CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

BigID vs Sentra

BigID sells one platform for security controls, compliance and privacy automation, and AI governance. Sentra sells a platform that finds sensitive datasets across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and AI services and shows which people and AI agents can reach them. CISO Tribune files both under Data security posture management. 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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  • BigID
  • Sentra
BigID vs Sentra: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
BigIDBigID sells one platform for security controls, compliance and privacy automation, and AI governance.bigid.comSentraSentra sells a platform that finds sensitive datasets across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and AI services and shows which people and AI agents can reach them.sentra.io
What it sells
  • Discovery & ClassificationFinds and classifies sensitive data across data center, cloud, SaaS and code. It also inventories the AI models and agents that reach that data.
  • DSPM, AI SPM, Agentic SPMPosture management across data, AI and the agents acting on both. It surfaces exposures and guides the fix.
  • Unstructured Data MinimizationClassifies and minimizes files, email and chat. Flagged content moves through review to archive or purge.
  • Context engineering for AI Agents[6]Catalogs data and metadata and controls what each AI agent can see.
  • AgentIQ[6][9]Runs a data and AI security program from a prompt or an agent.
  • Data & AI sovereignty[6]Maps data residency and cross-border flows and applies localization policy. The platform can run in-country or air-gapped.
  • Shadow AI DLP[3]A module of the platform aimed at sensitive data being shared with AI applications.
Categories
Headquarters
New York, United StatesNew York, United States[1]
Founded
2016[4]2021[1]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[4][14][15]Privately held[13][15][19]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • November 4, 2026Sentra announced a $150 million strategic investment led by Capital One Ventures, with a Capital One representative joining its board of directors.[18]
  • June 2, 2026Sentra announced the launch of its Platform for Continuous AI Data Readiness and Governance.[12]
  • March 25, 2026Sentra launched a solution for securely adopting Google Workspace with Gemini.[17]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
Who it fits
From its own pages, BigID sells mainly to security, privacy and AI teams that want one set of findings rather than separate tools. BigID describes privacy and compliance teams as answering to national privacy laws, industry controls and AI obligations. BigID offers self-managed VPC and fully air-gapped on-premises deployments that run the same software as its SaaS. BigID for Federal is aimed at federal programs, on a FedRAMP High authorized platform.From its own pages, Sentra sells mainly to organizations that hold sensitive data across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and AI services. Sentra addresses organizations that want a safer rollout of copilots and agents. Sentra publishes offerings for financial organizations that need to limit access to financial data with least-privilege policies, for healthcare organizations that hold PHI in cloud environments, and for retailers with e-commerce systems. Sentra says scanning occurs in the customer's environment and data never leaves it, which speaks to buyers who want data to stay in their own environment.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Data security posture management is the primary category of both BigID and Sentra.
  • Both are headquartered in New York, United States.
  • Both are privately held.

Where they differ, field by field

  • BigID is also filed under Data loss prevention and Privacy management.
  • BigID lists Discovery & Classification, DSPM, AI SPM, Agentic SPM, Unstructured Data Minimization, Context engineering for AI Agents, AgentIQ and 1 more. Sentra lists Shadow AI DLP.
  • BigID was founded in 2016. Sentra was founded in 2021.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both BigID and Sentra under Data security posture management as the primary category, and both are privately held companies headquartered in New York, United States. BigID was founded in 2016, and Sentra was founded in 2021. CISO Tribune also files BigID under Data loss prevention and Privacy management.

BigID sells one platform for security controls, compliance and privacy automation, and AI governance, with products for discovery and classification, unstructured data minimization, context engineering for AI agents, and data and AI sovereignty. Its deployment options include multi-tenant SaaS, self-managed VPC and fully air-gapped on-premises, and BigID for Federal runs on a FedRAMP High authorized platform. Sentra sells a platform that finds sensitive datasets across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and AI services and shows which people and AI agents can reach them. Sentra says discovery, classification and analysis run inside the customer's environment, and it offers a Shadow AI DLP module aimed at sensitive data being shared with AI applications. Both companies cover AI agents' access to data: BigID inventories models and agents that reach data, and Sentra maps which AI agents can access sensitive data.

Sentra publishes offerings for financial organizations, healthcare organizations that hold PHI, and retailers. BigID describes its buyers as security, privacy and AI teams that want one set of findings rather than separate tools. On recent activity, Sentra announced a $150 million strategic investment led by Capital One Ventures on November 4, 2026. Sentra also announced the launch of its Platform for Continuous AI Data Readiness and Governance on June 2, 2026.

What it sells: BigID

What Discovery & Classification does
The page describes agentless discovery with hundreds of connectors across the data center, cloud, SaaS and code, with scan depth set per source. Data is read and classified into 2,000+ categories. Models and agents that reach the data, sanctioned or not, are inventoried as assets in their own right.
What DSPM, AI SPM, Agentic SPM does
The page says DSPM began as data risk discovery: find the sensitive data, assess the risk around it. BigID then guides the fix with access governance, activity monitoring, DLP and disposition. It extends all of this to the AI models and agents now reaching the same data.
What Unstructured Data Minimization does
The page says BigID classifies unstructured data at scale and finds duplicates, stale files and out-of-compliance data. Flagged content moves through review to archive or purge, with legal hold checked first.
What Context engineering for AI Agents does[6]
The page says BigID indexes structured and unstructured data and catalogs that metadata behind APIs and MCP. It discovers each agent and what it is approved to do. It also controls which data and metadata every agent can see.
What AgentIQ does[6][9]
The page lets users run a data and AI program from a prompt or an agent. It works inside BigID or from third-party assistants and enterprise agents. Agents that a buyer buys, builds or brings ask the questions, investigate the risk, take the action and keep the work running.
What Data & AI sovereignty does[6]
The page says BigID maps residency, cross-border flows and third-party access from discovery. It applies localization policy and keeps the evidence regulators ask for. The platform can run in-country or fully air-gapped, with zero outbound connectivity.

Questions about BigID and Sentra

What do BigID and Sentra sell?
BigID sells Discovery & Classification, DSPM, AI SPM, Agentic SPM, Unstructured Data Minimization, Context engineering for AI Agents, AgentIQ and 1 more. Sentra sells Shadow AI DLP.
Are BigID and Sentra in the same category?
Yes. Data security posture management is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are BigID and Sentra headquartered?
Both are headquartered in New York, United States.
When were BigID and Sentra founded?
BigID was founded in 2016. Sentra was founded in 2021.
Who owns BigID and Sentra?
BigID is privately held. Sentra is privately held.
Who are BigID and Sentra sold to?
From its own pages, BigID sells mainly to security, privacy and AI teams that want one set of findings rather than separate tools. From its own pages, Sentra sells mainly to organizations that hold sensitive data across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and AI services.
What have BigID and Sentra announced recently?
November 4, 2026: Sentra announced a $150 million strategic investment led by Capital One Ventures, with a Capital One representative joining its board of directors.

About BigID

BigID sells one platform for security controls, compliance and privacy automation, and AI governance. BigID says it detects sensitive data, AI and identities across an organization's estate, protects them, and governs who and what can reach them.[1][5]

BigID says security, privacy and AI teams usually work from separate tools and separate answers. BigID gives those teams one catalog and one graph. BigID builds one catalog across cloud, SaaS, on-prem and mainframe, and classifies it automatically. BigID governs AI models and the data they run on together, so policy becomes a control and every control leaves evidence behind.[5][16]

On the data security side, BigID includes access governance, activity monitoring, loss prevention, lifecycle and privacy management natively within its DSPM offering. BigID discovers sensitive data in every store, classifies it, and flags overshared files, stale access, and unmanaged models and agents. BigID classification uses 2,000+ pretrained classifiers and prompt based LLM classification for structured and unstructured data. BigID reads permissions metadata at the source and reviews it against policy, surfacing the conflicts for attestation. BigID discovers agents, sanctioned and unsanctioned, and shows the data each one reaches through the identity it runs under.[3][6][8][13][17]

Agents reach BigID through an RBAC-controlled MCP, approved agents are recognized by identity, and each one is limited to the context data its role and stated intent call for.[6][18]

On deployment, BigID offers multi-tenant SaaS with full data segregation options, data ringfenced inside any of 30+ countries, and single tenant full isolation set as a deployment flag on the same product. BigID says an air-gapped deployment delivers the same discovery, classification, remediation, and AI governance as BigID SaaS. In a sealed, air-gapped environment, BigID runs with zero outbound connectivity and no phone-home telemetry. BigID for Federal is described as secure data for federal programs, on a platform that is FedRAMP High authorized.[6][8][10][16][19]

On privacy, BigID privacy requests arrive through a branded portal, forms, APIs or internal teams, identities are verified, and each request is routed by type, jurisdiction and brand. BigID lifecycle management covers ROT detection, sandboxed review before anything moves, and soft and hard delete, with legal hold and downstream impact checked first.[8][13][20]

BigID pushes classification and labeling into Microsoft Purview.[2][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][19][20][21][22]

BigID on the record

Sources

BigID full record

  1. [1]Data security platformBigID · bigid.com · published August 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Bigid recognized as a leader in independent evaluation of sensitive data discovery and classification solutions as company expands ai security and governance platform 302739331BigID via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published April 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Fortune venture dealsBigID (republishing Fortune) · bigid.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Rk42qzuraCTech (Calcalist) · calcalistech.com · published March 20, 2024 · Tier B
  5. [5]BigID: Enterprise Data Security Platform for DSPM & AIBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Data Security, Privacy, and AI Governance Solutions | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Data Discovery and Classification for Data and AI | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]DSPM, AI SPM, and Agentic SPM Platform | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AgentIQ: Agentic Automation for Data and AI Security | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Data and AI Sovereignty Solutions | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Databricks | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Context Engineering for AI Agents | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Unstructured Data Minimization and Retention | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]BigID Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  15. [15]BigID Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  16. [16]AI Governance for Models, Agents, and Their Data | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Data Access Governance for Employees and AI Agents | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Data Governance Automation Software | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Secure AI-First Architecture: SaaS to Air-Gapped | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Privacy and Compliance Automation for the AI Era | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Purview | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Collibra | BigIDBigID · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A

Sentra full record

  1. [1]Sentra adds advanced data detection and response solutionSentra · sentra.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Sentra closes 50 million series b amid surging demand for securing data for ai adoptionSentra via PR Newswire · sentra.io · published April 22, 2025 · Tier A
  3. [3]Data Security Platform | Cloud Security | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Sentra | AI Data Security & AI Data Governance PlatformSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Solution: Financial ServicesSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Solution HealthcareSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Solution: RetailSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Trust Center | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Sentra PricingSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]About Sentra: Get to Know the Leadership TeamSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Integrations | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Sentra Launches Platform to Deliver the Missing Data Readiness Layer for Enterprise AISentra · published June 2, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Sentra Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Data Discovery and Classification | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Automated Remediation | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Continuous AI Compliance | SentraSentra · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Sentra Launches the Only Scalable Google Workspace Gemini Security to Protect Sensitive Data from AI RiskPR Newswire · published March 25, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Sentra Raises $150M to Secure Data for the Agentic AI EraPR Newswire · published November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Sentra Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier C

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