CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cygrid vs Operant AI

Cygrid sells a platform that finds shadow AI, over-scoped tokens and leftover admin rights across SaaS, checks every action by humans, service accounts and AI agents, and secures actions by applying customer policy. Operant AI sells one platform covering Endpoints, Agents, MCPs, and AI applications. CISO Tribune files both under AI firewalls and guardrails. 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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  • Cygrid
  • Operant AI
Cygrid vs Operant AI: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CygridCygrid sells a platform that finds shadow AI, over-scoped tokens and leftover admin rights across SaaS, checks every action by humans, service accounts and AI agents, and secures actions by applying customer policy.cygrid.ioOperant AIOperant AI sells one platform covering Endpoints, Agents, MCPs, and AI applications.operant.ai
What it sells
  • Identity Intelligence Graph[1][4]Holds humans, non-human identities, AI agents, tokens, MCP servers and resources in one graph.
  • MCP Gateway[3][8]Sits in the tool-call path and audits, allows, rewrites or blocks every agent tool call at runtime.
  • Operant Semantic Firewall[1][7]Understands the intent behind every agent action and enforces an allow, block, or redact decision inline, in real time.
  • Agent Protector[1][5][6]Inventories all AI agents operating within an organization's infrastructure.
Categories
Headquarters
Berlin, Germany[2]San Francisco, United States[2]
Founded
2026[2][3]Not stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesPrivately held[1][3]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • May 4, 2026Operant AI launched Operant Endpoint Protector, a new addition to its AI Defense Platform for discovering and defending against threats across AI tools and coding agents.[4]
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
Finance teams whose AI agents work with ledger and bank data are among the audiences it addresses. Mid-sized retailers that run several stores are among the audiences it addresses. IT operations teams dealing with unused accounts, standing admin rights and forgotten tokens across SaaS are an audience, as are security and compliance teams that need evidence for NIS2, DORA and the EU AI Act.It describes plans for teams putting their first production AI into customers' hands and for companies running AI across teams and products with critical data and compliance requirements. Its pages say regulated and government deployments mostly use the VPC, on-premise, or air-gapped options on the Enterprise plan. Workloads it covers range from coding agents on employee laptops to cloud agents across any infra.
Last verified
October 23, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Cygrid and Operant AI are both filed under AI firewalls and guardrails.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cygrid's primary category is Non-human identity security; Operant AI's is AI firewalls and guardrails.
  • Cygrid is also filed under AI governance and Identity threat detection and response. Operant AI is also filed under AI model and agent security.
  • Cygrid lists Identity Intelligence Graph and MCP Gateway. Operant AI lists Operant Semantic Firewall and Agent Protector.
  • Cygrid is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Operant AI is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.
  • Cygrid was founded in 2026.
  • Operant AI is privately held.

What it sells: Cygrid

What Identity Intelligence Graph does[1][4]
Cygrid models the action, meaning the permission actually in play, in full context. The graph models access as SaaS actions rather than roles, so risk can be compared across tools.

What it sells: Operant AI

What Operant Semantic Firewall does[1][7]
Operant Semantic Firewall holds an agent to its assigned purpose across the whole session, catching drift from manipulation or its own initiative. Operant can redact the sensitive part of an action and let the agent keep working within scope, instead of killing the workflow.
What Agent Protector does[1][5][6]
Agent Protector covers managed agents deployed through official channels and unmanaged agents running in cloud environments, SaaS platforms, and development tools. Agent Protector analyzes agent behavior patterns to identify and prevent security threats before they execute.

Questions about Cygrid and Operant AI

What do Cygrid and Operant AI sell?
Cygrid sells Identity Intelligence Graph and MCP Gateway. Operant AI sells Operant Semantic Firewall and Agent Protector.
Are Cygrid and Operant AI in the same category?
They share AI firewalls and guardrails. Cygrid's primary category is Non-human identity security and Operant AI's is AI firewalls and guardrails.
Where are Cygrid and Operant AI headquartered?
Cygrid is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Operant AI is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.
When were Cygrid and Operant AI founded?
Cygrid was founded in 2026.
Who owns Cygrid and Operant AI?
Operant AI is privately held.
Who are Cygrid and Operant AI sold to?
Finance teams whose AI agents work with ledger and bank data are among the audiences it addresses. It describes plans for teams putting their first production AI into customers' hands and for companies running AI across teams and products with critical data and compliance requirements.
What have Cygrid and Operant AI announced recently?
May 4, 2026: Operant AI launched Operant Endpoint Protector, a new addition to its AI Defense Platform for discovering and defending against threats across AI tools and coding agents.

About Cygrid

Cygrid sells a platform that finds shadow AI, over-scoped tokens and leftover admin rights across SaaS, checks every action by humans, service accounts and AI agents, and secures actions by applying customer policy. Cygrid puts humans, service accounts, API connections and AI agents in one Identity Intelligence Graph. Cygrid connects identity, SaaS, cloud and AI sources into the Identity Intelligence Graph and secures every identity at three enforcement points: before first use, while access exists and at runtime. Cygrid offers one platform to discover, clean up, audit and secure access across SaaS.[1][4][5][6][9]

Cygrid models the action, meaning the permission actually in play, in full context. The graph records what each identity may do, what it actually does and on whose behalf, and policy rules and AI-driven analysis score the risk together. Cygrid discovers the AI agents, MCP servers and connected apps across SaaS, maps each one to the person it acts for, and records who approved what.[4][5][7]

The Cygrid MCP Gateway sits in the tool-call path and audits, allows, rewrites or blocks every agent tool call at runtime, decided by the same graph as every other enforcement point. Every MCP tool call is authenticated through the customer identity provider, tied to the person behind the agent and checked against policy down to the tool and parameter. In the MCP Gateway, credentials are issued just in time, and every call is logged. Cygrid keeps a registry of approved MCP servers with owner, provenance and version, and pauses a server whose tools change until it is re-reviewed. Cygrid verdicts include allow, downscope, block, revoke on approval or grant just in time, and each verdict is written to an immutable decision log. Cygrid issues a scoped credential at the moment of use and lets it expire. Cygrid removes standing admin and grants elevated access on request, for a limited time.[5][8][9][10][11]

Okta, Entra ID or Google Workspace can sync users, groups and offboarding to the MCP Gateway, so access follows the person. Cygrid ingests existing security tools as feeds and does not replace them. Cygrid connectors are read-only by default, with write access only for fixes the customer approves. On approval, Cygrid revokes risky access, orphaned accounts and dormant tokens at the source, blocks unapproved MCP servers and controls which identities AI agents use. Cygrid inventories every OAuth grant, API key, service account and AI app connection, and revokes the risky ones. Cygrid works with ChatGPT, Claude, Claude agents and more, plus any agent that connects through MCP or OAuth.[5][6][8][9][12]

In a finance example, an AI assistant on Drive can read, edit and share files while every delete is blocked. When an agent asks to export 100,000 records, Cygrid blocks the call or reduces it to the 500-record limit before it reaches the app. For e-commerce, Cygrid maps staff, apps and AI agents with access in every Shopify store and flags dormant admins and over-scoped app tokens. Cygrid grants temporary staff, agencies and freelancers time-limited access and removes it automatically when the work ends.[13][14]

Cygrid audits every identity and its access, enforces customer policies on every action, and generates evidence for NIS2, DORA and the EU AI Act from one live graph. Cygrid fills in a register of ICT third parties, including OAuth apps and AI agents, automatically from the graph. Cygrid finds shadow admins whose rights come through groups and never appear in the admin list of the platform, and shows the path from user to group to role. The Cygrid gateway inspects tool calls, not content, and its logs record each action and the person behind it, never prompts. Cygrid is ISO 27001 audited, has SOC 2 Type II in progress and has passed an external penetration test. Cygrid is hosted in Frankfurt across multiple availability zones.[1][4][7][8][12][13][14]

Cygrid on the record

Sources

Cygrid full record

  1. [1]cygrid.ioCygrid · cygrid.io · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutCygrid · cygrid.io · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Cygrid emerges from stealthCygrid · cygrid.io · published October 22, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Identity Enforcement for AI-Driven Enterprises | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Identity Enforcement Platform | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Least Privilege Across Your SaaS | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Identity Intelligence Graph | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]MCP Gateway for AI Agents | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Secure AI Agent Rollout for AI Teams | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Identity Enforcement Use Cases | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Integrations: Okta, Entra ID, SaaS & AI | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Identity Policy Enforcement & Compliance | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Identity Enforcement for Fintech & NIS2/DORA | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Identity Enforcement for E-commerce | CygridCygrid · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

Operant AI full record

  1. [1]Operant AI - Secure Your AIOperant AI · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Operant ai launches agent protector the first real time agentic security solution enabling safe ai agent innovation at scaleOperant AI via GlobeNewswire · globenewswire.com · published February 5, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Operant ai secures 10m series a to protect the modern cloud across apis applications and aiOperant AI via GlobeNewswire · globenewswire.com · published September 12, 2024 · Tier A
  4. [4]Operant AI Endpoint Protector secures AI agents and MCP toolsHelp Net Security · published May 4, 2026 · Tier B
  5. [5]Pricing - AI & Agent Security Platform | Operant AIOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Agent Protector: Real-Time AI Agent Security | OperantOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Operant Semantic Firewall | Govern AI Agents in Real TimeOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Operant MCP GatewayOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI GatekeeperOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]AI Application SecurityOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]API & Cloud Protector | Real-Time API Security | Operant AIOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Woodpecker: Open Source Red Teaming for AI, APIs & K8sOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]FAQsOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Start Your Free 7-Day Trial | Operant AI Security PlatformOperant AI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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