threat Protection correlates signals to contain threats before and after authentication. Abnormal AI says it correlates email, IdP, and SaaS signals into one behavioral model. The model catches privilege misuse and socially-engineered MFA resets.
What Email Productivity does[12][18]
Email Productivity uses behavioral AI to learn what matters to each employee and move low-priority promotional email out of the inbox. It moves detected graymail to a Promotions folder in Outlook or a Graymail label in Gmail. It deploys through API integration with no rules, policies, or quarantine configuration to manage. It supports Passive, Partial, and Active deployment modes.

What it sells: Guardz

What Email Security does[2][8]
Guardz email protection uses an API-based and AI-native engine to prevent credential theft, ransomware, and impersonation threats. Check Point Harmony powers Guardz Email Security.
What Security Awareness Training does[2][4][10]
Guardz helps teams plan, launch and track automated training campaigns. Campaign frequency can be set monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly.
What Phishing Simulation does[14]
Simulations can be generated in English, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian. Failed simulations trigger an awareness issue.

Questions about Abnormal AI and Guardz

What do Abnormal AI and Guardz sell?
Abnormal AI sells Account Takeover Protection, Identity Threat Protection and Email Productivity. Guardz sells Email Security, Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulation.
Are Abnormal AI and Guardz in the same category?
They share Email security and Identity threat detection and response. Abnormal AI's primary category is Email security and Guardz's is MDR and managed SOC.
Where are Abnormal AI and Guardz headquartered?
Abnormal AI is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.
When were Abnormal AI and Guardz founded?
Abnormal AI was founded in 2018.
Who owns Abnormal AI and Guardz?
Abnormal AI is privately held. Abnormal AI's latest recorded funding is Series D (USD 250 million round), dated August 6, 2024. Guardz is privately held.
Which customers do Abnormal AI and Guardz name?
Abnormal AI publicly names Domino’s, Avery Dennison, Valvoline, Ingersoll Rand and Save the Children.
Who are Abnormal AI and Guardz sold to?
From its own pages, Guardz sells mainly to MSPs, and describes its platform as built for them.
What have Abnormal AI and Guardz announced recently?
November 4, 2026: Abnormal AI appointed Don Jeter as Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the CEO and overseeing the global marketing team. November 2, 2026: Guardz added browser protection from Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Browser for Business to its security platform for managed service providers serving small businesses.

About Abnormal AI

Abnormal AI sells a behavioral security platform that protects email, identity, and AI. Abnormal says AI-generated attacks are often too subtle for humans to see and too new for traditional threat intel to detect. Abnormal AI says its platform stops the attacks that slip past legacy gateways, including business email compromise, advanced phishing, vendor fraud, and account takeover. Abnormal AI states its mission is to stop crime with AI.[15]

Abnormal AI says its platform connects AI tools, people, agents, and cloud activity through behavioral context to govern adoption, enforce policies, detect threats, and support investigations. The platform has native API integrations across Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Okta, CrowdStrike, and the customer's SIEM and SOAR. Abnormal AI says each supported connection helps Abnormal understand activity, investigate threats, and apply the controls the customer's team authorizes. Abnormal AI describes Attune as the behavioral AI model that learns what is normal and detects what does not fit. AI Data Analyst lets users ask plain-English questions and get security insights instantly. AI Data Analyst consolidates insights from across the Abnormal environment into a single source of truth.[15][16][20]

For email, Abnormal AI describes Inbound Email Security as stopping BEC, phishing, and credential theft before delivery. AI Security Mailbox is described as an AI co-worker for email security operations. AI Phishing Coach is described as just-in-time training that adapts to each user's real risk. Messaging Security is described as detecting and remediating malicious content in messaging apps, and Misdirected Email as preventing accidental data leakage from misaddressed email. Email DLP Rules combines a custom policy engine with an AI Triage Agent. Teams can launch Email DLP Rules in passive mode, logging matches without taking action, then move to active enforcement. Email Productivity uses behavioral AI to move low-priority promotional email out of the inbox, and Email Productivity deploys through API integration.[15][17][18][21]

For identity, Account Takeover Protection detects and remediates compromised Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace accounts by learning normal sign-in, device, and behavioral patterns for each user. Account Takeover Protection locks attackers out by revoking active sessions and forcing credential resets. Abnormal AI says Account Takeover Protection connects via API to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Abnormal AI says brute force, credential stuffing, and token or session theft produce sign-ins that satisfy authentication. Abnormal AI says its platform correlates email, IdP, and SaaS signals into one behavioral model, catching privilege misuse and socially-engineered MFA resets. Identity Threat Protection correlates signals to contain threats before and after authentication. Infiltration Prevention is described as detecting synthetic personas and infiltration campaigns before access is provisioned. Posture Management is described as catching risky misconfigurations across the email platform.[3][15][19]

AI Cloud Security is described as detecting AI-driven attacks against cloud identities and workloads and containing threats within the customer's response policies. AI Cloud Security is at the Priority First stage, available for purchase and production deployment to selected customers. AI Employee Guardrails is described as keeping employee AI use on task, protecting sensitive data, and enforcing policies based on the person, tool, and request. AI Agent Security is described as inventorying production agents and verifying that each one behaves as intended. AI Agent Security is at the Design Partner stage, where selected customers evaluate the product and give regular feedback to the product team. AI Employee Guardrails is at the Design Partner stage. AI Security Workbench is described as running AI-powered investigations across petabytes of behavioral events.[3][15][20][21][22]

Abnormal AI says it powers 5,000 customers, including 30% of the Fortune 500.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

Abnormal AI on the record

Sources

Abnormal AI full record

  1. [1]Launching 24m series a funding from greylockAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · published November 19, 2019 · Tier A
  2. [2]Series d 5b valuationAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · published August 6, 2024 · Tier A
  3. [3]PlatformAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Dominos rolls out stronger communications securityAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Avery dennison case studyAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]ValvolineAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Ingersoll randAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Save the childrenAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Abnormal ai expands its ai security suiteAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · published September 24, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Abnormal expands email security platformAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · published August 27, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Abnormal extends behavioral security platformAbnormal AI · abnormal.ai · published July 28, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Behavioral AI for Email, Identity, and AI Security | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Abnormal AI extends behavioral security to identities, AI systems, and insider threatsHelp Net Security · published July 29, 2026 · Tier B
  14. [14]Abnormal AI Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  15. [15]The Behavioral Security Platform | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]AI Data Analyst | Automated Security Reporting | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Email DLP Rules | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Graymail Filtering | AI Email Productivity | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Stop Account Takeover | ATO Detection | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]AI Cloud Security | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]AI Agent Security | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]AI Employee Guardrails | Abnormal AIAbnormal AI · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Abnormal AI Names Don Jeter CMO to Accelerate Its Expansion in AI SecurityAbnormal AI · published November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  24. [24]Abnormal AI Expands Leadership Team to Advance Behavioral AI PlatformAbnormal AI · published April 29, 2026 · Tier A
  25. [25]Abnormal AI and OpenAI Partner to Accelerate Secure Enterprise AI Adoption and Strengthen Cyber DefenseBusiness Wire · published August 19, 2026 · Tier A

Guardz full record

  1. [1]guardz.comGuardz · guardz.com · undated page, accessed September 30, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Msp business plan the ultimate blueprint for growthGuardz · guardz.com · published June 12, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]About usGuardz · guardz.com · undated page, accessed September 30, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Guardz: Unified Cybersecurity Platform Built for MSPGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Security Awareness Training for MSPs and EmployeesGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]All-In-One Cloud App Security Solution | GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Protect Your Business from External Cyber Threats | GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Guardz Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 31, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Adaptive Phishing Simulation Platform for MSP SecurityGuardz · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]AI-Native Security Platform Built for MSPs by GuardzGuardz · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Cyber Risk Prospecting report - Thank-you | Guardz.comGuardz · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Exclusive: Guardz brings Palo Alto Networks browser protection to MSPs serving small businessesSiliconANGLE · published November 2, 2026 · Tier B
  18. [18]Guardz Partners with Foxpointe Solutions to Deliver Strategic, Scalable Cybersecurity for MSPs and Their ClientsGuardz · published March 3, 2026 · Tier A

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