Tysons Corner, VA – September 11, 2026 -- Merlin will integrate Torq's AI SOC Platform into its SOC Modernization architecture for federal agencies, a partnership that also accelerates Torq's push toward FedRAMP authorization through Constellation GovCloud.
Merlin Validated Solutions unifies fragmented federal security tools into one automated workflow
The agreement places Torq inside Merlin Validated Solutions (MVS), a portfolio of pre-tested, mission-ready architectures. Rather than displacing agencies' existing security investments, MVS links disconnected tools into a single detection-to-response pipeline governed by human-in-the-loop authorization rather than unchecked automation.
Torq's platform automates triage and response while keeping analysts on high-risk incidents
The Torq AI SOC Platform continuously ingests and contextualizes alerts across an agency's existing security stack, triages threats automatically, investigates the highest-risk incidents, and executes remediation within agency-defined guardrails. Merlin says every agentic action remains auditable, allowing agencies to shift over time from human-in-the-loop to human-on-the-loop operations as system accuracy improves.
Federal directives are compressing response windows agencies can no longer meet manually
In March 2026, the White House's Cyber Strategy for America directed federal agencies to adopt AI-powered cybersecurity to defend networks at scale. In June 2026, CISA's Binding Operational Directive 26-04 cut remediation windows for the highest-risk vulnerabilities to as little as three days, citing AI's narrowing of the gap between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation. Legacy SIEM and SOAR tools, and the shrinking analyst pools that run them, were not built for that pace, according to Merlin.
Merlin Ventures backed Torq's $140 million Series D earlier this year
The partnership builds on Merlin Ventures' investment in Torq as part of the company's $140 million Series D round announced earlier in 2026, and is intended to help scale the Torq AI SOC Platform for critical infrastructure protection. "Torq significantly closes that gap by automating triage, investigation, and response action, helping defenders act faster across increasingly complex environments," said Robert Costello, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Merlin.
Both companies will demo the platform at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit this week
Merlin and Torq are exhibiting at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, D.C., September 8-10, 2026, with Merlin at Booth #308 and Torq at Booth #317.