SafeHill Expands Security Research Efforts with New Tampa Bay Location

Co-founded by former hacker Hector Monsegur, SafeHill expands to Tampa as it scales its AI-powered platform built for the vibe-coding era

SafeHill, an AI-powered threat exposure management company, today announced plans to open a Tampa Bay office for its growing research operations. The move deepens SafeHill’s roots in “CyberBay,” Florida’s fast-growing cyber innovation hub.

Tampa has made a name for itself in the cybersecurity industry. Our research team will be surrounded by the kind of expertise that fuels our roadmap for Helix, Sentinel, and upcoming R&D projects.”

— Hector Monsegur, Chief Research Officer at SafeHill

Founded by veteran cybersecurity operators, SafeHill is rethinking how organizations defend themselves in the age of AI-generated code. Its flagship platform, SecureIQ, continuously discovers attack paths and validates real exploits using a hybrid model that pairs agentic AI with elite human ethical hackers. Co-founder and Chief Research Officer Hector “Sabu” Monsegur, the former blackhat turned offensive security leader, heads the research team.

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“Vibe coding” has made it possible for anyone to create an application using AI, fundamentally changing how software gets built and creating a major security problem.

The data is sobering. Veracode’s 2025 GenAI Code Security Report found 45% of AI-generated code introduces OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and contains 2.74x more vulnerabilities than human-written code.

SafeHill’s answer to the vibe coding problem is a dual-agent architecture. Helix tests AI- and human-generated code for exploitable issues that traditional scanners miss, and Sentinel validates those findings with evidence-backed proof that cuts through the false positives plaguing legacy tools. SafeHill’s Tampa research office will be the home base for advancing that thesis, surrounded by the talent and ideas shaping the next era of cybersecurity.

“Tampa was our first choice,” said Mike Pena, CEO and co-founder of SafeHill. “Cybersecurity innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when leaders, researchers, and practitioners come together to exchange ideas and challenge each other. Tampa Bay has earned its reputation as ‘CyberBay’ by becoming a hub for those conversations, and we’re excited to establish a presence here and be part of that community.”

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SafeHill’s expansion adds momentum to Tampa Bay’s rapid emergence as one of the country’s most dynamic cybersecurity hubs. The region, now widely known as “CyberBay,” has become a magnet for founders, operators, talent development organizations, and capital, anchored by long-standing players like, A-LIGN, KnowBe4, ReliaQuest, and Rapid7, and supported by a deep network of academic, government, and corporate partners.

“Tampa has made a name for itself in the cybersecurity industry,” said Monsegur. “Our research team will be surrounded by the kind of expertise that fuels our roadmap for Helix, Sentinel, and upcoming R&D projects.”

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