Deep rooted toxicity. Management is held hostage and has no spine to make things right - Account Executive KnowBe4 Employee Review

1.0
23 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The positive glass door reviews you see, they are solicited right after an amazing on boarding experience, where you are shielded from the politics and toxicity of the team for a few months. Most people fail to do follow up reviews simply because it's so traumatizing. The company had good values, but they have been abused to no end. Other offices might have some good folks, but the Singapore office is terribly political

Cons

Where to start? Be careful of the very tenured folks in the company, especially in the SG office. They have learnt many ways to game the system, even doing things against policy but because of the revenue they hold, and spineless management, they are allowed to continue. Take a look through LinkedIn, the newer folks in the company tend to come in and out like a revolving door, as they get bullied and abused by an inner circle. It shows in the numbers too, newbies tend to be left to die and suffer. Tenured sales reps squat and sit on accounts and "seed" them with automated email sequences. They are in cahoots with the tenured members of the Partner team that give them heads ups about incoming deals from partner clients. The reps then plant activity flags on the said accounts and coincidentally claim the incoming lead and deal just days later. Usually such blatant offences are grounds for termination in other offices, however because pretty much the entire partner team are old tenured reps sitting on a lot of revenue, this abuse is allowed to continue. Partner reps discriminately route deals to reps they like, or have drinks with, using the above methods to cover their traces. Newer reps are left out in the cold, left to scrap through whatever is left and receiving hardly any incoming leads or partner business. Thus a constant hiring and firing of new reps. The partner team even leverages partners to fire complaints at newer reps they don't like. Dragging their dirty linen for the world to see unprofessionally. where's HR in all of this? They themselves have been forced to apologize after making insinuations about folks in other offices based on religion. They terminate people based on opinion, feelings. During termination meetings, no facts are presented. And you get a paltry 7 day notice pay out even beyond probation. How about senior management? You have senior management that is constantly not present, and as such, spineless and dependent on the toxic old guard to prop up their numbers. They have no desire to fix or change what's wrong because they're just trying to survive. Middle management? There are some good people, there are others who are extremely toxic, spinning politics all day long, sending passive aggressive and threatening messages to unfavored reps, pushing people to be in office all the time but then flying overseas and working remotely constantly "due to family reasons" that are not verified at all. KnowBe4 had values such as "extreme ownership", "radical transparency" etc. But all that is down the drain because a select inner circle has built a broken system and held the management hostage in this office. Unless you're super into playing politics or being toxic, avoid this company at all cost, or at least the SG office. Vista, the PE that bought the company, has set impossible targets and this office constantly misses their numbers anyway. So don't bother joining this sinking ship.

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KnowBe4 Response
6mo
Your experience wasn’t what we aim for at KnowBe4. We’re always working to strengthen our culture and create a more positive experience. None of this behavior is tolerated at KnowBe4. Please contact HR at PeopleOps@knowbe4.com to address your concerns.

Explore other reviews about KnowBe4

5.0
22 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A welcoming and inclusive environment with a patient onboarding team. Work is always fun and collaborative!

Cons

Training and onboarding process is thorough but only to ensure all employees are keeping themselves and the companies information safe online!

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KnowBe4 Response
2w
We’re glad to hear you feel supported! Open communication is a huge priority for us — and feedback like yours keeps us motivated. 🤗
1.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great office snacks, free ev charging, cool coworkers

Cons

Out of about 100 AE's only 10 hit Quota, OTE is a joke there. It's possible to hit quota if you are lucky with your inbound leads, but if you want to hit quota every month you have to do something moreso out of the box. I was trained by hard closers and have a lot of expierence with cold calls so i came up with my own script and was getting a demo a day, and was doing a demo a day. The demos did lead to sales as well, so it wasn't a waste of time. I got fired because of a "lack of professionalism" I spoke off script all the time because speaking on script leads you in to the Kool-aid drinkers club, aka not hitting quota consistently. I was fired without warning, even though I was told I had an incredible work ethic and was exceeding the ramp-up numbers. I just didnt match their sales style, they are not looking for salespeople, they are looking for sales associates. They make you work 9-hour days, 1 hour mandatory lunch that has to be taken in the middle of the day. 9-6pm. Their handbook even says you are allowed to take this lunch at 5 pm to go home sooner, but the managers never let that happen. DO NOT BE CREATIVE AT THIS JOB, DRINK THE JUICE.

3
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