Norman Currie takes over as leadership of both the Channel and Technical Services organization.
Ambuj Kumar, CEO of Simbian
Simbian, a startup focused on AI-based security, has named a new channel leader who will follow an aggressive new strategy that will work as an aggressive force multiplier and make Simbian the go-to AI agent technology platform for partnerships and alliances across the security landscape. Norman Currie is Simbian’s new Head of Partnerships, who is in charge of both the Channel and Technical Alliances organizations. He joined the Simbian leadership team earlier this month after over two decades in cybersecurity. The name – actually Simbian AI – is a somewhat suggestive play on security. The areas it covers include threat hunting and government, as well as a suite of aging products, include SOC Agent and GRC.
Ambuj Kumar is both CEO and Simbian’s co-founder.
“We are a new startup that launched pre-RSA, and our leadership includes former Microsoft, Meta and IBM executives,” Currie said. He himself has an extensive background at McAfee.
After launching their channel program last year, Simbian has signed strategic relationships with various partners across the globe. Today they are 100 percent partner driven, with all Simbian products sold through one of their partners which include more than a dozen MSSPs. Their VAR, MDR, MSSP, and Service Provider/System Integration partners work as their force multipliers in bringing the best of AI SOC to their customers. Security is going through a seismic change and there is strong awareness and demand for AI-based security due to the global talent shortage. He led the inception and growth of managed security services at Accuvant (OPTIV), and spearheaded global CX and service organizations at firms like Binary Defense, Hunters, Expel and ZeroFox.
“Simbian is modeling their business around a program that considers each type of focus partner’s unique needs and, most importantly, those needs of the end customer,” Currie said. Their partners will have effective technology in their portfolio that delivers results with a global team committed to them and their customers’ success.” Currie has played pivotal roles in scaling businesses, fostering high-value alliances, and optimizing both partner and customer experiences. He has successfully led multi-million-dollar initiatives, including global leadership for channel enablement and presales for the MSSP/SI/SP/OEM routes to market at McAfee, growing revenue from $15M to over $200M. He also led the inception and growth of managed security services at Accuvant (OPTIV), and spearheaded global CX and service organizations at industry-leading firms like Binary Defense, Hunters, Expel and ZeroFox.
Currie explained the differentiation between Simbian’s AI and the more general use of the concept.
“AI is used generally in tools like CoPilot and is designed to let you build much faster workflows and accomplish things much more quickly,” Currie stated. “I came here because they build autonomous agents that continue to do the work themselves. Very few work with truly autonomous AI without having to build models on their own. We also have technology alliances who deal with companies who want AI by partnering. Our goal is to be channel-first and channel-led in most cases.”
Today, Simbian’s channel is relatively small, but is rapidly growing, and they do have plans to expand it.
“As we go to market, a big part of the first 90 days will be accelerating the route to market,” Currie said. “While we have between 10 to 15 partners today, we are in conversations with a lot more than that.
“In Canada, we have a been in discussions with a couple of potential partners today, although we have nothing in place yet,” he added.
