Sophos has announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring OpenAI frontier models to managed service providers through Sophos Fusion, the industry's most complete AI-native Cybersecurity Defense System. The partnership intends to give partners a new way to deliver frontier AI security as one connected defense system and to build recurring services on top of it.
Sophos partners with OpenAI to bring frontier AI models to MSPs through Sophos Fusion.
Sophos Fusion connects endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity, and security operations.
Partnership builds on OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program relationship.
Sophos AI Defense provides visibility into shadow AI usage and policy enforcement.
Serves 25,000+ partners globally including over 7,000 MSPs.
Sophos defends both with AI and the AI organizations increasingly adopt.
Sophos Fusion is built on a single, open architecture where every control point operates as one, whether native to Sophos or a third-party integration. The partnership will extend that open model, with a focus on bringing OpenAI frontier models into a cyber defense system that already connects endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity, and security operations, and compounds intelligence from every threat it encounters. For MSPs, that means frontier AI arrives inside the defense system they already run, not as another tool to wire in themselves.
In addition to applying frontier AI to strengthen defense, Sophos is also defending the AI that organizations increasingly adopt. Through Sophos AI Defense, available for early access in August 2026, Sophos gives organizations visibility into how AI and shadow AI is used across their environment, enforces policy on that usage, and helps govern how sensitive data is used across AI models and tools. Sophos intends to expand this protection with OpenAI, securing the AI workloads, data, and usage that organizations increasingly depend on as part of one connected defense system.
The partnership builds on an established relationship between Sophos and OpenAI through the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program. Through Daybreak, OpenAI works with leading cybersecurity companies to develop practical, governed solutions for defenders. This partnership deepens that work with a dedicated focus on the MSPs that deliver security to organizations worldwide, and reflects Sophos' commitment to an open architecture that brings best-of-breed technologies into one defense system. MSPs are uniquely positioned to turn frontier cyber capabilities into practical security outcomes because they understand their customers' environments and already operate the workflows organizations rely on.
"Frontier AI only protects organizations at scale when you have the architecture to operationalize it and the reach to deliver it," said John Peterson, chief technology officer, Sophos. "Sophos Fusion will give OpenAI models a defense system to work inside: connected control points, shared context, and human accountability. Our channel gives them reach through a global network of more than 25,000 partners, including over 7,000 MSPs. For those partners, it opens a new class of AI security services to build a business on. That is how frontier AI reaches the organizations that need it most."
"Many of our clients are adopting AI at rapid speed, and they're asking us how to stay secure while they do it," said Alex Ryals, CISO & SVP at MicroAge, a Sophos partner. "Seeing a leader in security and a leader in AI commit to working together on exactly that challenge means we can offer a strong answer for our clients, and new services to grow on."
About Sophos
Sophos, a global cybersecurity leader, defends more than 625,000 organizations worldwide with Sophos Fusion, the industry's first and most complete AI-native cybersecurity defense system: a single, connected architecture where every control point operates as one. Powered by agentic AI and elite human expertise, Sophos detects, investigates, and neutralizes threats before they become business-disrupting events. Working alongside a global ecosystem of managed service providers, resellers, and technology partners, Sophos compounds intelligence from every threat encountered and every environment defended to make every customer's defense stronger than the last. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K.
TechIntelPro empowers B2B technology decision-makers with the latest industry trends, deep insights, leadership perspectives and actionable intelligence to drive both organizational and professional milestones, and thrive on the tech pulse.
