Harness Strengthens Its Application Security Business with Acquisition of Qwiet AI

With agentic AI-powered vulnerability detection and industry veteran Rahul Sood named as GM, Harness is further investing in application security for the AI era

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Harness, the AI DevOps Platform™ company, today announced it has acquired Qwiet AI, formerly known as ShiftLeft, Inc., a leader in agentic AI-powered vulnerability detection and reachability analysis, effective September 26, 2025. This acquisition builds on the March 2025 merger with Traceable and comes as the company's application security business is projected to reach $50M in ARR this year.

Closing the Security Gap in AI Code Generation

Software development is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, fueled by AI coding tools and practices such as "vibe coding" that lower the barrier to writing code. But speed comes at a cost: AI-generated code often inherits insecure patterns, omits safeguards, and can introduce fabricated dependencies, fueling a surge of hidden vulnerabilities. Security teams are already overwhelmed by alerts – most of which are low-value or false positives – wasting time on the wrong problems while critical risks slip through. The gap between innovation and security is widening, and enterprises are left struggling to scale AI with the confidence that compliance and speed can keep pace.

Harness + Qwiet AI: The Future of Application Security in the AI Era

Together with Qwiet AI, Harness is deepening its investment in application security for the AI era and reinforcing its vision for the future of software development – one where security and speed go hand in hand.

"AI-generated code is transforming how software gets built, but it's also introducing a new wave of hidden vulnerabilities," said Jyoti Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Harness. "With Qwiet AI, we're extending our robust application security portfolio to secure code from the very first step. By unifying security and DevOps, every build, test, and deployment can be secure by default – reducing risk while accelerating innovation. It's a game-changer for enterprises that want to move fast and stay secure."

Qwiet AI's advanced Code Property Graph (CPG) technology is integrated with the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, which powers Harness AI. Combined with Traceable runtime data, this brings deeper application awareness and precision to vulnerability detection. Instead of overwhelming teams with noise, these capabilities spotlight the risks that truly matter, helping developers remediate faster and security teams spend more time driving innovation. Together, they enable organizations to:

• Quiet alert noise: Qwiet AI's industry-leading 97% true positive rate and 90% false positive reduction ensure developers are only alerted to real vulnerabilities.
• Reduce developer toil: CPG builds deep application awareness and enables 95% faster remediation, helping developers fix real issues faster than ever before.
• Focus where it matters: Advanced reachability analysis cuts through 92% of open source vulnerabilities to prioritize developers' attention on what is actually exploitable.
• Understand real application risk: Combining deep code understanding with production shows which vulnerabilities are actually exploitable, so developers can focus on the risks that matter most.

"At Qwiet AI, we've always believed that developers deserve security that matches their speed," said Stuart McClure, CEO of Qwiet AI. "Our technology was built for the future of AI-driven development, and Harness provides the platform and scale to bring that vision to life. Together, we can help enterprises turn security into a true driver of innovation."

"With AI producing code at unprecedented speed, enterprises need security practices that can match the new pace of development," added Katie Norton, Research Manager for DevSecOps at IDC. "This is accelerating demand for security testing built directly into DevOps platforms, where it can be adopted quickly, scaled easily, and managed without added integration burden. Harness's acquisition of Qwiet AI reflects this shift and can help enterprises adopt AI-driven coding while ensuring innovation and security advance together."

Expanding Security Leadership with Industry Expert

To support this next chapter of growth, Rahul Sood joins Harness as General Manager. An industry veteran with decades of leadership at places like Palo Alto Networks, Google Cloud, Pindrop, and SAP, Sood will lead the application security business and guide strategy as Harness continues building the industry's most complete AI DevSecOps platform.

"I'm excited to join Harness at such a pivotal time in the company's growth," said Rahul Sood, General Manager at Harness. "Application security is one of the most urgent challenges enterprises face in the AI era. Harness is uniquely positioned to meet developers where they are, baking security into the software delivery process so customers can innovate without compromise."

Setting the Standard for Secure Software Delivery

The acquisition of Qwiet AI bolsters Harness's existing security portfolio to secure code from the first step through the entire SDLC, setting the standard for how enterprises can deliver software with speed, resiliency, and confidence.

To learn more about Harness's Application Security offerings and see a demo of our products in action, book a meeting with us today.

About Harness
Harness is the AI DevOps platform for modern software delivery. It provides a simple, safe, and secure way for engineering and DevOps teams to release applications into production. Harness uses AI and machine learning to monitor the quality of deployments and automatically roll back failed ones, saving time and reducing the need for custom scripting and manual oversight, giving engineers their nights and weekends back. Harness customers like United Airlines, Citibank, and Choice Hotels accelerate deployments by up to 75%, reduce infrastructure costs by up to 60%, and decrease lead time for changes by up to 90%. Harness is based in San Francisco and is backed by industry-leading investors like Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

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SOURCE Harness