Horizon3.ai appoints Dan Bird MBE as Field Chief Technology Officer for EMEA

Horizon3.ai appoints Dan Bird MBE as Field Chief Technology Officer for EMEA

London, 18 February 2026 – Horizon3.ai, a leader in offensive security, has appointed Dan Bird MBE as Field Chief Technology Officer (EMEA). In this role, Bird will work closely with customers and partners to advance Horizon3.ai’s mission to help organisations continuously validate their security posture in the face of sharply escalating cyber threats, especially focused on NatSec and CNI.

Escalating Cyber Threats Drive Focus on Resilience

The appointment comes amid a sharp escalation in the scale, frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks directed at the UK and wider EMEA region. Recent incidents and threat intelligence indicate that attacks are becoming more automated, involve more AI capabilities, are more persistent and more disruptive, placing increased pressure on organisational resilience.

Extensive Defence and National Security Experience

Dan Bird MBE brings close to three decades of experience across defence, national security and technology delivery. He spent the majority of his career with the UK Ministry of Defence, holding senior operational, technical and leadership roles in the UK’s national crisis response. During this time, he led complex technology programmes valued at several hundred million pounds, transitioned large-scale IT systems into live operational service, and supported defence innovation and international cooperation, including as National Liaison Officer to the United States military. He later moved into the private sector, most recently at SNC Mission Systems UK.

Advancing an Offensive Approach to Cyber Defence

In his new role at Horizon3.ai, Bird will support organisations across EMEA in strengthening cyber resilience by validating security controls from an attacker’s perspective. This approach reflects the reality that modern attacks are repeatable, scalable, and persistent, and that assumptions about defence often fail under pressure.

“Dan brings a rare blend of deep defence experience, technical credibility, and operational insight,” said Keith Poyser, Vice President EMEA at Horizon3.ai. “Threat actors, including organised criminal groups and state-backed operators, are becoming more capable and more persistent, while many organisations still place too much trust in untested defensive controls. Resilience comes from proving defences hold up when tested, frequently, from an exploitability perspective. Dan’s leadership will be instrumental in helping organisations move from assumed security to demonstrable resilience.”

Cyber Defence Returns to the National Agenda

Bird said his decision to join Horizon3.ai was driven by the convergence of technology, geopolitics, and cyber risk. “We’re seeing offensive cyber capability become easier to operate and harder to contain, at the same time as geopolitical pressure and more organised criminal activity,” said Dan Bird MBE, Field Chief Technology Officer (EMEA) at Horizon3.ai. “That combination is no longer theoretical. It enables sustained disruption with direct economic and operational impact.”

Bird continued: “As the UK enters 2026, cyber resilience is firmly on the national agenda. The second reading of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill reflects a growing recognition that cyber attacks are an operational risk, not an abstract one. Controls have to be validated under real conditions, not assumed to work on paper.” “Hostile actors have first mover advantage in adopting new technology like AI and machine learning. We have to enable our customers to see from an attacker’s perspective to find and fix their real weaknesses before others do.”

Introduced to Parliament in late 2025, the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill is expected to strengthen the UK’s cyber framework throughout 2026. The legislation broadens the range of organisations subject to higher cyber standards, including managed service providers, data centres and critical suppliers, tightens incident reporting timelines and expands regulatory enforcement powers.

From Assumed Risk to Proven Evidence

Through its NodeZero® Offensive Security Platform, Horizon3.ai enables organisations to move from assumed risk to proof of exploitable attack paths, then to fix and verify. By conducting continuous testing, organisations gain clear insight into what impact they have on systems and business operations and proactively reduce. This approach helps align security teams, system administrators and business leadership around a shared, evidence-based understanding of risk—supporting faster prioritisation and more effective remediation.

About Horizon3.ai

Horizon3.ai’s NodeZero® platform is trusted by over 40% of the Fortune 10, the world’s largest banks, top global pharmaceutical and semiconductor manufacturers, critical infrastructure operators around the globe, and the U.S. Defense Industrial Base to proactively find, fix, and verify exploitable vulnerabilities to continuously fortify cyber defences and improve cyber resilience. The fastest-growing cybersecurity company in America (Inc. 5000, Deloitte Fast 500), Horizon3.ai was founded by a mix of U.S. Special Operations veterans and industry experts and is headquartered in San Francisco.

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Trademark notice: NodeZero is a trademark of Horizon3.ai