Israeli veteran cybersecurity company Snyk is embarking on a fourth round of layoffs. An email was sent out this morning to about 90 of the company's employees in Israel and the rest of the world, explaining the need to cut personnel, after which several dozen employees were called to a hearing.

The layoffs are being carried out across the company's US centers, but in Israel, where the company's number of employees is small anyway, the layoffs constitute a significant blow to the development center. In 2022-2023, Snyk carried out three rounds of layoffs in Israel and in offices around the world, involving over 350 employees.

Snyk was founded by Israelis in the UK and the US, and in 2020 operated a development center in Israel with several hundred employees, but gradually increased its activity abroad, when the Israeli founders, led by former CEO Guy Podjamy also stepped down in favor of US management. The company has about 1,550 employees, of which only about 90 are in Israel, according to the social network for jobs LinkedIn. Despite this, the Israeli center employs high-quality cybersecurity and software engineers.

Peter McKay, who has led the cyber company since 2019, announced earlier this year that he would leave his position, noting that the company's next phase requires leadership "with deep roots in product innovation and AI."

Snyk, like its rivals Checkmarx and GitHub, was affected by the launch of the Claude Code software update last February, which scans code to detect cybersecurity breaches. Snyk and Checkmarx are also involved in code scanning, with their reputation damaged by the launch. While these companies are making efforts to adapt to the age of AI, investors prefer to put their money in newer companies born into the AI age in which AI agents develop applications themselves, while creating many security vulnerabilities.

In response to the rise of AI agents that write code and discover vulnerabilities themselves, these companies have launched their own solutions — Snyk launched Evo and Checkmarx launched Developer Assist, and as part of the rivalry between software companies and AI giants, it is too early to say whether Claude or OpenAI will have the upper hand.

Among the company's main investors is the Qatar Wealth Fund (QIA), which was responsible for the company's decline in value from $8.6 billion to $7.4 billion in the years following the bursting of the Covid tech bubble.

No response from Snyk has been forthcoming.