Cequence Security hires Fortinet's Russ Schafer as CMO

Cequence Security has appointed Russ Schafer, former Fortinet EVP of Marketing, as CMO during what it describes as its strongest-ever quarter.

By The Datatech Times Editorial Team AI level 2 of 5
AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from the company's announcement; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean
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Cequence Security has appointed Russ Schafer as its new Chief Marketing Officer, the Santa Clara-based API and AI security vendor announced on 22 October. Schafer joins from Fortinet, where he served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and oversaw demand generation across a portfolio of more than 60 network, cloud, and AI security products. He reports directly to co-founder and chief executive Ameya Talwalkar.

The hire comes as Cequence claims its best-ever trading period. The company reported its strongest quarter and largest single deal in its twelve-year history, adding customers in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and the Middle East. Among the named wins is NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest mobile operator with more than 91 million subscribers, which deployed Cequence's application and API protection platform to defend its service infrastructure against bot attacks, business logic abuse, and unauthorised access.

Product expansion into agentic AI

Cequence has been broadening its platform beyond conventional API and bot defence to address the emerging challenge of securing autonomous AI agents. Its current product set spans two main pillars. The first is Application and API Protection v9, which the company says is now AI-native and includes a built-in AI assistant, a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, and a new Agent Trust capability that verifies agent identity and blocks harmful behaviour in real time. The second is AI Gateway, which governs outbound agent traffic by tying tools, APIs, skills, large language models, and permissions to named Agent Personas, with additional modules for shadow-AI discovery and model-spend control.

The company says the two pillars together cover both inbound traffic from external agents reaching enterprise applications and outbound traffic from an enterprise's own agents reaching third-party tools and models. Cequence claims its platform already processes more than ten billion API calls per day and protects four billion user accounts, giving it a pre-existing visibility layer into the traffic channels AI agents now use.

Talwalkar framed the strategic logic plainly: "Because AI agents rely on the very APIs Cequence already protects, we are uniquely positioned to give enterprises complete visibility and real-time control and governance of AI agents."

Market context and standards activity

The agentic AI security category is nascent but attracting growing vendor attention. Established API security players including Salt Security, Noname Security (acquired by Akamai) and Traceable AI are each extending their platforms toward agent governance, while broader cybersecurity vendors such as CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Zscaler are building or acquiring AI-security capabilities. The competitive question for Cequence is whether its heritage in bot and API defence translates into a durable advantage as agent-specific threats evolve, or whether platform vendors with larger sales motions can absorb the category.

On the standards side, Cequence says it is co-authoring the CIS Critical Security Controls Companion Guides for AI agents, LLMs, and MCP, and co-chairs TM Forum's AI-Native Blueprint initiative. It is also working with approximately twelve global telecoms operators on autonomous network programmes. Participation in bodies such as CIS and TM Forum carries credibility with enterprise buyers, particularly in regulated sectors, and may help Cequence influence the governance frameworks that procurement teams will eventually use to evaluate vendors.

Outlook

Schafer's appointment signals a push for greater market visibility at a moment when the agentic AI security conversation is moving from research conferences into enterprise procurement cycles. He presented on the topic at RSAC 2026 and previously led product marketing at Check Point Software, positions that give him familiarity with the enterprise security buying audience Cequence is targeting.

Cequence did not disclose revenue figures, ARR, headcount, or valuation in connection with the announcement. Investors and analysts will look for named customer expansions and published benchmark data as the clearest indicators of whether the platform's AI-agent capabilities are gaining traction beyond early adopters in telecoms and financial services.

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