Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a defensive tool, it has also become the weapon of choice for cyber attackers. In this context, Synack has presented Sara (Synack Autonomous Network Agent)an architecture of Agentic AI designed to strengthen your platform Penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) and offer security validation that is more proactive, adaptive and guided by human experts.
A hybrid ecosystem against AI-powered attacks
The novelty lies in its hybrid approach, Sara does not replace the human team, but rather collaborates with it to improve the detection, prioritization and validation of vulnerabilities. By operating under an “AI versus AI” model, the platform allows for a more agile defense cycle against adversaries that also incorporate machine learning into their offensive strategies.
The intent is clear, “Security teams are no longer just fighting humans, they are defending against AI-enhanced adversaries. With our agentic AI Sara and our human-involved model, we empower defenders with the same level of intelligence and speed, turning the tables in this era of AI vs. AI cybersecurity,” says Mark Kuhr, co-founder and CTO of Synack.
Components and functions of Sara
Sara is presented as an advanced layer within the Synack ecosystem, with a gradual evolution:
Sara Triage is already operational
It is responsible for automatically classifying the detected vulnerabilities, filtering out those that are truly exploitable to save time and reduce false positives.
Sara (Synack Autonomous Network Agent)an architecture of Agentic AI designed to strengthen your platform Penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) and offer more proactive, adaptive security validation guided by human experts
Sara Pentestlaunching later this year, will conduct comprehensive, targeted penetration testing, collaborating directly with Synack’s human Red Team.
Additionally, the human-mediated architecture allows complex cases (chained vulnerabilities, subtle logical flaws, or multi-stage attacks) to be reviewed by experts, bridging the gap between automatic detection and specialized intuition.
Among the advantages offered by this solution are:
- Unified integration of human and agent testing on the same platform.
- Scalable analytics with access to over 1,500 on-demand security researchers.
- Transparency of agent reasoning: detailed information about the “exploitability test.”
- Ability to scale tests across the entire managed attack surface.
- Real-time and historical reports that allow us to understand the root cause of vulnerabilities and drive corrections.
This approach not only strengthens defensive capabilities against attacks that incorporate AI, but also complements modern cybersecurity strategies, such as continuous threat exposure management (CTEM). In addition, the platform offers native integrations with SIEM, EASM systems, vulnerability solutions and ticketing mechanisms, allowing the results to be directly applicable in the operational flows of organizations.
Implications for defenders and attackers
The development of Sara responds to an already tangible threat; adversaries incorporate AI models to optimize their attacks, which requires defenses to evolve at the same speed. In this context, Synack’s strategy seeks to ensure that entities not only react, but also anticipate and block attacks before they are even activated.
The commitment to combining autonomous capacity with human supervision offers a middle path to the growing limitations of solely automated systems, which can miss logical or complex vulnerabilities. At the same time, the overload of human analysts is mitigated by relying on an automatic first layer that filters and prioritizes findings.
