TIME Magazine Selects Yotam Shagiv, Sayara Founder, as One of Leaders Who Will Shape the Future

TIME Magazine selected Israeli Yotam Shagiv, founder and CEO of cybersecurity company Sayara, for the TIME100 Next 2026 list, an annual list of leading figures in areas such as culture, business and sports around the world, which the magazine defines as 'the leaders who will shape the future.'

In an interview published last week, Shagiv said that 'AI has made Sayara a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,' and described it as a 'very Zionist company,' which is 'proud of Israel and its connection to it.' When asked if there is a business problem in being an Israeli cybersecurity brand operating around the world, he replied that 'in our case it doesn't hurt business, certainly not in the U.S.,' but added that 'sentiment toward Israel has changed, and it doesn't always work in our favor.'

Shagiv was trained in the Talpiot program, served in Unit 8200, served as a trainer in Talpiot and commander of Unit 8200's cyber defense unit, and from there went directly to a startup funded by prominent venture capital firms and players around the world.

Sayara, founded five years ago, already employs 1,500 people and made a number of acquisitions, including the acquisition of Israeli company Oasis for around one billion dollars. To date the company has raised approximately 2.7 billion dollars, and according to estimates its total annual revenues amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

In September, Sayara announced an expansion of its latest fundraising round (Series G), which it announced in June, with an additional 400 million dollars, all from Goldman Sachs' investment arm. In the round the company raised 600 million dollars at a valuation of 12 billion dollars, led by Evolution Fund.