Zscaler announced two strategic investments that significantly expand its AI security capabilities for the agentic enterprise. First, Zscaler announced its intent to acquire Symmetry Systems, Inc., a pioneer in identity mapping and data access for AI security, combining Zero Trust and Access Graph Technology to map and secure AI agent communication. Second, Zscaler launched Project AI-Guardian, an expanded strategic collaboration with key Global System Integrator (GSI) partners including Cognizant, EY, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro designed to help enterprises navigate the complexities of the AI-driven landscape.
Enterprise AI adoption is accelerating, but the security models built for human users were never designed for autonomous agents. AI agents operate independently across systems using ephemeral identities and inherited permissions, and their numbers are growing exponentially, creating critical blind spots around what data they touch, why, and on whose behalf. The policies that worked for users will not scale to millions of autonomous agents communicating with applications, data, and one another. At the same time, as AI agents and autonomous workloads accelerate organisations into an “agentic world,” the attack surface expands exponentially, introducing indirect prompt-injection paths and permission chains that sprawl far beyond existing controls. Zscaler’s two announcements address both halves of this challenge: the technology foundation and the implementation expertise enterprises need to deploy AI safely at scale.
The Symmetry Systems acquisition adds an access graph that ingests enterprise-wide access logs from SaaS applications, public cloud services, data stores, and AI systems, using AI to correlate them into an access graph displaying which identities are accessing which data and how. Combined with the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™, this unlocks new capabilities including deploying AI agents with confidence, building least-privilege policies for AI, tracing full data lineage, detecting and containing anomalies instantly, and calculating blast radius if an agent or identity is compromised. Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the coming days.
Through Project AI-Guardian, GSI partners will leverage Zscaler’s AI Protect portfolio including AI Asset Management, Secure Access to AI, and Secure AI Infrastructure and Apps to build specialised AI Discovery and Risk Mitigation functions, help organisations discover shadow AI, understand how data and identity connect with AI assets providing AI lineage, and uncover associated AI risks such as supply chain risks, posture risks, and sensitive data risks.
“As enterprises rapidly adopt AI, the old playbook for governing access built around users and directories cannot scale to millions of AI agents,” said Jay Chaudhry, Chairman and CEO of Zscaler. “With Symmetry Systems, we are adding the access graph that maps how every identity, application, and data source connects across the enterprise. This foundational visibility is what Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange will use to govern agent-to-application and agent-to-agent communication at scale, giving customers the actionable control they need to safely embrace AI.”
“Symmetry Systems’ mission is deep security research that earns real customer love. Zscaler is an inspiration on both counts,” said Mohit Tiwari, CEO, Symmetry Systems. “We believe the dominant security platforms of the AI era will govern how information flows between identities across zero-trust networks. As AI disintermediates applications, endpoints, and traditional network boundaries, identities and data become the new control plane for enterprise security. In this world, legacy security models centred on endpoints, applications, or perimeter networks increasingly operate at the wrong layer of abstraction. Together, Symmetry Systems and Zscaler are building the information flow network for the age of AI.”
On the GSI collaboration, Chaudhry added,“GSI partners have been instrumental in driving Zero Trust driven digital transformation, delivering massive cost savings and superior user experiences for the world’s largest enterprises. With Project AI-Guardian, we are empowering our partners to extend the Zero Trust framework to AI assets including AI agents, ensuring that AI adoption does not come at the cost of security.”