Seven Tech Trailblazers alumni making news across cloud, cyber security, AI, storage and identity

Here at Tech Trailblazers, we’re proud to champion the enterprise tech startups and scale-ups that keep blazing a trail long after their Awards moment.

This week, the team here at Tech Trailblazers Towers has been cheering on seven alumni making positive news across cloud security, cyber security, AI, infrastructure automation, data protection, storage and identity. From marketplace momentum and major partner programmes to industry awards, platform expansion and senior leadership appointments, it is always exciting to see previous Tech Trailblazers Awards winners and runners-up continuing to grow, lead and innovate.

Neil Briscoe and Enforza: making cloud perimeter security easier to deploy

First up, a special congratulations to Neil Briscoe, CTO and Founder of Enforza, our 2024 Male CxO Tech Trailblazers Award winner.

Neil shared the news that Enforza is now available through AWS Marketplace, offering one-click deployment to help organisations secure their cloud perimeter and reduce egress total cost of ownership. It is a great example of founder-led execution: listening to the market, reducing friction for customers, and helping cloud teams take a more practical approach to security and cost control.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/neilbriscoe_enforza-aws-egress-activity-7475993555405180929-t22K?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAABKIogBIBDRWTak7i3JQKiIFSVueY74Tos

Neil’s 2024 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2024/

Object First: double honours at the 2026 Storage Awards

Congratulations also to Object First, a 2025 Storage Trailblazers runner-up, which has picked up two honours at the 2026 Storage Awards: Enterprise Backup Hardware Vendor of the Year and Ransomware Company of the Year.

For a company focused on ransomware-proof, on-premises backup storage, these awards are a powerful endorsement from the storage and cyber resilience community. Object First was also a Storage Trailblazers runner-up in 2023, so it is fantastic to see the company continuing to build recognition in such a critical area of enterprise technology.

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/object-first-voted-enterprise-backup-120000276.html

Object First’s 2025 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2025/

DNSFilter: strengthening its MSP partner programme

DNSFilter, a 2022 Security Trailblazers runner-up, has been in the news with the launch of an expanded MSP partner programme.

As security costs continue to put pressure on managed service providers, DNSFilter’s partner-first move is well timed. The company’s focus on protective DNS and threat prevention has long been relevant to the Tech Trailblazers cyber security community, and it is encouraging to see a previous Security Trailblazers runner-up scaling its channel support for MSPs.

Source: https://siliconangle.com/2026/06/30/dnsfilter-revamps-msp-partner-program-security-costs-squeeze-providers/

DNSFilter’s 2022 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2022/

Cynomi: expanding its AI-powered platform for MSPs and MSSPs

Cynomi, a 2025 AI Trailblazers runner-up, has announced what has been described as the largest platform expansion in the company’s history.

The update brings new capabilities for MSPs, MSSPs and vCISO consultancies, including expanded vulnerability management integrations, scheduled scanning, a Files Repository and broader AI Coworker functionality. This is exactly the kind of practical AI innovation we love to see: technology being applied to help service providers scale expertise, improve client delivery and strengthen cyber resilience.

Source: https://www.msspalert.com/news/mssps-msps-get-a-scalable-path-to-vciso-and-vulnerability-management-services

Cynomi’s 2025 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2025/

GoodData.AI: recognised as a Visionary in analytics and BI

GoodData.AI, a 2012 Big Data Trailblazers runner-up, has been in the news after being recognised as a Visionary in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms.

For GoodData.AI, this is a brilliant long-tail Tech Trailblazers alumni story. More than a decade after being recognised in our Big Data category, the company is continuing to evolve at the intersection of analytics, AI, embedded intelligence and governed data. Its platform is focused on composable, AI-native analytics, with a headless semantic layer designed to help enterprises build trusted analytics into products, workflows and decision-making processes.

GoodData.AI described the recognition as a milestone in its move from Niche Player to Visionary, and the news was also distributed via ACCESS Newswire and picked up by Yahoo Finance. It is always exciting to see a previous Big Data Trailblazers runner-up still helping shape the enterprise analytics market in the AI era.

GoodData.AI’s 2012 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2012/

Cohesity: continued recognition in data protection and cyber resilience

Cohesity, our 2016 Storage Trailblazers winner, continues to demonstrate the long-term impact of Tech Trailblazers alumni.

Solutions Review highlighted Cohesity’s 2026 Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award for Infrastructure Modernization: Disaster Recovery/Backup. The recognition reflects Cohesity’s work with Google Cloud to help organisations strengthen cyber resilience across cloud, hybrid and SaaS environments.

For us, Cohesity is a brilliant reminder that today’s trailblazing startups can become tomorrow’s category leaders.

Source: https://solutionsreview.com/backup-disaster-recovery/storage-and-data-protection-news-for-the-week-of-june-26-updates-from-backblaze-cohesity-netapp-more/

Cohesity’s 2016 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2016/

1Kosmos: appointing Roger Hale as Chief Information Security Officer

Finally, congratulations to 1Kosmos, our 2023 Blockchain Trailblazers winner, which has appointed former Informatica CISO Roger Hale as Chief Information Security Officer.

As identity verification, passwordless authentication, AI governance, compliance and customer trust continue to converge, bringing in a senior security leader with deep enterprise experience is a strong move. It is great to see a previous Blockchain Trailblazers winner continuing to strengthen its leadership team as the company scales.

Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/06/23/3316048/0/en/ex-informatica-ciso-roger-hale-joins-1kosmos-as-chief-information-security-officer.html

1Kosmos’ 2023 Tech Trailblazers recognition: https://techtrailblazers.com/award-year/2023/

Congratulations to our alumni

We congratulate all of our previous Tech Trailblazer Awards winners and runners-up who continue to build, scale and inspire across the global enterprise technology ecosystem.

From Neil Briscoe and Enforza’s cloud security momentum to Object First’s storage awards success, DNSFilter’s partner expansion, Cynomi’s AI-powered platform growth, Spacelift’s timely infrastructure research, Cohesity’s continued industry recognition and 1Kosmos’ leadership appointment, this week’s alumni news is a brilliant snapshot of what Tech Trailblazers is all about.

The Tech Trailblazers Awards were created to recognise enterprise technology innovation early, and it is always a joy to see our alumni continue blazing the trail.

Could your company be next?

Entries are open for the Tech Trailblazers Awards 2026, and we would love to hear from eligible startups and scale-ups working in AI, cyber security, cloud, blockchain, storage, developer technology, fintech, networking, sustainable tech, telecoms and other enterprise technology categories.

The current 2026 Awards website states that entries are open to private technology companies under ten years old that are privately funded or VC-backed at Series C or earlier. Please check the latest eligibility details before entering.

Find out more and enter here: https://techtrailblazers.com/

Rose Ross
Chief Trailblazer and Founder
Tech Trailblazers Awards

If your company has previously been named as either a Tech Trailblazers Awards Winner or a Runner-up and you would like to share any recent/upcoming news with us, please drop us an email at innovate@techtrailblazers.com