NVIDIA Israel Tops Best Tech Employers List; Island Cyber Debuts at Second

Dun & Bradstreet has released its 12th annual Duns 100 ranking of the best high-tech and startup companies to work for in Israel in 2026. The comprehensive study, which combines employee satisfaction surveys with HR management data, evaluated 90 companies across three main categories, revealing significant shifts among top employers.

NVIDIA Israel maintained its top position, but a dramatic change occurred behind it as cybersecurity firm Island entered the rankings directly at second place. This debut pushed Microsoft Israel R&D Center from second to third. Monday.com experienced a significant drop, falling 32 places from third last year to 35th.

Coralogix and Optibus recorded the steepest climbs, each ascending 25 spots. Coralogix moved from 42nd to 17th, while Optibus jumped from 43rd to 18th. The top ten also includes Palo Alto Networks (fourth), Salesforce (fifth), and Silverfort (sixth), followed by SAP Labs Israel (seventh), Panaya (eighth), Autodesk Israel (ninth), and AppsFlyer (tenth).

Notable new entrants to the overall ranking include Cloudinary (12th), Rafael (22nd), and Camtek (40th). Conversely, Taboola fell from 17th to 30th, and Natural Intelligence dropped from 18th to 32nd.

In the startup category for companies with over 100 employees, Navina took first place, displacing NoTraffic. Viz.ai, Fetcherr, and Sweet Security entered the top five. For startups with up to 100 employees, Kodem rose from third to first, Oak Security debuted at second, and Noma Security took third, with last year's leader, Loox, falling to fourth.

The report also highlighted employee experiences over the past year. 88% of employees reported that layoffs were managed with considerable transparency and fairness, an increase from 77% the previous year. However, some employees described recurring cuts, instability, and unexplained management decisions.

Regarding artificial intelligence, startups lead in employee training and integration of AI capabilities, despite a small gap in daily tool usage compared to larger companies. Approximately 80% of startup employees in AI roles feel their compensation is competitive, compared to only 56% in large companies, a 24% difference.

Satisfaction with entry-level opportunities for juniors and inexperienced individuals declined to 73% from 85% in 2023. Support for parents also saw a decrease in satisfaction (77% vs. 86% last year). In terms of gender equality, 94% of men believe their company ensures equal pay for equal roles, while only 83% of women share this view.

A bright spot was support for employees during emergencies and reserve duty, with approximately 95% satisfaction among all respondents. Yael Belagray Cohen, Head of High-Tech at Dun & Bradstreet, emphasized the importance of transparency, humane treatment during changes, and AI training for employee trust and future professional development, noting that investing in human capital is crucial for the growth of the Israeli high-tech sector.