# Snehal Antani

> Snehal Antani is the co-founder and CEO of Horizon3, the San Francisco cybersecurity company behind NodeZero. His route to autonomous penetration testing ran through software engineering at IBM, CIO roles at GE Capital, the CTO job at Splunk, and service as the first CTO of Joint Special Operations Command. He describes his career as an exercise in optimizing for learning and has turned a long-standing interest in hacking into a company built around a blunt proposition: security should be demonstrated through repeated attack, repair, and verification.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Horizon3
- **Organizations:** Horizon3, Joint Special Operations Command, Splunk, GE Capital, IBM
- **Education:** BS in Computer Science, Purdue University, MS in Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- **Known for:** Co-founded Horizon3 and led it through a $250 million Series E at a valuation above $2 billion in August 2026., Served as the first CTO of Joint Special Operations Command., Appointed CTO of Splunk in 2015 after previously being a customer of the company.

## Career timeline

- **2000-2012** — Built his early career at IBM, beginning in software engineering and later working in product management for enterprise cloud, virtualization, and WebSphere technologies.
- **2012-2015** — Held several CIO roles at GE Capital, including enterprise architecture and commercial distribution finance responsibilities.
- **2015-2017** — Served as CTO and senior vice president at Splunk, helping direct the company's long-term technology vision.
- **2018-2019** — Served as the first CTO of Joint Special Operations Command, leading data analytics, cloud and edge computing, and cybersecurity initiatives.
- **2019** — Co-founded Horizon3 with Anthony Pillitiere and began developing what became the NodeZero autonomous pentesting platform.
- **2021** — Horizon3 reached approximately $1 million in annual recurring revenue, a milestone Antani has used to mark the beginning of its repeatable growth phase.
- **2023** — Received Purdue University's Distinguished Alumni Award in Computer Science.
- **2024** — Returned to Purdue as an Old Master, a program that brings accomplished guests to campus to share their experience with students.
- **2025** — Horizon3 ranked third on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 after reporting 19,939% three-year revenue growth.
- **2026** — Horizon3 raised a $250 million Series E at a valuation above $2 billion and reported more than 7,000 customers and 310,000 production tests.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Horizon3 and led it through a $250 million Series E at a valuation above $2 billion in August 2026.
- Served as the first CTO of Joint Special Operations Command.
- Appointed CTO of Splunk in 2015 after previously being a customer of the company.
- Named Purdue University's 2023 Distinguished Alumnus in Computer Science.
- Selected as a Purdue Old Master in 2024.
- Holds 18 patents, according to Purdue University and his public professional biography.
- Led Horizon3 as it reached more than 7,000 organizations and 310,000 production tests by August 2026.
- Led Horizon3 as it ranked third on the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 with 19,939% three-year revenue growth.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Spoke publicly about AI-driven security validation and the shift from claiming to be secure toward proving an organization is defensible.
- **2026-08** — Horizon3 announced a $250 million Series E at a valuation above $2 billion; the company reported 120% year-over-year ARR growth, more than 7,000 organizations, and 310,000 production tests.
- **2026-08** — Horizon3 announced a $20 million investment in its global partner ecosystem, with Antani describing cybersecurity as a last-mile trust business.
- **2026-06** — Joined Horizon3's co-founder and regional leadership in opening the company's EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam.
- **2026-06** — Was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Bay Area finalist.

## Links

- Website: https://horizon3.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehalantani
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/snehalantani
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Y_rV7Teu0

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/snehal-antani
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27