Sophos has announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring OpenAI frontier models to managed service providers (MSPs) through Sophos Fusion. The partnership will focus on helping partners deliver AI security through a connected defence system and develop recurring security services.
Sophos Fusion is built on a single, open architecture where every control point operates as one, whether native to Sophos or a third-party integration. The partnership will extend that open model, with a focus on bringing OpenAI frontier models into a cyber defence system that already connects endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity and security operations and compounds intelligence from every threat it encounters. For MSPs, that means frontier AI arrives inside the defence system they already run, not as another tool to wire in themselves.
In addition to applying frontier AI to strengthen defence, Sophos is also defending the AI that organisations increasingly adopt. Through Sophos AI Defence, available for early access in August 2026, Sophos gives organisations visibility into how AI and shadow AI is used across their environment, enforces policy on that usage and helps govern how sensitive data is used across AI models and tools. Sophos intends to expand this protection with OpenAI, securing the AI workloads, data and usage that organisations increasingly depend on as part of one connected defence system.
The partnership builds on an established relationship between Sophos and OpenAI through the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Programme. Through Daybreak, OpenAI works with leading cybersecurity companies to develop practical, governed solutions for defenders, building new workflows, integrating frontier capabilities and helping security teams identify, validate and remediate threats faster. This partnership deepens that work with a dedicated focus on the MSPs that deliver security to organisations worldwide and reflects Sophos’ commitment to an open architecture that brings best-of-breed technologies into one defence system.
“Frontier AI only protects organisations at scale when you have the architecture to operationalise it and the reach to deliver it,” said John Peterson, Chief Technology Officer, Sophos. “Sophos Fusion will give OpenAI models a defence 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 organisations that need it most.”
MSPs are uniquely positioned to turn frontier cyber capabilities into practical security outcomes because they understand their customers’ environments and already operate the workflows organisations rely on. Sophos Fusion supports that work by connecting endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity and security operations in one coordinated defence system. By pairing that foundation with OpenAI’s frontier capabilities, Sophos plans to help approved partners enhance detection, investigation and response and develop new services tailored to their customers’ needs.
“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 and SVP at MicroAge, a Sophos partner based in Phoenix, AZ, USA. “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.”
Sophos will share more information about their partnership with OpenAI and potential offerings in the coming months.
