Lightbeam AI Information Governance Part of $1.7 Billion in VC Investments Into AI TRiSM Startups
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Lightbeam, an identity-centric data security, privacy, and governance platform, today announced that Lightbeam, along with other top-funded startups in AI Trust, Risk, and Security Management (TRiSM) category, is mentioned as a vendor that "provides security layers to prevent data leaks and oversharing by enforcing access controls on a need-to-know basis and monitoring as data moves into production at runtime."
Enterprises are moving quickly from generative AI pilots to agentic AI systems that can take action, make decisions, and retrieve information across cloud, SaaS, and on-premises data sources. That shift makes AI risk operational. When sensitive data remains unclassified, overshared, or broadly accessible, copilots and agents can expose sensitive and regulated information, exacerbate insider threats, and expand breach impact at machine speed and scale.
According to the Gartner research, "early-stage (through Series B) startups collectively raised around $1,726 million in VC funding, from which we have identified several critical trends where investments are placed within AI TRiSM."
Lightbeam reduces AI-driven data exposure by helping security and governance teams continuously discover and classify sensitive data, map that data to data identity, and enforce least privilege so copilots and agents only see what they should. The platform connects sensitive data context to entitlements and governance actions, enabling automated risk reduction across cloud, SaaS, and on-premises systems.
For organizations deploying Microsoft Copilot and similar AI agents, Lightbeam treats AI activity as a first-class governance signal. Lightbeam can monitor for sensitive data being uploaded to or accessed by AI assistants and agents, correlate those events to data identity and access policies, and trigger policy-based alerts and automated remediation when regulated or high-risk content appears in AI workflows.
"AI is accelerating the speed of business, but it is also accelerating the speed of exposure," said Himanshu Shukla, CEO and Founder of Lightbeam. "Security teams need a clear picture of what sensitive data AI can reach, who can access it, whose data is at stake, and what to do when risk shows up. Lightbeam helps organizations put enforceable AI information governance and least-privilege controls behind their AI deployments."
How Lightbeam supports AI TRiSM information governance
According to Gartner, "AI TRiSM is a maturing framework that focuses on managing and mitigating risks associated with AI implementations. This involves comprehensive measures in AI security platforms, agentic AI security, information governance, AI governance and AI security testing." Lightbeam provides solutions in the information governance layer of AI TRiSM, focused on the data security and access foundations required for safe AI adoption. Using its AI-powered data identity graph, Lightbeam connects sensitive data discovery and classification to identity context, entitlements, and governance actions that are used to enforce AI security and governance policies.
Specific AI TRiSM capabilities delivered by Lightbeam:
- Discover and classify sensitive data across cloud, SaaS, and on-prem environments to reduce AI blind spots
- Map sensitive data to data identity to support privacy and governance requirements for customer, partner, and employee data
- Map entitlements and access pathways to enforce least privilege and reduce oversharing before AI tools expand exposure
- Monitor AI-related activity signals (prompts, files, and access events) to surface potential exposure quickly and support audit readiness
- Automate remediation actions such as access revocation, account suspension, and policy enforcement with full auditability
Gartner source reference
Gartner, Emerging Tech: Top-Funded Startups in AI TRiSM: Agentic AI and Beyond, 13 January 2026.
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About Lightbeam
Lightbeam is an identity-centric data security platform that unifies DSPM, privacy, and governance to reduce breach risk, ransomware impact, and regulatory exposure. Powered by a patented Data Identity Graph, Lightbeam discovers and maps sensitive data to the people and entities behind it, connects that context to entitlements and access pathways, and enables automated risk reduction across the data estate.
Media Contact
Wes Kennedy, Lightbeam, 1 650-224-8706, [email protected], lightbeam.ai
SOURCE Lightbeam
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