KnowBe4 reports 35% growth in AI-related revenue as digital workforce security expands

Cybersecurity company KnowBe4 reported more than 35% growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) from AI-related offerings in 2026, driven by demand for AI-powered security training, email and collaboration protection, and tools to monitor and govern artificial intelligence agents.

The company said last week that its growth remained organic, supported by product development and expansion across its customer base of more than 70,000 organisations. International markets also recorded double-digit ARR growth over the past year.

KnowBe4 is expanding its digital workforce security platform as organisations increasingly deploy AI agents alongside employees, creating new requirements for monitoring behaviour and managing security risks.

“The nature of the workforce is changing rapidly. As organizations deploy AI agents alongside employees, they need security strategies that address both,” said Bryan Palma, CEO of KnowBe4.

“We’ve spent the past year expanding KnowBe4 from a leader in security awareness training into a broader digital workforce security platform, while continuing to invest in the people, products, and the global infrastructure needed to support our customers as their needs evolve.”

AI-powered training and security tools drive growth

KnowBe4 expanded its Security Awareness Training portfolio in 2026 with the launch of SAT Advanced in May. The offering combines the company’s training content library with its Artificial Intelligence Defense Agents (AIDA), providing customers with more personalised training and reporting capabilities alongside the SAT Foundation tier.

The company also introduced Real-Time Coaching in August, delivering short security tips when employees engage in risky behaviour. Its simulated vishing capability, launched in October, extends attack simulations beyond email to voice-based social engineering.

In its email and collaboration security portfolio, KnowBe4 introduced protection for Microsoft Teams in May as cybercriminals increasingly use workplace communication platforms to target employees.

The company said its email and collaboration security offerings were a key contributor to AI-related revenue growth, reflecting demand for protection across inbound threat detection, outbound data loss prevention and incident response.

KnowBe4 also draws on 16 years of phishing simulation and user interaction data collected across more than 70,000 organisations. Its proprietary behavioural intelligence system processes 1.15 billion event signals daily to identify employee risk patterns and behaviours.

AI agent security becomes a strategic focus

As businesses give AI agents more autonomous responsibilities, KnowBe4 is expanding its tools to help organisations monitor and manage their activities.

The company announced Agent Risk Manager in April to provide visibility into AI agent behaviour and help security teams govern agent activity. In August, it extended the capability to Anthropic’s Claude, building on existing support for Microsoft Copilot.

Its AIDA orchestration tool is designed to reduce the time required to administer personalised security training from hours to seconds. According to KnowBe4, early deployments helped organisations reduce their Risk Score by 10% and achieve that reduction four times faster than with human-led programmes alone.

The company also introduced a Content Creation Agent within AIDA in May. The tool uses generative AI and natural-language prompts to turn internal policies and materials into customised security training experiences.

KnowBe4 said 2026 marks the tenth anniversary of the beta version of AIDA, highlighting its development of AI-based security training and agent-related capabilities.

Phishing susceptibility falls after ongoing training

KnowBe4’s 2026 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report analysed 42 million simulated phishing tests involving 14.8 million users across 64,000 organisations worldwide.

The report found that phishing attacks increased by 17.1% in the second half of 2025. However, organisations using ongoing security awareness training reduced average phishing susceptibility from a baseline of 33.2% to 4.2% after one year.

The findings point to a growing emphasis on measuring the effectiveness of security training through changes in employee behaviour and reductions in human-related cyber risk, rather than relying solely on course completion rates.

KnowBe4 expands across Asia and strengthens leadership team

KnowBe4 recorded double-digit ARR growth across international markets over the past year and is expanding its regional teams and local expertise across Asia.

Recent cloud email security engagements in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines reflect growing demand for solutions covering email and collaboration threats, data loss prevention and incident response automation.

The company has also made several leadership appointments and promotions across finance, customer operations, human resources, content and sales.

Yuneeb Khan was appointed chief financial officer in February, while Kelly Morgan joined as chief customer officer in the same month. Veena Bricker was appointed chief human resources officer in March, followed by Fran Roberts as general manager of KnowBe4 Studios in June.

Andrew Kanzer joined as chief growth officer in August, and Kurt Mills was appointed channel chief in September. The company also expanded its customer services, customer success and support leadership teams during the year.

KnowBe4 said the appointments would support its global expansion and continued development of its digital workforce security platform.