Securing AI Transformation: Why Cato Networks Acquired Aim Security 

Every major technology wave reshapes enterprise security. The rise of the Internet gave us firewalls. The move to SaaS brought CASB and DLP. The migration to the cloud and rise of the hybrid workforce demanded a new architecture like SASE to enable network transformation. Today, the AI revolution is creating an entirely new attack surface – one that is as transformative as it is urgent. 

At Cato, we have always built with one guiding principle: support the next shift in enterprise IT with an architecture that adapts to secure it. The acquisition of Aim Security, a leader in AI security, is a continuation of that principle to enable IT to ride the next IT era, the era of AI transformation.

Why Aim, Why Now 

Enterprises are rushing to adopt AI across every dimension of their business: employees experimenting with ChatGPT, departments deploying Microsoft Copilot, and engineering teams building custom AI agents. Each of these interactions could expose sensitive data, introduce compliance risk, and create new opportunities for adversaries. 

Aim built a platform designed from the ground up to address these risks. Their solution secures three critical dimensions of enterprise AI: 

• AI you use – controlling interactions with public AI services. 
• AI you build – protecting internal AI applications and agents at runtime. 
• AI lifecycle – hardening the development and deployment of enterprise AI models. 

This breadth and depth set Aim apart. In large enterprises, they have demonstrated both strong win rates and the ability to operationalize AI security at scale. For Cato, integrating these capabilities was the fastest, most credible path to secure our customers’ AI transformation. 

What This Means for Cato 

The Cato SASE Cloud Platform is already the global control point for enterprise traffic. Every connection—user to cloud, branch to data center, IoT to application—passes through our fabric. That visibility and control now extends to AI. 

By embedding Aim’s inspection technology into Cato SPACE, our distributed enforcement layer, we gain the ability to analyze AI interactions in real time: prompts, responses, agent workflows, and model outputs. This is not simply DLP repackaged for AI. It is a new security attack surface requiring brand new security capabilities, and Aim’s technology was purpose-built to deliver. 

In the near term, Aim will remain available as a standalone product. By early 2026, it will converge into the Cato platform, giving customers the choice to adopt AI security today and seamlessly migrate to SASE tomorrow.  

What This Means for Enterprises  

The AI security category is still young, but its trajectory is clear. Enterprises will need controls over AI interactions, just as they did for web, cloud, and email in past decades. What is different this time is the speed. AI adoption is measured in months, not years. That urgency is why we acted now. 

What this means for IT leaders and enterprises: 

• Protection for every AI use case – Employees are already experimenting with public AI tools, departments are deploying copilots, and developers are building custom agents. Without safeguards, each of these entry points can expose sensitive data or introduce compliance risks. Comprehensive protection across all use cases ensures that AI adoption can move forward without opening new vulnerabilities. 

• A holistic approach instead of point tools – Managing AI risks across a patchwork of disconnected solutions creates gaps, overlaps, and operational complexity. Enterprises reduce risk and simplify governance when AI security converges into a single, cloud-native platform that fits naturally with existing IT environments. 

• Research-driven defenses – AI attacks evolve quickly, and generic security tools often lag behind. Enterprises benefit when their defenses are informed by dedicated research teams uncovering AI-specific vulnerabilities and rapidly translating those findings into protections that stay ahead of adversaries. 

With Cato and Aim, enterprises benefit from the breadth and depth of Aim’s AI security capabilities, delivered anywhere AI is deployed and used through the Cato SASE Cloud Platform, and backed by cutting-edge research that ensures continuous optimal protection against a rapidly evolving AI threat landscape.  

The Way Forward 

For nearly a decade, enterprises trusted Cato to simplify and secure network transformation, replacing rigid legacy infrastructure with a converged and global cloud-native platform. Now, the same shift is underway with AI. Just as SASE became the foundation for a new era of networking and security, enterprises now need to extend this foundation for the speed and complexity of AI. Our strategy was always to enable organizations to boldly, and safely, go after whatever comes next. Today, we jointly enter the new era of secure AI transformation.