CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Archipelo vs KnowBe4

Archipelo develops Salmon, Execution Verification Infrastructure for establishing cryptographically verifiable execution history and state lineage. KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. CISO Tribune files both under AI model and agent security. 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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  • Archipelo
  • KnowBe4
Archipelo vs KnowBe4: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ArchipeloArchipelo develops Salmon, Execution Verification Infrastructure for establishing cryptographically verifiable execution history and state lineage.archipelo.comKnowBe4KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform.knowbe4.com
What it sells
  • Salmon[1][2][3][4][5]Execution Verification Infrastructure for establishing cryptographically verifiable execution history and state lineage.
  • Security Awareness Training[4][5][7]Education on recognizing threats, reinforced with phishing and vishing simulations.
  • Cloud Email Security[10]A suite of AI-driven products for inbound and outbound email.
  • Defend[1][4][5][6][10][11]Inbound email protection against phishing, ransomware and business email compromise.
  • Prevent[5][10][12]Outbound email protection and data loss prevention.
  • Compliance Plus[13]Compliance training platform.
  • Student Edition[5]Security awareness training for academic institutions.
  • BreachSim[14]A free tool to identify network vulnerabilities.
  • Weak Password Test[15]A free tool that finds users with weak passwords.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesClearwater, United States
Founded
Not stated on its pages2010[1]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023[2][4][8][9]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • May 5, 2026KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.[7]
  • April 6, 2026Dashlane announced an integration with KnowBe4 that links credential risk detection to security training for at-risk users.[18]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[9]
Who it fits
From its own pages, Archipelo's Salmon addresses software in which autonomous agents, tools, runtimes, and controllers perform consequential actions. Archipelo describes incident investigation teams as needing to work backward from a consequential state change toward the execution associated with it. Archipelo names systems that investigate, evaluate, govern, and depend upon execution as the systems for which verifiable execution history matters.Not written yet
Last verified
September 30, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Archipelo and KnowBe4 are both filed under AI model and agent security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Archipelo's primary category is Software supply chain security; KnowBe4's is Security awareness training.
  • Archipelo is also filed under Insider risk management. KnowBe4 is also filed under Human risk management and Email security.
  • Archipelo lists Salmon. KnowBe4 lists Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
  • KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
  • KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
  • KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.

What it sells: Archipelo

What Salmon does[1][2][3][4][5]
Salmon is Execution Verification Infrastructure for establishing cryptographically verifiable execution history and state lineage. Execution is represented as a cryptographically signed event with explicit context. Salmon captures execution as it occurs upstream within supported environments.

What it sells: KnowBe4

What Security Awareness Training does[4][5][7]
KnowBe4 says it delivers timely, personalized education that helps people recognize threats. Lessons are reinforced with realistic phishing and vishing simulations.
What Cloud Email Security does[10]
KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security is a suite of AI-driven products designed to detect and prevent advanced email threats across inbound and outbound communication. Contextual banners and prompts are delivered at the point of risk.
What Defend does[1][4][5][6][10][11]
Defend detects and blocks phishing, ransomware and business email compromise with behavioral AI and self-learning threat models. Defend inserts color-coded banners on flagged email and rewrites links, checking them at time of click. Defend integrates with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 through API-based connectivity.
What Prevent does[5][10][12]
Prevent monitors outbound email in real time and alerts users to risky behavior, such as accidental sends or misdirected emails. Prevent is integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Prevent Enterprise adds misdirected content detection and custom DLP policies.
What Compliance Plus does[13]
Compliance Plus has a training library of 1000+ items of compliance training content. Compliance Plus offers targeted training for requirements such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. Organizations can upload SCORM-compliant content to the KnowBe4 LMS.
What Student Edition does[5]
The KnowBe4 Student Edition enables academic institutions to prepare students to identify and prevent modern cyberattacks. Its training content covers phishing, BYOD risks, password hygiene, social media risks and campus scams.
What BreachSim does[14]
BreachSim is a free tool from KnowBe4 to identify network vulnerabilities. BreachSim tests over 12 realistic data exfiltration scenarios following the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
What Weak Password Test does[15]
The Weak Password Test is a free tool to help IT Administrators know which users have passwords that are easily guessed. It checks the Active Directory and generates a report of users with weak passwords.

Questions about Archipelo and KnowBe4

What do Archipelo and KnowBe4 sell?
Archipelo sells Salmon. KnowBe4 sells Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
Are Archipelo and KnowBe4 in the same category?
They share AI model and agent security. Archipelo's primary category is Software supply chain security and KnowBe4's is Security awareness training.
Where are Archipelo and KnowBe4 headquartered?
KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
When were Archipelo and KnowBe4 founded?
KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
Who owns Archipelo and KnowBe4?
KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.
Who are Archipelo and KnowBe4 sold to?
From its own pages, Archipelo's Salmon addresses software in which autonomous agents, tools, runtimes, and controllers perform consequential actions.
What have Archipelo and KnowBe4 announced recently?
May 5, 2026: KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.

About Archipelo

Archipelo develops Salmon, Execution Verification Infrastructure for establishing cryptographically verifiable execution history and state lineage. Archipelo builds Salmon for autonomous multi-actor software systems. Archipelo, Inc. is the company developing and stewarding Salmon.[1][3][4][5]

Archipelo states that autonomous agents, tools, runtimes, and controllers increasingly perform consequential actions themselves. Archipelo states that the resulting state alone cannot show which execution occurred, in what order, or how each state transition derived from the ones before it. Archipelo develops infrastructure that makes autonomous multi-actor software execution independently verifiable. Archipelo states that safe and reliable agents need verifiable evidence of their execution history.[4][5]

Archipelo points to Git as showing the value of persistent, linked source code history. Archipelo says Execution Verification Infrastructure addresses a different problem, which is establishing a verifiable record of state transitions and the resulting state.

Archipelo describes execution as represented by a cryptographically signed event with explicit context. Archipelo states that Salmon captures execution as it occurs upstream within supported environments, not downstream after the event has already taken place. Archipelo states that Salmon does not visually or structurally manufacture execution continuity when execution continuity has not been established.

Archipelo states that agent generated changes can involve delegated execution, tools, subprocesses and multiple state transitions. Archipelo states that execution history provides a durable record of supported execution relationships to verify outcomes. Archipelo states that during incident investigation, teams need to work backward from a consequential state change toward the execution associated with it, to determine what caused the outcome.

One principle is that downstream systems should not be forced to establish execution history solely through retrospective inference where it can be captured during supported execution. Archipelo states that what an actor was permitted or instructed to do is distinct from what it actually executed. Archipelo states that machine-speed software systems require execution evidence that other software systems can consume and verify. Archipelo describes identity, policy, observability, security, engineering, and governance systems as solving adjacent problems.[5]

Archipelo describes itself as a deep tech company building foundational infrastructure for verifiable autonomous systems.[1][3][4][5]

Archipelo on the record

Sources

Archipelo full record

  1. [1]archipelo.comArchipelo · archipelo.com · undated page, accessed September 30, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Archipelo - Making Autonomous Software Execution VerifiableArchipelo · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Terms of Service — SalmonArchipelo, Inc. · published September 20, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Archipelo - This page has been retiredArchipelo · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]About — SalmonArchipelo · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

KnowBe4 full record

  1. [1]About usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Vista equity partners completes acquisition of knowbe4KnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · published February 1, 2023 · Tier A
  3. [3]Contact usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]KnowBe4 | Secure Your Digital Workforce: Human + AIKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]KnowBe4 Student Edition | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Warning: Attackers Are Using Calendar Invite Files to Evade Security FiltersKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]KnowBe4 Launches AI-Native Attack Simulation & Training Product and Twelfth AI AgentBusiness Wire · published May 5, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Reviews 2026 - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  9. [9]KnowBe4 Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  10. [10]Cloud Email Security for Microsoft 365 | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Pricing | DefendKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Pricing | Prevent | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Compliance Plus: Compliance Training Platform | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]BreachSim | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Weak Password Test | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Security Culture Report Analysis Center | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]KnowBe4 Customer Success | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Dashlane Launches First-of-its-Kind Integration with KnowBe4 to Transform Security Awareness into Proactive DefensePR Newswire · published April 6, 2026 · Tier A

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