The AI 80.
The rising leaders writing the next chapter of cybersecurity.
The AI 80 honors the operators, deputies, and emerging directors actively shaping AI-native security inside their organizations today, on a credible path to CISO-level leadership over the next several years. Nominated by the community and judged independently by a panel of leading VCs and AI-native CISOs, the AI 80 is the first formal recognition of the people who will define the future of the role.
The industry recognizes the leaders who have already arrived. The AI 80 recognizes the ones about to.
Attackers are not breaking in anymore, they are blending in. The leaders doing genuinely transformative work in response, rethinking their programs and getting ahead of an AI-supported threat landscape the rest of the industry is still catching up to, deserve recognition.
The AI 80 is built for them: a curated cohort of the next generation of AI-native security leaders writing the playbook right now, on track for CISO seats within five years. It recognizes the practitioners on a path to chief, not the ones who have already arrived, and it is the start of a network and a community that grows every year.
Who the AI 80 is for
Measured against five things, not title alone.
Here is what the panel looks for.
Role
Director through Deputy CISO
Honorees typically hold titles like Director of Security, Senior Manager, Deputy CISO, or Head of a security function. The seats that lead into CISO appointments.
Scope
Building AI-native security work
Hands-on ownership of AI-related security efforts: defending against AI-enabled attacks, building AI-augmented detection, governing internal AI use, or leading the cross-functional response.
Trajectory
On the path to chief
A credible trajectory toward CISO-level leadership in the next several years. Team scope, organizational visibility, and the breadth of work owned are all weighed.
Voice
A public point of view
A discoverable perspective on where security is heading: talks, writing, podcast appearances, or thoughtful presence in the community. Honorees do not need to be loud, but their thinking should be findable.
Reach
Global and cross-sector
Every sector and every region: financial services, healthcare, technology, government, SLED, and beyond, with intentional representation across North America, EMEA, and APAC. The panel keeps the cohort balanced.
How the program runs
From nomination to Celebration, and beyond.
Now – mid-Aug
Nominations open
Anyone can nominate peers, team members, mentors, or themselves. Nominees are measured against public criteria.
Aug – Sept
Independent panel review
A panel of leading VCs and AI-native CISOs scores the qualified slate against the published criteria and makes the final cuts.
October
Cohort revealed
The 80 honorees are notified privately, then unveiled with a press release as the Hall of Fame microsite and Spotlight Series go live.
November
Celebrated at Innovate
The cohort is recognized as part of Abnormal Innovate 2026 programming, turning the reveal into a marquee moment at our own event.
Year-long
A community that compounds
Honorees join the AI 80 Alumni Network and connect through roundtables, threat briefings, and speaking opportunities, year over year.
What honorees receive
The Recognition Package
Every element is designed to be talked about long after the cohort is revealed.
Hall of Fame microsite profile
A permanent profile in the AI 80 Hall of Fame.
Digital badge + social asset kit
Templated reshare assets.
Press release inclusion
Named in the coordinated reveal release to cybersecurity, business, and tech media.
Honoree Spotlight Series
Dedicated honoree reveals across Abnormal social in the weeks following Innovate.
Your own video vignette
Option to have your own video vignette on what you are building with AI in security, with Abnormal Studios production support.
A celebration that comes to you
Your moment happens in person, in a city near you, whenever Abnormal’s event circuit rolls through town.
A direct line to our team
Candid conversations with Abnormal’s leaders throughout the year.
AI 80 Alumni Network
A standing community of the field’s sharpest rising leaders. The peers you meet here trade playbooks, open doors, and move into bigger seats alongside you.
A stage for your story
A platform to share what you are building across Abnormal’s event circuit, from our stages and panels to partner and industry moments throughout the year.
Who should nominate
If you know one of these leaders, nominate them.
Nominations are open to everyone. The strongest cohort comes from the people who work alongside these leaders every day and see the work up close.
Security leaders & peers
Tag a rising leader on your team or in your network who is doing the AI-native work others will be copying in two years.
CISOs & managers
Put forward the deputy, director, or emerging leader on your bench who is already operating a level above their title.
The broader community
Customers, partners, analysts, and practitioners. If someone’s work has shaped how you think about AI in security, nominate them.
Future honorees themselves
Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged. If you are building the future of AI-native security, put your own name in.
It takes a few minutes. Share who they are, what they are building, and how you know them. Nominations stay open through mid-August, and every nominee is measured against the same public criteria.
The judging panel
Judged by the people building the field.
The AI 80 is judged by an independent panel of leading VCs who back AI-native security and CISOs already on the front edge of the role today. The panel operates independently of Abnormal, and the cohort is theirs to select, scored against the public criteria.
How the panel judges
Panelists announced soon
A panel of VCs and AI-native CISOs.
The 2026 panel brings together leading venture investors backing the next wave of security and CISOs already operating at the front edge of AI-native defense. Names, bios, and each panelist’s point of view on the future of the role will be published here shortly.
Nominations are open
Know a future CISO? Nominate them.
Nominations close in mid-August. The 2026 AI 80 is revealed this fall at Abnormal Innovate.
About Abnormal AI
Abnormal AI protects people from cybercrime with behavioral AI that secures cloud email and the human communication layer. A significant share of the Fortune 500 trusts Abnormal today. The AI 80 exists to recognize the leaders shaping what comes next.
Program inquiries
ai80@abnormalsecurity.comPress & media
press@abnormalsecurity.com