CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Assail vs Tenzai

Assail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach. Tenzai sells an AI agentic penetration testing platform that hacks, exploits and fixes vulnerabilities across enterprise software. CISO Tribune files both under Breach simulation and automated pen-testing. 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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  • Assail
  • Tenzai
Assail vs Tenzai: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
AssailAssail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach.assailai.comTenzaiTenzai sells an AI agentic penetration testing platform that hacks, exploits and fixes vulnerabilities across enterprise software.tenzai.com
What it sells
  • Ares[1][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]Continuous autonomous red teaming across web applications, APIs, and mobile apps.
  • Reaper[3]Autonomous offensive cyber operations built for military, federal, and intelligence missions.
  • Assail Anywhere[3]Deployment option for the entire platform, including the AI model.
  • Tenzai[1][3][4][5]An AI agentic penetration testing platform for enterprise software. It discovers exploitable attack chains across web app, mobile, AI, external and internal network attack surfaces.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2025[2][4][5]
Ownership and funding
Privately heldPrivately held[3]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 4, 2026Assail, Inc. announced Cassandra, a proactive AI agent integrated into its Ares platform, along with expanded threat modeling capabilities tied to autonomous security testing.[11]
  • July 7, 2026Assail Inc. launched Sidewinder, a rebuilt second-generation version of its Ares offensive security platform running on a new 31 billion-parameter model.[12]
Not stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Assail sells mainly to security teams in manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. Its industry pages address manufacturers, banks and fintech firms, government agencies, vehicle makers, retailers, and defense programs. Assail also says it supports on-premises, air-gapped, own-cloud, and SaaS deployment for organizations that need to keep data under their control.Its pages describe an application security team that tests APIs reaching PCI-scoped and critical systems. Tenzai is also described as a way for teams to verify scanner and bug-bounty findings and gather evidence for follow-up. Security teams can match sets of frontier and open-weight models to each test type or application risk level.
Last verified
October 21, 2026November 8, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Breach simulation and automated pen-testing is the primary category of both Assail and Tenzai.
  • Both are privately held.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Assail is also filed under API security and Mobile security. Tenzai is also filed under Penetration testing and red team services.
  • Assail lists Ares, Reaper and Assail Anywhere. Tenzai lists Tenzai.
  • Tenzai was founded in 2025.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both Assail and Tenzai under Breach simulation and automated pen-testing as the primary category, and both are privately held. Assail sells Ares, which it describes as continuous autonomous red teaming across web applications, APIs, and mobile apps, and it also sells Reaper for military, federal, and intelligence missions. Tenzai sells an AI agentic penetration testing platform that discovers exploitable attack chains across web app, mobile, AI, external and internal network attack surfaces. CISO Tribune also files Assail under API security and Mobile security, and files Tenzai under Penetration testing and red team services.

On deployment, Assail Anywhere lets the entire platform, including the AI model, run on-premises, in air-gapped networks, in the customer's own cloud, or through Assail's SaaS. Assail has expanded Reaper's sovereign deployment architecture to AWS GovCloud and Google Cloud Assured Workloads. Tenzai also offers step-by-step guidance, coding-assistant prompts and ticket creation for remediation.

Tenzai is an Israeli AI security startup founded in 2025, backed by Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures and Lux Capital, and it has $75 million in seed funding. Assail says it sells mainly to security teams in manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense, and it names Branch as a customer. Tenzai's pages describe an application security team testing APIs that reach PCI-scoped and critical systems. On November 4, 2026, Assail announced Cassandra, a proactive AI agent integrated into Ares, and on July 7, 2026 it launched Sidewinder, a second-generation version of Ares. Tenzai has made a formal expansion into network security.

What it sells: Assail

What Ares does[1][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]
Ares uses coordinated AI agents to discover weaknesses and validate what an attacker could actually reach. It tests authenticated applications through the existing identity provider and tracks changes across known and shadow APIs. Ares delivers the evidence behind each confirmed risk.
What Reaper does[3]
Assail describes Reaper as built for military, federal, and intelligence missions. Assail has expanded Reaper's sovereign deployment architecture to AWS GovCloud and Google Cloud Assured Workloads.

What it sells: Tenzai

What Tenzai does[1][3][4][5]
Tenzai's agents are engineered to learn the business purpose and workflows of applications. Tenzai starts autonomous tests in black, gray or white box modes. Tenzai blocks exploitation with a hardened WAF rule that is validated for the customer's environment, ahead of a permanent fix. Tenzai offers step-by-step guidance, coding-assistant prompts and ticket creation for remediation.

Questions about Assail and Tenzai

What do Assail and Tenzai sell?
Assail sells Ares, Reaper and Assail Anywhere. Tenzai sells Tenzai.
Are Assail and Tenzai in the same category?
Yes. Breach simulation and automated pen-testing is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
When were Assail and Tenzai founded?
Tenzai was founded in 2025.
Who owns Assail and Tenzai?
Assail is privately held. Tenzai is privately held.
Who are Assail and Tenzai sold to?
From its own pages, Assail sells mainly to security teams in manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. Its pages describe an application security team that tests APIs reaching PCI-scoped and critical systems.
What have Assail and Tenzai announced recently?
November 4, 2026: Assail, Inc. announced Cassandra, a proactive AI agent integrated into its Ares platform, along with expanded threat modeling capabilities tied to autonomous security testing.

About Assail

Assail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach.[1]

Assail says Ares continuously tests applications, APIs, mobile apps, and AI systems as they change. Ares follows attack paths, exploits weaknesses, and proves what an attacker could actually reach. Coordinated AI agents extend testing capacity, and Ares tests authenticated applications through the customer's existing identity provider. Ares also tracks changes across known and shadow APIs and delivers the evidence behind each confirmed risk.[3]

Assail describes Ares as combining autonomous red teaming, attack surface management, and Shadow AI discovery across web, API, mobile, and supported AI environments, with applicable MITRE ATLAS coverage. The Ares platform is powered by Assail's domain-adapted model for security reasoning and tool use.[3][7]

On deployment, Assail says Ares can run within the customer's own infrastructure, even in disconnected environments. With Assail Anywhere, the entire platform, including the AI model, deploys on-premises, inside isolated and air-gapped networks, in the customer's own cloud, or through Assail's SaaS. Assail has also announced that it expanded Reaper's sovereign deployment architecture to AWS GovCloud and Google Cloud Assured Workloads.[3]

Assail names Ares, Reaper, and Scorpion as the products taken to the fight. Reaper is described as autonomous offensive cyber operations built for military, federal, and intelligence missions.[3]

Assail publishes industry pages for manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. In manufacturing, Ares validates systems such as ERP, MES, PLM, supplier portals, industrial APIs, and connected products. In financial services, Ares validates APIs, payment rails, mobile banking apps, and open banking integrations. For retail, Ares validates e-commerce web apps, mobile shopping apps, loyalty APIs, and gift card platforms. In automotive it covers telematics APIs, OTA infrastructure, and mobile companion apps.[4][5][6][9][10]

Assail says its team brings 26 years of offensive security experience. Assail also publishes original research on attack techniques and the exploitation of AI and API surfaces. A customer, Branch, says Ares helps its security team increase penetration testing frequency and validate remediations faster.[1][2][3][4][5][6][8]

Assail on the record

Sources

Assail full record

  1. [1]assailai.comAssail · assailai.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Press releasesAssail · assailai.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Automotive | AssailAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Assail Introduces Cassandra, a Proactive AI Agent Connecting Threat Modeling with Autonomous Security TestingPR Newswire · published November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Assail launches Sidewinder, an offensive security AI that fixes its own mistakesSiliconANGLE · published July 7, 2026 · Tier B

Tenzai full record

  1. [1]Ahead partners with tenzai to strengthen cyber resilience with ai enabled penetration testingTenzai · tenzai.com · published July 23, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]tenzai.comTenzai · tenzai.com · undated page, accessed November 8, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Tenzai: Your ultimate AI hacker teammateTenzai · undated page, accessed November 8, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]About Tenzai | AI Hacker for Autonomous PentestingTenzai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Tenzai | AI Hacker for EnterpriseTenzai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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