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‘The Ground is Shifting’: Kobalt Leans on Teamwork as AI Disrupts Cybersecurity

September 1, 2026 by Knowlton Thomas Leave a Comment

Kobalt.io recently unveiled a slew of strategic partnerships.

The Vancouver-based cybersecurity upstart has established partnerships with Forward Security, Johanson Group LLP, and Insight Assurance.

The “practical” partnerships were forged during Kobalt’s Partner Summit in Vancouver.

Kobalt aims to bring the capabilities of enterprise-class security teams to smaller organizations. Today, the company serves more than 1,600 customers worldwide.

“The ground is shifting under our clients,” says company cofounder and chief executive officer Michael Argast.

“AI is finding vulnerabilities faster than teams can fix them, and helping those same teams ship more software, so the pile grows from both ends,” says Argast. “Enterprise buyers want certification evidence before a deal moves. Defense contractors are staring down deadlines that are real now. Nobody gets ahead of all that working alone.”

“That’s why we brought our closest partners into one room for our first Partner Summit to get specific about who does what, so a client gets one clear path from readiness through audit to ongoing security, with no gaps in the middle,” he stated.


Kobalt is a member of the BC Tech Association.

BC Tech is the largest member-led technology non-profit in British Columbia, and we’re dedicated to turning startups and scaleups into the anchor companies of tomorrow. Our work supports members to grow and diversify their talent pool, acquire new customers, access capital and accelerate their scaleup journey. Technology is a key industry for BC’s future and builds resiliency in every industry. Today, every company is a tech company. Join now.


Forward Security is an application and cloud security consultancy founded in Vancouver in 2018 that pairs continuous scanning through the Eureka DevSecOps platform with expert triage and remediation guidance.

“Software is shipping faster than ever, and more of it is being written with AI every month,” says Farshad Abasi, Chief Executive Officer of Forward Security. “Testing an application once a year was never really enough, and it certainly isn’t now.”

Johanson Group delivers audit and certification services for technology companies.

“Kobalt runs the security program, we render the opinion, and the client gets both a smooth path and a report that enterprise buyers trust,” says Ryan McBride, VP of Sales at Johanson Group. “We couldn’t be more excited to build on that together.”

Insight Assurance offers defence and government supply chain certification through standards such as CMMC, CPCSC, and FedRAMP.

“Every defence contractor we speak with is up against the same set of deadlines,” says Ben Wright, Chief Revenue Officer of Insight Assurance. “Kobalt.io’s readiness work and our accreditation as a C3PAO and FedRAMP 3PAO complement each other.”

Founded in 2018 by Argast alongside Pankaj Agarwal and Version One Ventures founder Boris Wertz, Kobalt is a Finalist for Company of the Year at this year’s Technology Impact Awards.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: BC Tech Member, Kobalt

 
 

About Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton Thomas is Editor-in-Chief of The Midway Advance and Senior Writer for Techcouver. Over more than a decade of journalism, he has penned thousands of articles and dozens of essays on technology, health, and culture across a variety of publications.

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