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Yotam Segev

Yotam Segev is an Israeli-American technology executive who co-founded and serves as chief executive of Cyera, a cloud data security company he built into one of the fastest-growing companies in the cybersecurity industry [1][2]. Before entering the private sector, he spent more than a decade in Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200, rising to head its cyber department, and passed through the Talpiot program, an elite technology and leadership track, where he first met his future co-founder and Cyera's CTO, referred to in interviews as Tamar [4]. Segev holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

According to Segev, Cyera's founding was less a calculated business decision than an outgrowth of a personal partnership: his co-founder, unable to travel abroad after military service due to pandemic-era travel closures, called him and proposed they start a company together, and the two agreed to learn the business world by doing rather than by first working in industry [2]. Segev has said the company entered the data security space with an explicit "we don't know" posture, treating customers, not the founders' own instincts, as the authority on what problems needed solving and how [2][4]. He has recounted that early investors at Cyberstarts described his original product concept as merely a "B minus" idea worth funding for the team, not the plan, and that the company subsequently abandoned that initial concept once customer conversations showed a different, more urgent pain point around discovering and securing sensitive data that existing tools had failed to address despite years of enterprise investment [4][2].

Segev attributes Cyera's differentiation to deliberately pursuing technologically difficult problems rather than easier ones, a discipline he says his co-founder enforced by rejecting ideas deemed too simple for the team's engineering strength [2]. He describes the company's platform as automatically mapping, classifying, and protecting data across cloud environments, and argues that the rise of generative AI has not created new security problems so much as sharply intensified existing ones, since AI systems depend on access to data and can make sensitive information exposed to a model retrievable by anyone able to query it [3][5]. He has stated publicly that Cyera reached close to 100 million dollars in annual recurring revenue within about four years of founding, alongside a valuation he has cited at various points as roughly 6 billion and later 9 billion dollars, following funding rounds that included Blackstone and totaled over 1.7 billion dollars raised, with the company growing to about 1,200 employees [2][3][4].

Speaking at industry venues including the World Economic Forum in Davos and the New York Stock Exchange, Segev has argued that cybersecurity remains in an early growth phase despite the sector's largest companies quadrupling or quintupling in market value over roughly four years, a trend he expects to continue as digitization and AI adoption deepen [3][5]. He contends that security functions can no longer operate reactively given the speed of AI-driven change, comparing the shift to chasing "an Olympic sprinter" rather than an ordinary runner, and has framed strengthening enterprise data protection as carrying a broader obligation to preserve public trust in digital institutions [5]. He has also said that many enterprise customers remain wary of data security investments because of past disappointments with tools that failed to deliver results at scale, a skepticism he argues newer technology approaches, including Cyera's, are positioned to overcome [5][2].

Founded

Insights & ideas

Yotam Segev argues that AI is transforming data from a static asset into the central driver of both business value and security risk, since AI "turns on" chips and data, making proprietary information a company's key competitive advantage that must be leveraged carefully [1]. He contends that traditional perimeter-based, lock-it-in-a-vault approaches to data protection are obsolete because data is now processed across many systems, requiring instead automatic mapping, classification and protection that adapts to each organization's unique data landscape [1][2]. He stresses that AI does not create new security problems so much as make old ones move faster and become "100 times" riskier, warning that information accessible to an LLM should be assumed retrievable by anyone who can query it, despite policy safeguards [1][2]. Segev also emphasizes customer-driven product development, arguing that customers, not the founders, know what's broken and must guide strategy down to workflow details [2], and he values enterprise software that delivers rapid, minutes-long time to value rather than long implementation journeys [1].

Education

Media & appearances

  • Creating a Holistic Data Security Platform: Cyera's Yotam ...Nov 5, 2025

    Yotam Segev, founder and CEO of Cyera, discusses building a data security platform that addresses traditional perimeter-based security limitations. He explains how the company identifies unknown data risks that customers should be concerned about, and how AI has accelerated existing data security problems while making risks potentially 100 times greater. Segev also shares insights on company culture, customer-driven product development, and how Cyera achieved rapid growth to over $6 billion valuation in less than four years.

  • Yotam Segev talks Cyera's journey with Hunters & UnicornsCyera

    Yotam Segev, CEO and co-founder of Cyera (referred to as Sierra in the episode), discusses the company's four-year journey from founding through achieving nearly $100 million ARR and $1.3 billion in VC funding. He shares his early military background in Israeli cyber security with co-founder Tamar, their initial lack of go-to-market experience, and how the company adopted a customer-first approach rather than relying on founders' opinions for product decisions.

  • Videos

    Yotam Segev, CEO and founder of Cyera, discusses how AI adoption is increasing the value and risk around organizational data, driving demand for data security. He explains Cyera's approach of automatically mapping, classifying and protecting data across different customer environments, and notes the company has grown to 1,200 employees with a $9 billion valuation after raising $1.7 billion. He also shares his view that cybersecurity is still in its early growth stages given increasing digitization and AI dependence.

  • How Yotam Segev Built a $6B Cybersecurity Unicorn 🦄HUNTERS AND UNICORNS

    Yotam Segev, CEO and co-founder of the cloud data security company (called Sierra in the transcript), discusses his early journey building the company with co-founders including Tamar, his CTO, after spending over a decade together in Israeli military cyber security. He explains how the founding team transitioned from deep tech military work to learning product management and go-to-market strategy, emphasizing that their compass is listening to customers rather than relying on their own opinions, and describes the company's rapid growth to nearly 100 million ARR in four years.

  • Cyera CEO Yotam Segev on TBPN: Listening to Customers and Securing Enterprise AICyera

    Yotam Segev, co-founder and CEO of Cyera, discusses the company's focus on data and AI security, ensuring data going into AI systems remains private and secure for enterprise adoption. He explains the company's founding based on a 16-year partnership with his co-founder, their background in cybersecurity at the Israeli Defense Force, and their strategy of listening to customers combined with high-velocity engineering to serve large enterprises. Segev addresses concerns about insufficient security capabilities bundled with AI from providers and Cyera's differentiation through identifying the most critical data that would cause significant business impact if breached.

  • Yotam Segev, CEO at Cyera Joins NYSE TV LiveNew York Stock Exchange

    Yotam Segev discusses the cybersecurity industry's 5x market growth over 4 years and explains Cyera's focus on data security as enterprises adopt AI. He addresses AI-fueled threats, emphasizing that attackers are using traditional techniques more effectively and faster, requiring organizations to prioritize data inventory, protection, and preventing sensitive data leaks across communication channels. Segev stresses that security must be proactive rather than reactive to keep pace with AI innovation, and describes cybersecurity as having a moral obligation to maintain digital trust in society.

  • Working in a new space: Yotam Segev, co-founder and CEO of ...
  • Episode 518: Cyera CEO Yotam Segev on Securing Enterprise Data in the Expanding AI EraNew York Stock Exchange
  • Episode 518: Cyera CEO Yotam S… — Inside the ICE House ...

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