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Deal

Quick Take: Palo Alto Networks to Acquire Protect AI

Today, Palo Alto Networks announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Protect AI, which secures AI and ML applications. The deal is part of Palo Alto Networks’ broader strategy to expand its cybersecurity portfolio into AI risk management.

Who is Protect AI?

Protect AI, founded by experienced technologists with deep roots in MLOps and cybersecurity, focuses on securing the unique risks associated with the AI supply chain and model lifecycle.

Its solutions cover key areas such as:

  • Model provenance and supply chain risk management: Ensuring the integrity of models and third-party components.
  • Vulnerability scanning for AI systems: Identifying weaknesses in AI-specific infrastructure and data workflows.
  • Security monitoring for AI in production: Detecting attacks like adversarial inputs and data drift that could compromise AI reliability.

Protect AI has built an early leadership position in a space increasingly viewed as mission-critical, especially as enterprises embed AI more deeply into business operations.

Strategic Fit

By acquiring Protect AI, Palo Alto Networks will be better positioned to address these new security needs with greater speed and depth. The company has already invested early in AI security through initiatives like Prisma Cloud and its broader Cortex platform.

However, Protect AI brings a specialized portfolio and a team of AI security experts that will allow Palo Alto Networks to rapidly expand its capabilities.

This acquisition will accelerate Palo Alto Networks’ newly announced Prisma AIRS  platform. With Protect AI’s technology, Palo Alto wll be able to broaden Prisma AIRS capabilities to include a broader range of needs, including:

  • AI model scanning
  • Risk assessment
  • GenAI runtime security
  • AI agent security
  • AI-specific posture management

The goal is to enable enterprises to pursue AI innovation more confidently by offering end-to-end protection throughout the AI development and deployment lifecycle.

Quick Take

Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of Protect AI reflects a strategic move to solidify its early leadership in the emerging field of AI-specific cybersecurity. As enterprises rapidly integrate AI into core business operations, new vulnerabilities — such as model manipulation, prompt injection, and data poisoning — expose gaps that traditional cybersecurity tools struggle to address.

Acquiring Protect AI allows Palo Alto Networks to accelerate the buildout of its new Prisma AIRS platform, giving it deeper capabilities across the full AI lifecycle, including model development, deployment, and runtime security. Protect AI brings domain-specific technology, expertise, and early customer traction that would have taken Palo Alto Networks longer to build organically.

The deal also shows that AI security is becoming a critical market segment. The move keeps Palo Alto Networks positioned as a first mover in offering enterprise-scale comprehensive, end-to-end AI security solutions, further expanding its footprint with security buyers and C-level technology decision-makers. It’s a strong, and timely, acquisition.

Disclosure: The author is an industry analyst, and NAND Research an industry analyst firm, that engages in, or has engaged in, research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, which may include those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.

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