The Buzz: KnowBe4 names Kurt Mills channel chief, CBTS launches Forge Agents, and Sublime Security integrates with CrowdStrike

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: KnowBe4 names Kurt Mills channel chief: KnowBe4 has appointed Kurt Mills as channel chief, according to an announcement scheduled for release this morning. The company says Mills will lead the evolution of its global partner programs, operations, and channel routes to market. Mills brings more than 25 years of cybersecurity channel experience from roles at Trellix, Check Point Software Technologies, Mimecast, FireMon, and Blue Coat Systems. In a statement, KnowBe4 CEO Bryan Palma said partner ecosystem growth is central to the company’s mission and that Mills’ deep channel expertise will be instrumental as KnowBe4 expands its market reach. CBTS launches Forge Agents: CBTS, the $1.3 billion technology services company, is launching Forge Agents today. The platform is designed to move mid-market and regulated organizations from AI pilots to custom agents running securely in production within days. CBTS says the platform includes 187 prebuilt artifacts and 34 cross-industry blueprints, with support for Anthropic, Google, AWS, Cisco, and on-premises environments. The company developed the platform using lessons from deploying AI internally across more than 2,300 employees and reports achieving full return on investment within three months. Sublime Security integrates with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM: Sublime Security announced at Fal.Con 2026a new integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM. The integration brings email security signals into the SIEM so analysts can correlate email-based threats with endpoint, identity, cloud, and threat intelligence data in one unified workflow. According to Sublime Security, AI-generated attack content is up roughly five times in the past year, and 90 percent of malicious emails are now customized to their target. The integration lets analysts trigger remediation and deploy organization-specific detection coverage directly from a Falcon investigation. DefensX expands browser security for MSPs: DefensX has expanded its secure web browser suite with new AI governance capabilities designed to help MSPs govern AI usage and protect customer data at the browser layer, according to eChannelNEWS. Mondoo launches endpoint inventory and governance tools: Mondoo has launched inventory and governance tools for endpoint security, giving security teams visibility and control over shadow AI tooling on company endpoints, as reported by eChannelNEWS. Canada imposes counter-tariffs on U.S. tech goods: Canada will impose 15 percent counter-tariffs on U.S.-origin electronics including smartphones, gaming consoles, and appliances effective September 8, though major enterprise IT infrastructure is largely exempt, according to the Department of Finance Canada. Prophet Security finds 46% of internal AI SOC builds deprecated: Prophet Security’s 2026 State of AI in Security Operations report found that 46 percent of organizations’ internal AI SOC builds were ultimately deprecated, replaced with commercial technology, or never reached production, suggesting a significant channel opportunity for MSSPs and integrators. Prophet Security Commvault and CrowdStrike extend AI automation: Commvault and CrowdStrike have extended their integration to automate cyber recovery actions within CrowdStrike’s Charlotte agentic SOAR workflows, available now to joint customers. PRNewswire Read Full Transcript Welcome to The Buzz from ChannelBuzz.ca, I’m Robert Dutt, today is Tuesday, September 1, 2026, and here’s what’s happening in the channel today. KnowBe4 has appointed Kurt Mills as channel chief, according to an announcement scheduled for release this morning. The company says Mills will lead the evolution of its global partner programs, operations, and channel routes to market. Mills brings more than 25 years of cybersecurity channel experience from roles at Trellix, Check Point Software Technologies, Mimecast, FireMon, and Blue Coat Systems. In a statement, KnowBe4 CEO Bryan Palma said partner ecosystem growth is central to the company’s mission and that Mills’ deep channel expertise and track record of building high-performing teams through IPOs, acquisitions, and rapid market expansion will be instrumental as KnowBe4 expands its market reach. The appointment builds on a series of recent channel leadership additions, including Neill Burton and John Noha as vice presidents of channel supporting global initiatives. Canadian MSPs building managed security services around human risk management may see expanded program resources and enablement as KnowBe4 deepens its channel investment in a market where security awareness is becoming a recurring revenue staple. CBTS, the $1.3 billion technology services company, is launching Forge Agents today. The platform is designed to move mid-market and regulated organizations from AI pilots to custom agents running securely in production within days. Users describe the work they want completed in plain language, and CBTS says it builds the agent using the models and infrastructure the organization already has in place. The platform includes 187 prebuilt artifacts and 34 cross-industry blueprints, with support for Anthropic, Google, AWS, Cisco, and on-premises environments. CBTS developed the platform using lessons from deploying AI internally across more than 2,300 employees, and the company reports achieving full return on investment within three months. Mid-market Canadian clients are struggling to move AI from pilot to production, and CBTS’s template-driven approach gives channel partners a services wrapper they can build around. Sublime Security announced yesterday at Fal.Con 2026 in Las Vegas a new integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM. The integration brings email security signals into the SIEM so analysts can correlate email-based threats with endpoint, identity, cloud, and threat intelligence data in one unified workflow. According to Sublime, AI-generated attack content is up roughly five times in the past year, and 90 percent of malicious emails are now customized to their target, making static detection increasingly inadequate. The integration lets analysts trigger remediation and deploy organization-specific detection coverage directly from a Falcon investigation, rather than waiting for the next vendor update cycle. Sublime says the integration gives analysts full, editable visibility into detection logic with no black box or vendor ticket required. The tighter correlation between email and endpoint detection should help Canadian MSPs compress response time from days to hours for clients without in-house security operations centers. In Brief – DefensX has expanded its secure web browser suite with new AI governance capabilities designed to help MSPs govern AI usage and protect customer data at the browser layer. Mondoo has launched inventory and governance tools for endpoint security, giving security teams visibility and control over shadow AI tooling on company endpoints. Canada will impose 15 percent counter-tariffs on U.S.-origin electronics including smartphones, gaming consoles, and appliances effective September 8, though major IT infrastructure is largely exempt. Prophet Security’s 2026 State of AI in Security Operations report found that 46 percent of organizations’ internal AI SOC builds were ultimately deprecated, replaced, or never reached production. Commvault and CrowdStrike have extended their integration to automate cyber recovery actions within CrowdStrike’s Charlotte agentic SOAR workflows, available now to joint customers. Full details and links in the show notes or the blog post. Later today on In The Channel, Frank Balonis from Kiteworks joins me to break down what Canadian partners need to know about the Canadian Program for Cyber Security Certification, and why the window to get ahead of Level 2 requirements is already closing. And if you haven’t heard it yet, my conversation with Jason Wieser from Calero on why technology expense management might be the MSP practice you’ve been overlooking. That’s how we’re seeing the headlines today. I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca, thanks for listening. Have a great day.