Vendors with new products and capabilities for discovery unsanctioned “shadow AI” tools and securing the usage of AI and agents in real time made CRN’s AI 100 list for 2026.
From protecting sensitive data in AI applications to securing the activities of AI agents, a vast array of vendors in the cybersecurity industry have now expanded into the AI security space. The widespread adoption of all manner of AI-powered tools for productivity has led to high demand for new products and capabilities from security vendors—especially those products that can reduce the risk of data breaches and other cyberattacks via the AI attack surface.
[Related: 10 Key AI Security Controls For 2026]
As part of CRN’s AI 100 for 2026, we’ve selected 20 cybersecurity vendors that that have brought new capabilities focused on boosting visibility through discovery—both for how employees are using sanctioned AI tools as well as the usage of unsanctioned “shadow AI” systems.
Another major emphasis has been on the rise of autonomous or semi‑autonomous AI agents, and the need to secure their activities in real time to prevent data exposure and other cyber risks. In this vein, security and management around identity, access and privileges is pivotal, as reflected in many of the new products now hitting the market.
Underlying many of the latest AI security product releases is a focus on providing enforcement in real time and detecting threats as they are occurring, not merely after the fact. Ultimately, the urgency of concerns around AI and agentic AI is driving massive investment in new capabilities from the security industry, creating huge new opportunities for solution providers that work with leading vendors.
What follows are the 20 hottest AI security companies of 2026.
1Password
David Faugno
CEO
1Password recently debuted its new unified access platform that aims to provide improved discovery, security and audit access for all identities, including AI agent identities. The new 1Password Unified Access offering covers human, machine and AI agent identities, providing a clear model for providing access security in the AI sphere, according to the Toronto, Ontario-based company.
Cato Networks
Shlomo Kramer
Co-Founder, CEO
Cato Networks expanded its SASE Cloud platform to provide protection for AI adoption with the acquisition of Aim Security in September 2025. The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company’s acquisition has brought capabilities for securing the usage of both public and private AI applications, including AI agents, as well as AI security posture management (AI-SPM).
Check Point Software Technologies
Nadav Zafrir
CEO
Check Point Software Technologies, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, recently debuted its new AI Defense Plane offering with an aim toward delivering enhanced security for agentic-enabled enterprises. AI Defense Plane delivers key modules including security for workforce AI, which offers visibility, governance and runtime protection for AI usage by employees.
Cloudflare
Matthew Prince
Co-Founder, CEO
Cloudflare recently expanded its Cloudflare One platform with new capabilities such as AI security posture management (AI-SPM) for protecting AI usage and enforcing policies. Key functionality includes discovery for how workers are utilizing AI, protection against unsanctioned “shadow AI” usage and safeguards for sensitive data, the San Francisco-based company said.
CrowdStrike
George Kurtz
Co-Founder, CEO
CrowdStrike recently announced general availability for its Falcon AI Detection and Response offering, which boosts security around AI prompts and agent interactions, as well as for AI agent discovery and shadow AI governance. The Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity giant also launched its new Falcon Data Security offering, featuring protection of sensitive GenAI data.
Cyera
Yotam Segev
Co-Founder, CEO
Cyera recently launched a set of new capabilities for protecting AI adoption, including its new Browser Shield tool. The offering delivers real-time visibility and discovery for AI used within browsers—whether those tools are managed or unmanaged, New York-based Cyera said.
Darktrace
Ed Jennings
President, CEO
Darktrace recently announced that it has released its new Adaptive Human Defense offering to offer an AI-era alternative to traditional security awareness training. Adaptive Human Defense offers adaptive coaching for employees in real time, leveraging behavioral AI to educate users during the workday, the Cambridge, U.K.-based company said.
Fortinet
Ken Xie
Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO
Fortinet’s FortiAI offering delivers security for AI across infrastructure, models and workloads as well as data and supply chains, according to the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company. Key capabilities include security for LLMs and prevention of unsanctioned “shadow AI” usage via real-time scanning, the company said.
Netskope
Sanjay Beri
Co-Founder, CEO
Netskope recently debuted a suite of new AI security products within its Netskope One platform including the new Agentic Broker, which delivers visibility and control for MCP transactions. Other new products from the Santa Clara, Calf.-based company include prevention for AI-specific threats along with inspection and enforcement of security policies related to private AI applications and LLMs.
Okta
Todd McKinnon
Co-Founder, CEO
Okta recently disclosed what it’s calling the “new blueprint for the secure agentic enterprise,” with the unveiling of a new framework for addressing the most critical questions amid the adoption of agentic AI. The implementation of the framework is enabled in part by the Okta for AI Agents offering, which will be available in April, the San Francisco-based company said.
Orca Security
Gil Geron
Co-Founder, CEO
Orca Security recently announced the addition of new AI security capabilities including runtime AI threat detection. With the update, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Orca said it’s now able to identify all interactions between workloads, identities and other processes with AI systems—enabling an understanding of how AI is being utilized while detecting data exposure.
Palo Alto Networks
Nikesh Arora
Chairman, CEO
Palo Alto Networks recently unveiled the next generation of its AI security platform with the debut of Prisma AIRS 3.0, featuring discovery capabilities such as instant inventorying of AI agents and models, as well as their connections across environments. Prisma AIRS 3.0 also provides the means to map an AI agent’s complete architecture while also scanning for vulnerabilities within the agent, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said.
Proofpoint
Sumit Dhawan
CEO
Proofpoint announced extending its capabilities for AI-powered DSPM (data security posture management) to on-premises environments as a way to protect the entire enterprise IT deployment. For the many partners and customers seeking to enable AI adoption right now, the move enables teams to provide data access at the proper privilege level no matter where it’s located, according to the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company.
Rubrik
Bipul Sinha
Co-Founder, CEO
Rubrik recently announced that it’s launching what it calls the “first AI governance engine” in the data security industry that can provide real-time security and control for autonomous agents. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor said that the Semantic AI Governance Engine includes key capabilities such as semantic policy interpretation for translating natural language instructions into machine logic.
SailPoint
Mark McClain
Founder, CEO
SailPoint recently announced the debut of Shadow AI Remediation, which provides discovery, monitoring and security for the use of unsanctioned “shadow AI” tools. Key capabilities include real-time visibility for unmonitored AI tools and proactive remediation for misuse of unauthorized tools, the Austin, Texas-based company said.
SentinelOne
Tomer Weingarten
Co-Founder, CEO
Key recent announcements from SentinelOne included a new Prompt Security offering that protects AI usage within on-premises environments, including sovereign and air-gapped data centers. The Prompt Security On-Premise offering provides self-hosted AI security, with discovery for unsanctioned “shadow AI” usage and real-time redaction of sensitive data, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said.
TrendAI
Eva Chen
Co-Founder, CEO
TrendAI recently announced the debut of the TrendAI Agentic Governance Gateway, which provides visibility and control for interactions between autonomous AI agents. Key capabilities include understanding of the intent behind communications between agents, visibility across systems where agents are interacting and policy enforcement for agentic actions, the Irving, Texas-based company said.
Upwind
Amiram Shachar
Co-Founder, CEO
Upwind recently unveiled its AI security portfolio of products including AI-SPM (AI security posture management), AIDR (AI detection and response) and AI-BOM (AI bill of materials). The Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup also debuted capabilities for AI network visibility as well as MCP security and AI security testing.
Wiz
Assaf Rappaport
Co-Founder, CEO
Wiz recently announced the launch of its new AI Application Protection Platform, which is aimed at providing “end-to-end” security for AI applications, the Google-owned company said. The platform provides the necessary context to developer and security teams to enable an understanding of the real cyber risks, empowering these teams to take improved security actions, New York-based Wiz said.
Zscaler
Jay Chaudhry
Founder, Chairman, CEO
Zscaler recently unveiled its new Zscaler AI Security portfolio with capabilities including AI asset management and secure AI access. The AI security suite also includes capabilities for securing AI infrastructure and applications such as AI red teaming, prompt hardening and runtime guardrails, the San Jose, Calif.-based company said.
