The Cyber Talent Pool Is Larger Than We Think. Haystack Solutions and skillrex Are Partnering to Prove It.
New partnership pairs a predictive aptitude platform, validated at 97% accuracy with the U.S. Air Force, with veteran-owned cyber workforce intelligence to expand the cyber talent pipeline and find strong candidates earlier in their journey
COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 25, 2026: The cybersecurity industry has a talent gap that traditional pipelines alone have not been able to close. Today, Haystack Solutions and skillrex announced a partnership aimed at changing that by moving identification earlier in the process, finding strong candidates before they have completed the training and certifications that typically make them visible.
The partnership connects two complementary capabilities. Haystack Solutions’ CyberGEN.IQ platform measures cognitive aptitude across five dimensions directly mapped to cybersecurity performance, independent of prior experience or training. skillrex brings data-driven cyber workforce intelligence: job role analysis grounded in cyber workforce frameworks (NIST-NICE, DCWF, SFIA, etc.), skills baselining, career mapping, and training alignment that helps enterprises and government agencies build and scale effective cyber teams. Together, the two firms offer organizations a path from identifying the right people to developing them into mission-ready talent.
The research behind aptitude-based talent identification is well-established. CyberGEN.IQ has demonstrated 97% predictive accuracy identifying candidates who succeed in cyber roles, validated in a rigorous study with the U.S. Air Force. Independent deployments have yielded a 93% training graduation rate at Forge Institute, a private nonprofit cyber training organization, and back-to-back national championship wins at the University of North Georgia, where the competitive cyber team grew 4x during the same period. skillrex brings comparable rigor to the workforce strategy side, with enterprise clients including T-Mobile, Mastercard, and Workday.
“We’ve proven that cognitive aptitude predicts success in this field before training or credentials enter the picture. skillrex turns that insight into workforce strategy. That combination is what the market has been missing.”
— Tabitha Flax, CEO, Haystack Solutions
The collaboration is aimed at enterprise security teams, government agencies, and workforce development organizations that need to grow cyber capacity faster than the traditional recruiting pipeline allows. Under the partnership, skillrex clients gain access to CyberGEN.IQ as part of their talent identification and program design engagements; Haystack Solutions draws on skillrex’s talent intelligence expertise to help organizations translate aptitude data into workforce action. Both firms share a working premise: there are more people capable of succeeding in cybersecurity than current pipelines surface. Finding them earlier, and developing them with a plan, is how the gap closes.
“Traditional cybersecurity recruiting relies too heavily on lagging indicators like historical credentials and certifications, which artificially constricts the available talent pipeline. By pairing CyberGEN.IQ’s predictive capabilities with skillrex’s workforce intelligence, we are shifting the paradigm from reactive hiring to proactive workforce architecture. This allows enterprise and government leaders to uncover raw cognitive potential early and systematically develop it into mission-ready operational capability.”
— Jeff Welgan, Founder, Chief Strategist and CEO, skillrex
The partnership is in effect immediately. Both organizations believe the same thing: the cyber talent gap is a solvable problem, and the tools to solve it now exist.
About Haystack Solutions
Haystack Solutions is a cybersecurity workforce development company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. Its platform, CyberGEN.IQ, is a predictive cognitive aptitude assessment developed in partnership with the University of Maryland that measures how people think across five dimensions mapped to cybersecurity performance, independent of credentials or prior experience. Validated with the U.S. Air Force, Forge Institute, and university cyber programs nationwide, CyberGEN.IQ helps employers, training providers, and workforce development organizations pinpoint cyber potential before a single certification is earned. For more information, visit haystacksolutions.com or follow Haystack Solutions on LinkedIn.
About skillrex
skillrex is a veteran-owned cyber workforce strategy firm that helps organizations turn cyber talent challenges into a strategic advantage. The company partners with enterprises, government agencies, training providers, and professional associations to align cybersecurity roles and skills with rapidly evolving business and mission needs. Through its flagship Cyber Talent Insights subscription, skillrex delivers data-driven job role analysis, skill baselining, career mapping, and training recommendations grounded in industry-standard frameworks including NIST/NICE, DCWF, SFIA, and more. For more information, visit skillrex.io or follow skillrex on LinkedIn.