LaunchTech Communications, a CyberRisk Alliance resource specializing in PR and AR services for the cybersecurity industry, today announced Arcade.dev and StrongestLayer as the two finalists that emerged from the Prove IT CISO Pitch Competition conducted the week of Black Hat USA.

The judging process included an evaluation by eight Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) focused on criteria such as clarity, credibility, evidence of execution, and the ability to solve a meaningful cybersecurity problem. Arcade.dev and StrongestLayer join Helmet Security and Ent, who were named finalists during the RSA Conference edition of the 2026 program, to complete this year’s four-company finalist lineup.

The Prove IT Pitch Competition, formerly called CyberShark, was launched in 2024 by LaunchTech Communications with two groups in mind. First, the program presents an opportunity for emerging cybersecurity companies to get feedback on their product and messaging directly from CISOs. Second, CISO judges are able to give back to the cybersecurity community while helping to influence the way these companies approach the market and ultimately their CISO peers.

About the 2026 Prove IT Pitch Competition “Round 2” Finalists:

  • Arcade.dev – The actions runtime for governing enterprise AI agents. Arcade.dev enforces policies on every action and brings every agent under one control plane.

  • StrongestLayer – Delivers agentic AI email security for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Its AI agents reason about each email’s intent and explain every verdict.

“Congratulations to Arcade.dev and StrongestLayer for advancing in the Prove IT Pitch Competition and for standing out against some very strong competition,” said Taylor Hadley, SVP Client Relations at LaunchTech Communications. “It won’t surprise anyone who was not in the room during these pitches that AI was central to this year’s program. Our CISO judges stood firm in their feedback that making it easy for CISOs to understand what a solution does, why it matters, and how to justify the investment to business leaders is paramount to success.”

Throughout the second round of the 2026 program, feedback from CISO judges to the six pitching companies emphasized the need for a direct explanation of how their technology delivers practical results. Judges also expressed wanting to see substantive product details, clearer positioning within the security ecosystem, and an explanation of how solutions address deployment challenges, governance requirements and user friction.

The four finalists will compete in the Prove IT program’s final round on Dec. 2, 2026 during a closed event for CISO members of the CyberRisk Collaborative community who are invited to judge.

For information about LaunchTech Communications, visit golaunchtech.com. To be considered for a spot in the 2027 Prove IT Pitch Competition, email ProveIT@cyberriskalliance.com.

About CyberRisk Alliance

CyberRisk Alliance provides business intelligence that helps the cybersecurity ecosystem connect, share knowledge, accelerate careers, and make smarter, faster decisions. Through its trusted information brands, network of experts, and more than 250 annual events, CyberRisk Alliance delivers actionable insights and serves as an extension of cybersecurity marketing teams. Its brands include SC World, the Official Cybersecurity Summits, Identiverse, InfoSec World, CyberRisk Collaborative, Security Weekly, ChannelPro, ChannelE2E, MSSP Alert, ExecWeb, LaunchTech Communications, and CyberRisk TV. Learn more at www.cyberriskalliance.com.

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