CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Bay vs C1.ai

Bay is an AI agent security platform that gives enterprises visibility into every agent across devices, browsers and cloud workloads, and control over what those agents do in real time. C1.ai gives agents policy-controlled access to models, tools, and credentials at runtime. 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.

Change the companies

Up to four companies side by side.

  • Bay
  • C1.ai
Bay vs C1.ai: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
BayBay is an AI agent security platform that gives enterprises visibility into every agent across devices, browsers and cloud workloads, and control over what those agents do in real time.bay.ioC1.aiC1.ai gives agents policy-controlled access to models, tools, and credentials at runtime.c1.ai
What it sells
  • Bay[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]Bay is an AI agent security platform covering agents on devices, in browsers and in cloud workloads. Bay returns allow, ask, steer or block decisions on agent actions at runtime.
  • Lighthouse[6]Lighthouse is Bay's embedded agentic system that drafts policy from an organization's own agent activity.
  • Wave[3]Wave is the ephemeral binary Bay uses to deploy through an existing MDM or EDR.
  • AI-Native Identity Governance[1][2]Automates lifecycle, access requests, reviews, and compliance for human and non-human identities.
  • NHI & Identity Security[1][2]Discovers and alerts on identity and non-human identity risks across the workforce and agents.
  • Agent SSO & Runtime Governance[1][2]Enforces runtime guardrails and access controls for AI agents, with human-in-the-loop approval.
  • Apps & MCP Self Service[1][2]Provides on-demand self-service access to approved apps, MCPs, and AI tools.
  • Deploy Custom Agents[1][2]Lets organizations run autonomous agents across connected systems with guardrails.
  • Shadow AI Discovery[1][2]Finds unsanctioned AI tools, agents, MCP servers, and credentials in use.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • October 13, 2026Workday announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2027, ending January 31, 2027.[9]
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
Not written yetFrom its own pages, C1.ai sells to organisations that manage access for people, non-human identities, and agents, and to technical teams that extend the platform through APIs and Terraform. The pages describe governed access for infrastructure teams through the tools they already use. The pages cover on-premises technology such as Active Directory and back-office apps. A named energy-sector customer sought an identity governance solution after an external auditor recommended one to streamline user access reviews.
Last verified
November 5, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Bay and C1.ai are both filed under AI model and agent security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Bay's primary category is AI model and agent security; C1.ai's is Identity governance and administration.
  • Bay is also filed under Endpoint management and application control and Workforce AI usage security. C1.ai is also filed under Non-human identity security and Privileged access management.
  • Bay lists Bay, Lighthouse and Wave. C1.ai lists AI-Native Identity Governance, NHI & Identity Security, Agent SSO & Runtime Governance, Apps & MCP Self Service, Deploy Custom Agents and 1 more.

What it sells: Bay

What Bay does[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Bay maps every agent, MCP server, extension, model and skill on devices on its first scan. Bay builds a contextual entity graph of the users, MCP servers, SaaS apps and access connected to each agent. Bay deploys with one script through an existing MDM and does not require a proxy. Bay keeps full transcripts of prompts, actions and MCP calls.
What Lighthouse does[6]
Lighthouse drafts policy from an organization's own agent activity. Users answer 7 questions about risk appetite, and Lighthouse recommends a setting for each question and builds the policy. Bay replays 30 days of agent history to show what a policy would do before enforcement.
What Wave does[3]
Bay is agentless and deploys through an existing MDM or EDR using Wave, an ephemeral binary. There is no persistent agent to maintain and no proxy in the path.

Questions about Bay and C1.ai

What do Bay and C1.ai sell?
Bay sells Bay, Lighthouse and Wave. C1.ai sells AI-Native Identity Governance, NHI & Identity Security, Agent SSO & Runtime Governance, Apps & MCP Self Service, Deploy Custom Agents and 1 more.
Are Bay and C1.ai in the same category?
They share AI model and agent security. Bay's primary category is AI model and agent security and C1.ai's is Identity governance and administration.
Who are Bay and C1.ai sold to?
From its own pages, C1.ai sells to organisations that manage access for people, non-human identities, and agents, and to technical teams that extend the platform through APIs and Terraform.
What have Bay and C1.ai announced recently?
October 13, 2026: Workday announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1.ai, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2027, ending January 31, 2027.

About Bay

Bay is an AI agent security platform that gives enterprises visibility into every agent across devices, browsers and cloud workloads, and control over what those agents do in real time. Bay describes AI endpoint security as protection for the AI agents, coding assistants and MCP servers running on employee devices. Bay was founded by three engineers who spent their careers in endpoint and API security. Bay is a Series A stage company.[2][3]

Teams run agents like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and GitHub Copilot in clusters, cloud workspaces and hosted sessions.[5]

Bay finds and maps agents first. On the first scan, Bay maps every agent, MCP server, extension, model and skill on devices, including ones nobody approved. Bay finds every agent, extension, CLI tool, MCP server, skill and model on employee devices. Bay builds a contextual entity graph of how everything connects: the user behind each agent, the MCP servers and SaaS apps it touches, and the access it holds. Bay scans every agent, package, extension, MCP server and skill for malicious indicators before approval. In the browser, Bay brings shadow AI into view, covering chatbots, extensions and embedded SaaS agents. In cloud environments, Bay discovers agents across virtual machines, Kubernetes, Coder workspaces and hosted sessions.[1][3][5][6][7]

Lighthouse, Bay's embedded agentic system, drafts policy from an organization's own agent activity. Users answer 7 questions about risk appetite, and Lighthouse recommends a setting for each question and builds the policy. Policies can be scoped by IdP group, device or runtime, and can set which MCP servers can read or write. Before enforcement, Bay replays 30 days of agent history to show what a policy would do before any user is affected. Bay also lets teams run any policy in simulation mode to see what it would allow, ask or block. At runtime, Bay enforces guardrails inline with the agentic action and returns allow, ask, steer or block in milliseconds. Bay can also prevent prompt injection attempts at runtime.[6]

Bay keeps records of agent activity. Bay keeps full transcripts of prompts, actions and MCP calls, traceable to the person behind each session. A metadata-only mode in Bay keeps prompts on the device when they must not leave it. Bay ties every prompt and agent action to a real identity, corporate or personal. Bay logs every policy change and agent action with who approved it and whether a person or an agent took it. Every decision in Bay is logged against the policy behind it, ready for auditors. Bay connects to an identity provider, so every policy applies to the right people and groups.[5][6][7][8]

Bay also checks configuration. Bay checks how every agent and AI tool is set up, across devices and cloud workloads, so risky settings can be fixed before an agent puts them to use. Bay spots bypass-permissions mode, sandboxes switched off and unrestricted tool access, rates how serious each one is and shows how to fix it. Bay finds the credentials, tokens and secrets that agents and MCP servers can read.[9]

Bay deploys with one script through an existing MDM and does not require a proxy to route traffic through. Bay deploys through an existing MDM or EDR using Wave, an ephemeral binary, so there is no persistent agent to maintain. Bay tells corporate AI accounts from personal ones, including in personal Chrome profiles. Bay's enterprise customers include Micron Technology, Peloton and ClickUp.[1][2][3][6][7][8]

Bay on the record

Sources

Bay full record

  1. [1]bay.ioBay · bay.io · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Security Researcher — Careers at BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]AI Endpoint Security — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]About — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cloud Workspaces — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Platform — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Browser — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI Governance & Compliance — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI Security Posture — BayBay · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

C1.ai full record

  1. [1]conductorone.comConductorOne (C1.ai) · conductorone.com · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]C1.ai | Put AI to WorkC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]AI-Native Identity Governance Solutions | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Self-Service Access for Apps, MCPs, and AI Tools | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Infrastructure Access - C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Headless Identity Infrastructure | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Identity Graph - C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Automating access management and reducing risk for IGS Energy’s hybrid environment | C1.aiC1.ai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Workday to Acquire C1.ai, a Leading Agentic Identity Platform for People and AgentsC1.ai · published October 13, 2026 · Tier A

Spot a factual error? Request a correction.