BUILDERS · 2026-07-28 · 24 min
Knox Systems has built a path around one of the most exclusive certifications in enterprise software. FedRAMP, the security standard required to sell cloud technology to the US federal government, has fewer than 500 companies holding it worldwide, versus more than 10,000 apps on the AWS Marketplace. Earning it independently typically takes three years and roughly $3 million. Knox compresses that to 90 days at 90% less cost by letting customers inherit authorization from its own infrastructure, which carries 16 sponsorships across agencies including the Army, Air Force, Navy, DHS, Treasury, and VA. In a recent episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Irina Denisenko , CEO of Knox Systems , to learn how she built this model and how the government's relationship with Silicon Valley has shifted.
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