Built on the Synack Autonomous Red Agent (Sara) architecture, Sara Pentest performs agentic AI-led penetration testing with human oversight on external hosts and web applications. It addresses a critical trade-off security teams face: the need to scale testing coverage across an ever-expanding attack surface versus the rising costs and scheduling limits of traditional human pentesting.
By using specialized AI agents to emulate real-world attacker behavior, Sara Pentest can complement Synack’s human-led testing to cover more of the attack surface. The resulting output is not merely a list of unactionable findings, but a curated set of verified, exploitable vulnerabilities, backed by human expertise.
Here is a look at the core components and workflow that power Sara Agentic AI Pentest.
Sara Pentest Workflow
Step 1 – Attack Surface Discovery and Reconnaissance
The foundation of any successful pentest is accurately mapping what an attacker can see. This step is crucial for identifying all accessible targets.
How it Works: You can easily enter a few known seed assets (i.e. domain, IPv4 host) to discover and map your attack surface. Synack maps all external web and host assets in play on the Asset List and displays them, providing the full picture of accessible targets for the subsequent test scoping and launch phase.
Step 2 – Autonomous Scoping and Test Launch
Before any testing can begin, the target environment must be defined. Synack streamlines this critical, often-delayed, initial process.
How it Works: After you’ve selected assets from your Asset List, you can choose Sara Pentest from Synack’s Assessment Creation Wizzard (ACW). Through the Synack Platform you can use the ACW to control which assets to test, the scoping details, the timing of testing and have the flexibility to choose when to schedule Sara Pentest or another human-led option (i.e. Synack14, SynackST+).
Step 3 – Pentest Agents Attempt Exploits at Scale
Once the targets are known, the active testing phase begins.
How it Works: A coordinated team of specialist agents attempt exploits for in scope vulnerabilities (i.e. OWASP Top 10) against the identified assets. These agents autonomously perform testing for vulnerabilities like XSS, SQLi, and IDOR and respect the Synack guardrails (e.g., script scope enforcement, no destructive commands). All vulnerabilities are delivered in real-time via the Synack platform.
Step 4 – Synack Team Provides Final Validation & Re-Testing
The power of Sara Pentest lies in the “Human-in-the-Loop” model, which can reduce MTTR (Mean Time to Remediation) by 47% or more.
How it Works: All exploitable findings confirmed by the Verification Agents undergo a final review by human experts at Synack. The Synack team of experts reviews the results for accuracy and provides essential context, ensuring uncompromising quality assurance and control over the testing process. Synack will also re-test vulnerabilities once they are patched.
Step 5 – Delivering Actionable Pentest Reports
The end result is a consolidated, prioritized report 2-3 days after a test is launched designed for immediate action and integration into compliance programs or security benchmarking.
How it Works: All validated, exploitable findings are summarized within the Synack platform and compiled into an AI-generated comprehensive, downloadable report. This process gives security teams the accurate, prioritized intelligence they need to guide remediation efforts, ensuring resources are allocated to the most critical risks first.
The Future of AI-Driven Pentesting
At Synack, we know AI is not a silver bullet. Sara Pentest delivers on the scale, speed, and flexibility of AI without compromising on Synack’s promise to deliver validated, exploitable results—not just more alerts. This collaboration model allows organizations to save time and money by using less expensive AI resources for basic, scalable security testing, while focusing highly skilled human pentesters on the most complex, creative assets and vulnerabilities.
As Dr. Mark Kuhr, CTO and co-founder of Synack, states, “Humans and AI agents working together is the future of offensive security. Organizations can save time and money using our platform, as well as keep ahead of malicious hackers, who are also using AI to scale their operations.”
By enabling on-demand testing and achieving greater test coverage faster, Sara Pentest is transforming how enterprises secure their expanding attack surfaces against increasingly automated threats.
