Jason Magee, formerly the CEO of ConnectWise, will take over as CEO of Cynet, a cybersecurity platform headquartered in Boston.
Magee steps in as founder shifts to the board
Magee will step in for Cynet founder and former CEO Eyal Gruner, who will now join the company’s Board of Directors and serve as a strategic advisor for Cynet’s executive leadership team.
“There is no greater honor than to lead a company whose purpose is protection and I am truly excited to join Cynet as CEO at a pivotal moment in the company’s success story,” said Magee. “Eyal has built an incredible business based on innovation and trust, and we have a strong team in place to build on that legacy. As cyberattacks increase in volume and sophistication, managed cybersecurity services are in record demand by small-to-medium enterprises. The All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform is purpose-built to meet that demand, and Cynet is resonating in the market. As our team embarks on this journey together, I am motivated by the tremendous opportunity to accelerate growth for Cynet while delivering even greater value for our partners and customers worldwide.”
Before this move, Magee stepped down as CEO of ConnectWise back in September after five years in the position. Cynet will be counting on Magee’s two decades of veteran leadership in the industry and expertise in scaling businesses, driving strategic initiatives, and fostering strong partner ecosystems.
As ConnectWise CEO, Magee increased the company’s ARR by 300 percent and boosted profitability by over 500 percent.
“It has been an incredible honor to lead ConnectWise during this transformative period,” said Magee in a press release at the time. “I am proud of what our team has accomplished– scaling business, expanding our product portfolio, and deepening our commitment to our partners. With a solid foundation now in place, I believe this is the right time for me to step down and hand over the reins to a leader who can guide ConnectWise through its next phase of growth.”
Gruner steps down from the position of CEO after helping grow the company from modest beginnings as a startup to a global cybersecurity powerhouse– who doubled net new ARR and achieved a record efficiency score. Gruner played a key role in the evaluation process to find a successor.
“It has been an extraordinary privilege to lead Cynet, challenge the cybersecurity status quo, and bring the All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform to life,” said Gruner. “As Cynet scales globally from a position of strength, I am confident Jason is the ideal leader to chart our next chapter. Like all of us at Cynet, he believes cybersecurity should be intuitive, accessible, and affordable. Jason will be a transformative leader for Cynet and for the partners and customers we protect around the world.”
According to Cynet, Gruner and Magee will collaborate closely during the leadership transition process and prioritize continuity for current Cynet partners and customers.
“The ability to bring in a leader as accomplished and experienced as Jason is a sign of Cynet’s strength,” said Cynet Executive Chairman Douglas Brockett. “Based on the transformational journey he led for ConnectWise, I share Eyal’s confidence in Jason’s strategic capabilities, operational effectiveness, and decisiveness to capitalize on growth opportunities in the channel. By emphasizing performance, expanding partnerships, and fostering a culture of innovation, Jason’s leadership will deliver extraordinary value for Cynet stakeholders.”
Cynet’s strong position in security
The cybersecurity vendor’s move to add a new CEO comes on the heels of a strong 2024 performance in the cybersecurity arena.
In the 2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation, a resource for tracking effective cybersecurity solutions, Cynet was the only vendor to achieve 100 percent Visibility and 100 percent Protection in the latest evaluation. Essentially, the Cynet platform was able to detect all the threats tested in the Detection Phase and blocked all of the attacks simulated in the Protection Phase of the evaluation. Cynet achieved 100 percent detection with no false positives, as well.
The MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation is a technical test that “uses simulated attacks in a controlled lab environment to evaluate how vendor solutions behave against a set of threats introduced in the exact same manner.” Vendor solutions are tested consistently, without external, extraneous factors that can impact the results to simulate real-world deployment.
In 2024, Cynet detected every one of the 77 sub-steps that were executed with zero misses and detected 100 percent of attacks over Windows and MacOS devices, and Linux servers.
“These 2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation results reflect our entire team’s commitment to secure success for Cynet partners, customers, and end users,” Gruner said. “Achieving 100 percent Detection Visibility and 100 percent Protection is a motivating milestone that affirms the compelling advantages Cynet’s All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform is enabling for organizations around the world.”
This is just the latest news for leadership changes around the channel to begin the year. Read more about new CEO appointments and other strategic growth moves for 2025.