When Knox CEO Irina Denisenko experienced the slow, expensive compliance processes for SaaS companies firsthand, she decided to build a platform designed to make federal market entry faster, more predictable and more accessible.
In this Q&A, she shares why outdated, manual frameworks remain one of the biggest barriers to innovation in regulated industries and explains how automation, continuous security enforcement and cloud-native infrastructure are reshaping what’s possible for companies seeking federal certifications.
Denisenko also shares Knox’s current growth priorities, her passion for building technology that works for the people who rely on it, the critical role mentorship and networking play in navigating the GovCon landscape and more.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
A seasoned operator, I previously co-founded and served as COO of Class Technologies, where I grew ARR to $50 million, scaled the team to 200 employees, and raised over $350 million in funding. Prior to that I built a leading U.S.-based Drone Technology company, PrecisionHawk, into an industry leader ultimately acquired by Norway’s The Field Group. With deep expertise in technology, government and enterprise, I bring a track record of building trusted, scalable systems at the intersection of innovation and compliance.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I chose this path because I experienced firsthand how painful, slow and costly the compliance process was for innovative SaaS companies trying to enter regulated markets. While at Class, I realized that the barrier wasn’t the technology- it was the outdated, manual and fragmented compliance frameworks that kept advanced products from reaching sectors that needed them. I knew that using automation and real-time security enforcement could fundamentally change how companies enter the federal and other highly regulated markets.
This decision has been one of the most influential in my career. Everything I had done up to that point- strategy consulting, operational leadership and scaling technology companies-gave me the tools to understand both the technical and regulatory complexities. Knox became a way to combine all of that experience into something transformative: making compliance accessible, predictable and fast.
Building Knox has reinforced the belief that the biggest opportunities often come from solving the hardest problems. Taking on a challenge that most companies avoid has shaped not just my career trajectory, but also my perspective on where innovation can have the greatest impact.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
My career has been anchored at the intersection of innovation, trust and large-scale systems that serve critical communities. I’ve spent the last decade building technology that had to work for the people who rely on it-whether that meant supporting national drone operations, enabling secure digital classrooms for millions of learners, or now, ensuring that SaaS companies can safely deliver capabilities to the federal government.
For me, this mission is deeply personal because I’ve seen firsthand how much is at stake when infrastructure, security or trust breaks down. I grew up in environments where technology was a path to opportunity, and later in my career, I watched how government agencies, educators and operators depend on resilient, compliant systems to do their jobs. Building those systems-and doing it the right way-has been a through-line in every company I’ve helped scale.
At Knox, the mission resonates because it allows me to bring together everything I’ve learned across defense, government, enterprise and regulated technology. We’re helping companies innovate without compromising on security or compliance, and ultimately ensuring that the people who rely on these tools-whether they’re analysts, warfighters, educators, or civil servants-have systems they can trust every day.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
My top priorities are scaling Knox’s platform, advancing our automation capabilities, and ensuring we consistently deliver fast, reliable compliance for our customers. I stay closely involved in product direction, customer success, and regulatory alignment so we can support rapid growth without compromising security or performance.
A major focus is on helping companies modernize their infrastructure. On-prem is outdated. To meet today’s security and compliance demands, organizations need to be in the cloud. Cloud-native architectures allow us to enforce security and compliance continuously-something simply not possible in legacy environments. Part of my role is guiding customers through that transition.
These priorities directly support Knox’s mission: removing barriers that prevent SaaS companies from entering the federal and other regulated markets. By shortening authorization timelines and lowering costs, we open the door for more innovators to compete. Each improvement we make-from automation to onboarding to cloud enablement-strengthens our ability to scale and expand into additional compliance frameworks.
Ultimately, my responsibility is to keep Knox ahead of industry needs and ensure compliance becomes an enabler of innovation, modernization, and growth-not an obstacle.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
We see significant growth opportunities as more organizations move away from outdated on-prem systems and into cloud-native environments. This shift is accelerating, and with it comes a huge need for automated, continuous compliance-especially for companies entering regulated markets like federal, financial services and healthcare. Knox is positioned to meet that demand by reducing the time, cost and complexity of becoming compliant.
Our customers’ biggest pain points are clear:
- Legacy infrastructure that can’t meet modern security or compliance requirements
- Lengthy, unpredictable authorization timelines that slow their ability to sell into regulated industries
- High compliance costs that historically limited access to only the largest vendors
- Manual, audit-heavy processes that create risk and operational drag
These challenges create a massive market opportunity. As more SaaS companies seek FedRAMP and other regulated-market certifications, they need fast, automated, cloud-first solutions. That’s where we see outsized growth-helping customers modernize, become compliant faster and unlock markets that were previously out of reach.
How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?
We are preparing for these opportunities by continuing to build a highly automated, cloud-native compliance platform that scales with our customers’ needs. Our focus is on strengthening the core technology-expanding real-time controls, improving audit readiness, and deepening integrations with major cloud providers so that compliance becomes a seamless part of their infrastructure rather than a manual hurdle.
We’re also investing heavily in the team. That includes adding engineers, compliance experts, and customer-facing specialists who can support clients through modernization and authorization. This ensures we’re not only delivering the technology, but also the guidance needed to help companies transition away from outdated on-prem systems and meet today’s security standards.
Finally, we’re building repeatable, scalable processes that streamline onboarding and reduce the friction companies typically face when entering regulated markets. By combining automation, strong customer support, and a cloud-first approach, we’re positioning Knox to meet growing demand and help our customers unlock new markets faster and more reliably.
How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?
Mentorship and networking are absolutely essential in GovCon. The federal space is complex, relationship-driven and full of institutional knowledge that can take years to navigate without the right guidance. Mentors help you understand how decisions are made, how compliance frameworks evolve, and how to position technology in a way that resonates with government stakeholders.
Networking is equally important. Success in GovCon often comes from building trust, whether with agencies, integrators or partners who influence procurement and adoption. Many of the opportunities I’ve had, and much of my ability to move quickly in this space, came from strong relationships with people who understood the landscape deeply.
Both mentorship and networking have been very influential in my career. From early roles in consulting and operations to building Knox, the perspective and support of experienced leaders helped me anticipate challenges, avoid missteps, and accelerate our strategy. In a sector as nuanced as GovCon, those relationships aren’t optional-they’re foundational to growth and impact.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
One thing most people don’t know about me is that I’m wired to move toward complexity, not away from it. I’m fairly fearless in that way. Even when something is on fire-literally or figuratively-I’m not the person obsessing over how it started or spending all my energy trying to put it out. I’m already thinking several steps ahead: Where does this need to go next? What’s the next smart move? What’s the smallest possible win that shifts momentum forward?
Outside of work, that same instinct shows up in how I learn. I’m constantly diving into difficult disciplines, new technical skills, or unfamiliar problems simply because I enjoy the process of pushing past what’s comfortable. That forward-looking mindset has shaped a lot of my career: I’ve always been pulled toward building systems and companies that didn’t exist yet, rather than managing what already does.