CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Knostic vs WitnessAI

Knostic discovers and secures agents, coding assistants, and their supply chain, from MCP to skills and Code to Cowork. WitnessAI sells an AI security and governance platform that brings humans and agents under one platform. CISO Tribune files both under AI governance. 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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  • Knostic
  • WitnessAI
Knostic vs WitnessAI: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
KnosticKnostic discovers and secures agents, coding assistants, and their supply chain, from MCP to skills and Code to Cowork.knostic.aiWitnessAIWitnessAI sells an AI security and governance platform that brings humans and agents under one platform.witness.ai
What it sells
  • Kirin[4][5][6][7][11]Runs on the endpoint inside supported agents. Denies or blocks unsafe agent actions.
  • AgentMesh[4][5][6][7][11]Rates every skill, server, and extension.
  • Observe[6][11]Finds and catalogs AI applications, agents and MCP servers, and visualizes AI conversations and agentic activity.
  • Control[1][5][6][7][10][11]Governs what AI agents and employees can do, routes prompts to models based on risk or purpose, and generates audit trails.
  • Protect[1][5][6][8][11]Applies runtime security controls and content guardrails intended to block prompt injection and jailbreak attempts and filter harmful responses.
Categories
Headquarters
Reston, United States[3]Mountain View, United States[4]
Founded
2023[2][7]2023[3]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[5]Privately held[2][13]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • June 12, 2026Knostic was recognized in the Cloud Security Alliance's first Agentic AI Security Innovator Market Map.[10]
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: listed, seen November 10, 2026[13]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, the company sells mainly to developers and teams that use AI coding agents and IDEs, with plans written for individual developers, growing teams, and engineering managers. Its pages describe developers and business users who install agents, extensions, MCP servers, and skills from open ecosystems. It lists an inventory export described as a register of AI systems for compliance and risk reporting. Its stated support covers macOS and Windows.From its own pages, the company sells mainly to enterprises, saying they need security and governance that extends from humans to agents. It addresses employee use of AI, citing risks around sensitive data, compliance, and shadow AI. It also addresses AI agents, which it describes as connecting to tools, accessing data, and taking actions on behalf of employees.
Last verified
September 27, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Knostic and WitnessAI are both filed under AI governance.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.
  • Both were founded in 2023.
  • Both are privately held.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Knostic's primary category is AI model and agent security; WitnessAI's is Workforce AI usage security.
  • WitnessAI is also filed under AI firewalls and guardrails.
  • Knostic lists Kirin and AgentMesh. WitnessAI lists Observe, Control and Protect.
  • Knostic is headquartered in Reston, United States. WitnessAI is headquartered in Mountain View, United States.

What it sells: Knostic

What Kirin does[4][5][6][7][11]
Kirin runs on the endpoint inside supported agents and sees the tools, extensions, servers, and skills actually installed and used. Kirin denies a destructive command before it executes, tells the developer why, and logs a Prevented alert for the SOC. Kirin blocks the connection to an MCP server before it is established, after AgentMesh scans and rates the server. Kirin deploys as an extension for Cursor and VS Code.
What AgentMesh does[4][5][6][7][11]
AgentMesh rates every skill, server, and extension. AgentMesh scans MCP servers for prompt injection, malicious behaviour, and supply-chain risk. AgentMesh detects prompt injection in skills, MCP servers, and extensions before install. Every paid AgentMesh plan includes Kirin IDE security.

Questions about Knostic and WitnessAI

What do Knostic and WitnessAI sell?
Knostic sells Kirin and AgentMesh. WitnessAI sells Observe, Control and Protect.
Are Knostic and WitnessAI in the same category?
They share AI governance. Knostic's primary category is AI model and agent security and WitnessAI's is Workforce AI usage security.
Where are Knostic and WitnessAI headquartered?
Knostic is headquartered in Reston, United States. WitnessAI is headquartered in Mountain View, United States.
When were Knostic and WitnessAI founded?
Both were founded in 2023.
Who owns Knostic and WitnessAI?
Knostic is privately held. WitnessAI is privately held.
Who are Knostic and WitnessAI sold to?
From its own pages, the company sells mainly to developers and teams that use AI coding agents and IDEs, with plans written for individual developers, growing teams, and engineering managers. From its own pages, the company sells mainly to enterprises, saying they need security and governance that extends from humans to agents.
What have Knostic and WitnessAI announced recently?
June 12, 2026: Knostic was recognized in the Cloud Security Alliance's first Agentic AI Security Innovator Market Map.

About Knostic

Knostic discovers and secures agents, coding assistants, and their supply chain, from MCP to skills and Code to Cowork. Knostic enforces rules by checking every action against policy before it runs, so allowed actions proceed and risky ones are blocked or sent to a human. Knostic applies least privilege to what agents do, watches every action as it happens, and blocks the unsafe ones before they execute.[1][6]

Kirin is the Knostic product that runs on the endpoint inside supported agents. Kirin sees the tools, extensions, servers, and skills actually installed and used. In one example, Kirin denies a destructive command before it executes, tells the developer why, and logs a Prevented alert for the SOC. AgentMesh rates every skill, server, and extension. Every paid AgentMesh plan includes Kirin IDE security.[4][6][11]

Knostic discovers every agent, model, and AI tool running across endpoints, attributes each to people and teams, and brings them under one policy. Knostic finds agents, extensions, MCP servers, and skills where they run, on the endpoint, rather than inferring from network logs. Discovery is passive, and policy can run in Monitor mode before anything is enforced. Discovered components are rated using AgentMesh verdicts and policy posture. Knostic maps which teams and individuals use which tools and what they can reach.[4][6]

Knostic describes one control plane for all agents, models, and AI tools. Knostic unifies and centrally governs agentic security policies and configurations. Teams can scope what agents may read, write, run, connect to, and install, per team. Knostic describes its guardrails for SaaS, in-house, coding, and Cowork agents.[1][6]

For prompt injection, Kirin catches the injection and blocks the action it would have caused. Kirin inspects what an agent is about to do, not just what it was told. Knostic scans prompts, retrieved context, and tool responses for injection and malicious instructions. Knostic catches credentials in prompts and outputs and blocks or redacts them, in Monitor or Enforce. Teams choose block, downgrade, route to a human, or log per rule and per team. For code, Knostic states that agents model threats before they code, follow secure coding rules, and have every package checked.[1][11]

Knostic keeps an up-to-date list of allowed MCP servers, with every connection validated in real time. Knostic flags deviations from policy or misconfigurations as they occur. AgentMesh continuously rescans the ecosystem, and Knostic research feeds new detections. Decision logs and runtime monitoring provide evidence for audits, incident response, and policy enforcement.[6]

Kirin supports Claude Code CLI, Claude Desktop and Cowork, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code + GitHub Copilot, on macOS and Windows, and Linux is in beta. Managers provision the console, push the endpoint client to the endpoints, directly or via an existing MDM, and start in Monitor mode. For Cursor and VS Code, Kirin deploys as an extension and requires the client for shadow AI visibility.

Kirin has three tiers, from individual developers to enterprise-wide rollouts. Knostic provides a package with SOC 2, pen test reports, and a data flow diagram in its trust center. Knostic Inc. is a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.[4][8][9]

Knostic on the record

Sources

Knostic full record

  1. [1]Knostic - The control plane for agentic AI on the endpointKnostic · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Ending llm oversharing we raised 11 million to secure enterprise aiKnostic · knostic.ai · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Rsac 2025 innovation sandbox knostic reshaping the access control paradigm for enterprise ai securitySecurity Boulevard · securityboulevard.com · published April 25, 2025 · Tier B
  4. [4]Shadow AI Discovery & Governance - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Pricing - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Agent Security - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]MCP Security Posture Management - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Terms of Service - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Knostic Knostic Trust Center | Powered by SafeBaseKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Knostic Featured Across Three Categories in CSA's Agentic AI Security Innovator Market MapKnostic · published June 12, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Prompt Injection Defense - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

WitnessAI full record

  1. [1]Unified AI Security and Governance Platform | WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Witnessai raises 58 million for global expansion and announces new ways to secure ai agents 302659319WitnessAI via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published January 13, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Witnessai launches with guardrails for aiDark Reading · darkreading.com · published May 21, 2024 · Tier B
  4. [4]WitnessaiAppSec Santa · appsecsanta.com · published April 3, 2026 · Tier C
  5. [5]Scaling AI Security with WitnessAI - WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Security Platform | Enterprise AI Governance | WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]WitnessAI 2.0 Delivers New Regulatory Compliance Capabilities to Support Safe AI Adoption - WitnessAIWitnessAI · published April 30, 2025 · Tier A
  8. [8]Ensuring Compliance with the EU AI Act - WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]WitnessAI Achieves SOC 2 Type II Compliance - WitnessAIWitnessAI · published October 21, 2025 · Tier A
  10. [10]WitnessAI Joins ServiceNow Control Tower Alliance - WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]TENEX.AI and WitnessAI Partner to Deliver Managed Security and Compliance Services for Enterprise AI - WitnessAIWitnessAI · published June 17, 2025 · Tier A
  12. [12]How Security Leaders Prove ROI and Reduce Risk - WitnessAIWitnessAI · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]WitnessAI Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

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