Beyond's AI-Powered 'Agentic SOC' Nabs Top Google Cloud Security Award

LAS VEGAS, NV – April 21, 2026 – Engineering firm Beyond, formally known as Qodea, has secured the prestigious 2026 Google Cloud Security award for Managed Security Service Provider in the EMEA region, a recognition of its pioneering work in shifting enterprise cyber defense from human-scale limitations to what it calls "AI-scale defense." The award highlights the company's success in deploying a Google-centric "Agentic SOC" model, an advanced, AI-driven approach to security operations that is setting a new benchmark for protecting complex organizations.

The honor, announced amidst the flurry of Google Cloud's annual partner recognitions, singles out Beyond for its achievements within the Google Cloud ecosystem. The company is being lauded for helping joint customers automate and modernize their security operations, moving beyond traditional defenses to a model built on automated, intelligence-driven protection.

"The work Beyond has delivered for complex global organisations proves the power of the Google SecOps technology when paired with expert managed services," said Wunan Li, Director of Google Cloud Security Channel Sales and Business Development. "We are proud to recognise Beyond for their ability to turn massive telemetry into high-fidelity, actionable intelligence, providing our customers with the proactive defence they need to operate with confidence.”

The Dawn of the Agentic SOC

At the heart of Beyond's award-winning strategy is the "Agentic SOC," a paradigm shift from the traditional Security Operations Center. A conventional SOC relies heavily on human analysts to sift through torrents of alerts, a process prone to burnout and oversight. In contrast, an Agentic SOC employs a team of specialized AI agents that work with a degree of autonomy to analyze data, investigate threats, and even initiate responses.

This model is designed not to replace human experts but to augment them. By automating the high-volume, low-complexity tasks of alert triage and initial investigation, AI agents free up human analysts to focus on strategic threat hunting and complex incident resolution. Unlike rigid, rules-based automation, these agents use contextual reasoning to adapt their workflows as an investigation unfolds, mimicking the cognitive process of a seasoned security professional but at machine speed and scale. This concept of "AI-scale defense" is critical in an era where attackers are increasingly using AI to orchestrate faster, more sophisticated attacks.

The industry is grappling with this dual-edged sword. While AI offers unprecedented defensive capabilities, it also powers new attack vectors, from hyper-realistic phishing campaigns to automated vulnerability exploitation. The consensus among security experts is that fighting AI-driven attacks requires an AI-driven defense, moving security from a reactive posture to a proactive, predictive one. Beyond's model, which leverages Google SecOps and Google Threat Intelligence, represents a concrete application of this philosophy.

A Partnership Forged in the Cloud

Beyond's success is deeply intertwined with its "Google-first" identity. The company has positioned itself as Europe's largest dedicated Google-first partner, a strategy that sets it apart in a crowded field of Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs). The EMEA market includes a diverse mix of competitors, from global systems integrators like Capgemini and Atos to specialized cybersecurity firms such as Cyderes and ReliaQuest.

By focusing exclusively on the Google Cloud platform, Beyond has developed a depth of expertise that few can match. This singular focus allows for tighter security integrations, more predictable commercial outcomes, and a deeper engineering capability for its clients. The relationship is uniquely symbiotic; Beyond is not only a strategic delivery partner for Google Cloud but is also a trusted provider to Google itself, a testament to the mutual trust and technical excellence shared between the two companies.

"We are honoured to have been awarded the Managed Security Service Provider for EMEA," stated Adam Casey, SVP at Beyond Secure. "By advancing the Agentic SOC, we are moving beyond traditional, human-scale limitations to deliver AI-scale defence that is faster, more adaptive, and engineered for the complexities of 2026 and beyond." This sentiment was echoed by Dan Baker, the company's CISO, who noted, "Our team has bridged the gap between traditional outsourced security and the future of the Agentic SOC."

Engineering an AI-Powered Juggernaut

The 2026 award is not an overnight success but the culmination of a deliberate and aggressive growth strategy centered on acquisition and specialization. The company, which rebranded from Qodea to Beyond in April 2026, was itself formed from the 2023 merger of Cloud Technology Solutions and Appsbroker. This latest rebranding signals a new era focused on accelerated, evidence-based AI and cloud engineering.

Two key acquisitions in 2025 laid the groundwork for its current leadership in AI-driven security. In July 2025, the company acquired a US-based firm also named Beyond, a move that provided a critical foothold in the North American market and, more importantly, brought in significant expertise in delivering large-scale agentic AI projects. This acquisition was followed in September by the purchase of Swedish consultancy TIQQE AB, which expanded Beyond's presence into the Nordics and added more in-house agentic AI tools and processes to its arsenal.

This strategic expansion has built a formidable team of over 700 Google Cloud expert engineers across Europe and North America. This deep bench of talent is the engine driving the company's services, which span AI activation, infrastructure modernization, and workplace transformation, all within the Google Cloud ecosystem.

Redefining Security Outcomes for the Enterprise

For enterprise clients in sectors like retail, financial services, and the public sector, the theoretical benefits of AI-scale defense are translating into tangible results. According to the company, its work in 2025 delivered "industry-shaping security outcomes." This includes transforming the security posture of organizations with complex, multi-entity environments by implementing Hybrid Agentic SOCs.

Perhaps the most significant outcome for over-burdened security teams is the ability to reduce a massive volume of security findings into a manageable stream of high-fidelity, actionable tickets. This directly addresses the chronic problem of "alert fatigue," where security analysts are so inundated with low-priority alerts that they risk missing genuine threats. By using AI agents to perform the initial rigorous investigation, the Agentic SOC model ensures that what lands on an analyst's desk is a well-vetted, contextualized issue with supporting evidence, enabling faster and more effective remediation.

By combining its specialized Google-first engineering with a forward-looking Agentic SOC model, Beyond is not just winning awards; it is actively demonstrating a new, more resilient path forward for enterprise security in the cloud. This approach, which turns vast and noisy telemetry into clear and actionable intelligence, is quickly setting a new standard for managed security services across the region.