Partnership will give Distology partners access to Harmonic’s AI security platform as organisations look for greater visibility and control over workforce AI use
Cybersecurity distributor Distology has added Harmonic Security to its vendor portfolio, giving its channel partners access to technology designed to help organisations understand and control how AI is being used across their businesses. The agreement is exclusive to Distology in the UK, Benelux and DACH.
The partnership pairs two businesses with deep roots in the UK cybersecurity industry. Harmonic’s data and machine learning team came out of Digital Shadows, the UK threat intelligence business, and the company has been active in initiatives designed to encourage British cybersecurity companies to scale internationally.
Distology, headquartered in Stockport, UK, has been building in the UK market since 2014. Its founder and CEO, Hayley Roberts, co-founded The Channel Community UK, which supports people building careers in the UK channel.
Founded in 2023, Harmonic has developed purpose-built small language models (SLMs) that analyse the context and intent behind AI interactions in real time, helping identify sensitive information and risky activity while allowing employees to continue working with approved tools.
The partnership comes as the rapid adoption of generative and agentic AI creates a new challenge for security teams: employees are already using a growing number of AI tools, often before organisations have established the policies and controls needed to govern them.
Rather than taking a blanket approach to blocking AI, Harmonic focuses on giving security teams visibility into which AI tools employees are using, what they are using them for and what data is being shared with them. Its platform then enables organisations to put controls and guardrails around that activity without unnecessarily disrupting legitimate AI use.
An advisory opportunity for partners, not just another product
Said Hayley Roberts, CEO at Distology: “With AI now woven into everyday work, it has never been more important for organisations to understand exactly how, where and with what data AI is being used across the business. Harmonic provides that visibility, revealing which AI tools are in use and what data is flowing into them, helping security teams enable AI safely rather than simply block it.
“We’ve been tracking Harmonic for a couple of years and have seen the business go from strength to strength. It’s a natural fit within our vendor taxonomy and brings real value to our partners and their customers. The significance of the deal goes well beyond adding another tool to the portfolio.
Visibility into AI usage is a starting point, not a finished service, and the gap between the two is where partners can build something of their own. We’re excited to play an instrumental role in supporting Harmonic’s growth across the channel.”
The intelligence the platform generates tells a partner where AI is being used across a customer’s business, which tools are in play, what data is flowing into them and where employees have adopted tools nobody approved. Presented back to a customer, that is a conversation about governance, data protection and acceptable use that most organisations are not yet equipped to have internally. Partners can build recurring advisory and professional services around exactly that gap, from AI usage assessments and policy development through to ongoing governance reviews and incident response planning for AI-related data exposure.
The scale of the problem is already documented. Harmonic’s own research has found that 64.5% of activity on personal AI accounts is business use, which means the work is not going away. It is simply moving somewhere the organisation cannot see it.
That shifts the relationship. A partner managing a product is replaceable. A partner who understands where an organisation’s data is going, and can advise on how it should be governed, is considerably harder to displace, and the conversation moves away from feature comparison and price. Harmonic stays focused on providing the underlying platform, leaving the customer-facing advisory work to the channel. AI governance is also a budget line most organisations are still forming, so partners arriving early can help shape the requirements rather than bidding against an established specification.
Alastair Paterson (Pictured up top), CEO, Harmonic Security, said: “Every organisation is scrambling to adopt AI securely, and they are looking to trusted partners to help them navigate that journey and do it properly. Harmonic Security provides them with the intelligence to understand how AI is being used across their business, alongside the controls they need to adopt and scale AI adoption with confidence.
Distology was the natural choice as our UK and European distribution partner. It brings strong relationships, deep cybersecurity expertise, and proven reach across the channel. Together, we will equip more partners and customers with the visibility and control they need to enable AI securely and get the most out of it.”
Channel push into the UK and Europe
The agreement also forms part of Harmonic’s plans to scale its channel presence in the UK and Europe. Distology, which works with a curated portfolio of cybersecurity vendors through its partner network across EMEA, will provide Harmonic with access to established reseller relationships and routes into new markets. Harmonic has a separate distribution partner in the US.
Exclusivity runs across the UK, Benelux and DACH, giving partners in those markets a direct route to the platform rather than competing against several distributors for the same vendor. For resellers already building an AI governance practice, that matters commercially: it means the conversation with a customer is not immediately undercut by another partner selling the same technology at a keener price.
Harmonic says demand has accelerated rapidly over the past year as AI security has moved higher up organisations’ priority lists, with the company adding around 100 customers this year and surpassing its annual target last month.
That UK heritage runs through the company’s leadership as well. Alastair Paterson has been a driving force behind efforts to connect British innovation in technology and cybersecurity with government, convening people from across the sector through an initiative known as the UK Flywheel.
The next phase
For Harmonic, the next phase is about using the channel to take that technology to a much wider market. Distology’s role will be to give partners the commercial and technical support they need to take Harmonic into customers while helping them develop their own services and expertise around AI governance.
As organisations move from experimenting with AI to embedding it into everyday workflows, both companies believe the conversation is changing from whether employees should be using AI to how businesses can enable them to use it safely.
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