Sophos announces the availability of Sophos CISO Advantage, an agentic AI-based solution that connects security operations to security strategy. The tool gives organizations a clear view of their cyber risk, a prioritized plan to reduce it, and quantifiable evidence of progress, in simple language that business leaders can understand, finance, and implement.
Available through Sophos Fusion, Sophos’ AI-native cybersecurity defense system, Sophos CISO Advantage begins rolling out today in North America, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe.
Advanced protection tools
Sophos CISO Advantage defines a new category in the market, turning security data into strategy and measurable improvements, powered by actionable AI. The offering assesses an organization’s environment, compares it to industry frameworks, and transforms the result into a prioritized plan at a speed and scale that human experts alone cannot achieve.
For most organizations, creating and implementing a robust cybersecurity strategy presents both the greatest opportunity and the greatest challenge in strengthening their resilience. The cybersecurity industry has made significant investments in prevention, detection and response tools, and global spending on information security is expected to reach $240 billion by 2026(i).
However, despite considerable investment in cybersecurity tools, the market remains fragmented. Organizations often rely on disjointed assessments, spreadsheets, and point solutions to understand and manage cyber risk, making it difficult to measure progress, prioritize investments, and demonstrate the impact of cybersecurity programs.
This gap is due, in large part, to a shortage of security leadership and talent. According to the CISO 2026 Report, it is estimated that 35,000 CISOs serve 359 million companies worldwide, which is a ratio of approximately 10,000 to one. Hiring alone is not enough to close this gap. In fact, Sophos’ MSP Perspectives 2026 report reveals that, on average, 46% of customers expect their MSP to act as their CISO today; Additionally, 84% of MSPs expect demand for CISO services to increase over the next year.
Organizations without a CISO do not have the skills or resources to assess risks and develop a strategy. And organizations with a CISO are increasingly required to demonstrate the effectiveness of controls and progress made to boards of directors, regulators and insurers, even as this role comes under great pressure, with the average tenure of a CISO ranging from 18 to 26 months and 75% considering a job change.
Threat Intelligence Based Assessment
Sophos CISO Advantage fills that gap. Develop a security assessment specific to each organization’s environment and threat profile, compare controls against frameworks such as NIST CSF, CIS v8, Cyber Essentials Plus, and NCSC CAF, and transform the results into a prioritized, budget-oriented roadmap that shows what needs to be fixed first, how much it costs, and why it’s important to the business. As part of Sophos Fusion, each assessment is based on real-time threat intelligence and the collective insight of more than 625,000 organizations protected by Sophos, rather than generic benchmarks.
“A good security strategy has always required too little specialized knowledge to scale, so it has remained a luxury that only the largest companies could afford,” said Rob Harrison, senior vice president of Product Management at Sophos. “Sophos CISO Advantage changes this. We’ve designed it around the question every board is now asking their security team: Are we more secure than last quarter and can you prove it? Providing a credible response within the reach of any organization, and not just those that can rely on a large security team, is how the industry is beginning to close the resilience gap.”
Each organization’s path to strengthening its security strategy with Sophos CISO Advantage is different. Some want to manage the program themselves, with their internal team driving the strategy and using Sophos CISO Advantage as their system of record. Others may start with an MSP partner to get the program up and running, build trust, and then move to managing it internally. Many will begin with an initial assessment of their program and move to a continuously managed service delivered entirely through a trusted partner. Sophos CISO Advantage is designed to support all three options.
As part of Sophos Fusion, each assessment is based on real-time threat intelligence
For the growing number of MSPs who already act as de facto security leaders for their clients, turn that role into a structured, scalable and billable service. For organizations that want to manage their program directly, it provides the AI-powered system, framework, and workflows needed to do so without the need for a dedicated security team. Whichever path best suits your business, Sophos CISO Advantage delivers the same result: a clear agenda, measurable improvement, and reports that management can act on.
Sophos CISO Advantage comes to market in October 2026 in North America, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, as an annual license or as a monthly subscription through MSP Flex. It is expected to be available globally by the end of calendar year 2026. Sophos CISO Advantage Plus, which adds convergence, risk management and governance capabilities for large enterprises, is planned for mid-2027.
