Mountain View CA-based Simbian, whose AI Agents work 24x7x365 to automatically investigate and respond to alerts, conduct threat hunts, prioritize and patch vulnerabilities, has named Isaac Lujan as its new Global Vice President of Channel and Partnerships. Isaac joins the leadership team and brings an exceptional track record of building and scaling partner programs across North America.
Simbian is probably best known to bring a fresh approach to SecOps automation., and Lujan worked there, building an extremely successful channel program and establishing it as a cornerstone of their go-to-market strategy.
“We had some major advantages at Simbian,” Lujan said. “We were founded with 10 million, and the founders are very well known, coming from places like NVIDIA, Fortanix and Twitter. We see ourselves as a Swiss army knife, with a 100% go-to-motion strategy through the channel.
“Our team hasn’t been sitting on their hands,” Lujan stated, noting that in 2024, they won several awards. He also noted that a major problem in the industry is that CISOs and SOC teams are quickly burned out.
“There is an increased number of attacks, and increased liability, as it takes teams 30 minutes for analysts to triage alerts,” he said. “But what if we get that down to two minutes.”
Lujan’s background includes managing the North American channel and alliances program at LogRhythm, where he drove significant growth through strategic partnership development, as well as at Hunters. His expertise spans across multiple partner types, including VARs, MSSPs, system integrators, and technology alliances.
“I also have a tech background, including Exabeam, which merged with LogRhythm,” Lujan noted. “I was recruited to Hunters to build a partner-friendly program from scratch. We give them an opportunity to learn new technology, and educate them on where we play and who we compete against.”
Lujan said the marketplace where Simbian plays is quite competitive, and includes the likes of Dropzone 7AI, and Prophet.
“When I committed to coming to this channel, I had an overall goal that the cloud should have a multiplier,” he noted. “That’s what the channel is supposed to be. You then make sure that you put channels people in place first,”
Lujan cut his teeth on putting together a channel program.
“What made the original channel program extremely successful channel program at Hunters, combined with building the foundation, was getting penetration with the right partners. We didn’t want to boil the ocean. We wanted to give people the best chance to succeed. Partner relationships remain fundamental to our growth strategy. You need people you can trust and rely on to put a GTM in place.”
Lujan stated that Simbian is positioned to deliver unparalleled support and resources to their channel partners worldwide.
“We’re building comprehensive enablement programs, technical support structures, and go-to-market strategies that ensure our partners have everything they need to succeed,” he said. “This includes dedicated resources for training, marketing support, technical assistance, and ongoing partnership development that creates lasting value for all stakeholders. Our vision is to get our program up and running and getting the Simbian solution across the globe to make lives easier. We will build a critical bridge between Simbian’s innovative AI technology and the customers who need advanced security solutions. This will make CISOs and SOC teams’ jobs easier, with 12x more coverage. I’m not here to replace them. I’m here to make solutions stickier for partners.”
Some of this has already been built.
“We have AI SOCs totally baked in now,” Lujan stated. “We have a solid road map. I took this opportunity because of technical solutions already in house.
“Creating a global ecosystem is not just a channel program,” Lujan added. “People don’t understand where partners align, and that the channel isn’t just resell. It includes alliance partners and will include distributors and MSSPs. We will create a seamless ecosystem where we can go to market and win together.”
Lujan’s intent is to be fairly select with the channel.
“We won’t overpromise the world,” he said. “I want to qualify the right partners and bring them on board. The 80-20 rule does not work because it’s impossible to scale that. We only need a handful of good platinum partners. Just having a solid handful of partners will give us a seat at the table for their customers.”
“As we continue to scale our AI Agents for SecOps solutions globally, partner relationships remain fundamental to our growth strategy,” said Ambuj Kumar, Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of Simbian.
“The cybersecurity landscape is experiencing unprecedented transformation driven by AI adoption and the persistent talent shortage. Our partner ecosystem serves as the critical bridge between Simbian’s innovative AI technology and the customers who need advanced security solutions. Isaac’s proven ability to create win-win scenarios for partners and vendors alike makes him the ideal leader to take our global program to the next level.”
“Simbian is not known to the greater public –but it will be,” Lujan stressed.