Cybersecurity firm Sophos has partnered with OpenAI to integrate the AI company’s frontier models into Sophos Fusion, targeting managed service providers (MSPs) that deliver cybersecurity services to businesses.
Under the partnership, OpenAI models will be incorporated into Sophos Fusion, a cybersecurity platform that connects endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity, and security operations.
Sophos said the integration is intended to allow MSPs to use AI capabilities for threat detection, investigation, and response without having to deploy OpenAI models as a separate security tool.
“Frontier AI only protects organizations at scale when you have the architecture to operationalize it and the reach to deliver it,” said John Peterson, chief technology officer, Sophos.
“Sophos Fusion will give OpenAI models a defense system to work inside: connected control points, shared context, and human accountability. Our channel gives them reach through a global network of more than 25,000 partners, including over 7,000 MSPs. For those partners, it opens a new class of AI security services to build a business on. That is how frontier AI reaches the organizations that need it most.”
Sophos said approved partners would be able to use the combined platform to develop security services tailored to their customers, including applications involving detection, investigation, and incident response.
The companies did not disclose financial terms of the partnership or provide details on which specific OpenAI models would initially be integrated into Sophos Fusion.
The agreement expands an existing relationship between the two companies under the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program, which works with cybersecurity companies on AI-assisted workflows for identifying, validating, and remediating threats.
The partnership also comes as Sophos prepares to offer early access to Sophos AI Defense in August 2026. The product is designed to give organizations visibility into the use of authorized and so-called shadow AI applications within their environments, enforce usage policies, and control how sensitive data is handled by AI models and tools.
Sophos said it plans to work with OpenAI to extend those protections to AI workloads, data, and usage.
The company is positioning MSPs as a major distribution channel for the technology. Sophos said its channel network includes more than 25,000 partners, of which more than 7,000 are MSPs.
“Many of our clients are adopting AI at rapid speed, and they’re asking us how to stay secure while they do it,” said Alex Ryals, CISO & SVP at MicroAge, a Sophos partner based in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Seeing a leader in security and a leader in AI commit to working together on exactly that challenge means we can offer a strong answer for our clients, and new services to grow on.”
