Palo Alto Networks’ Koi acquisition is all about keeping AI agents in check

The company says it will integrate Koi’s technology into its security offerings to improve visibility into AI-driven activity on workplace devices.

Palo Alto Networks announced Tuesday its plans to buy security startup Koi, a deal aimed at addressing the security risks emerging as organizations rapidly adopt agentic AI.

Terms were not disclosed, but Israeli business outlet Globes reported that Palo Alto will pay approximately $400 million. The deal is another among a trend of larger cybersecurity industry companies buying AI-focused security startups. 

In a statement announcing the agreement, Palo Alto Networks argues that “agentic” tools are reshaping endpoint risk because they can act with broad privileges, interact with multiple systems and move data in ways that older security products were not designed to monitor. For years, endpoint protection emphasized detecting malicious files and stopping known malware techniques. The new concern described in the announcement centers on legitimate software that can become dangerous through compromise, misconfiguration or abuse. AI agents, in this framing, resemble highly capable insiders: they operate using a user’s credentials, can take actions on a user’s behalf and may do so automatically and at speed.

“AI agents and tools are the ultimate insiders,” said Lee Klarich, Palo Alto’s chief product & technology officer. “They have full access to your systems and data, but operate entirely outside the view of traditional security controls. By acquiring Koi, we will be closing this gap and setting a new standard for endpoint security. We will give our customers the visibility and control required to safely harness the power of AI — ensuring that every agent, plugin, and script is governed, verified, and secure.”

Palo Alto Networks says Koi’s technology would be integrated into its Prisma AIRS AI security platform and would enhance the company’s Cortex XDR endpoint product. The stated goal is better visibility into AI-driven activity on endpoints and additional controls over tools that fall outside conventional security monitoring.

Palo Alto Networks and Koi describe their approach moving forward as “Agentic Endpoint Security,” built around visibility into AI-related software, continuous risk analysis and real-time policy enforcement. The language suggests an attempt to define a new product category at a moment when enterprises are still deciding how to govern AI tools that are proliferating through developer workflows and everyday office software.

The proposed acquisition also signals how major security vendors may respond to enterprise AI adoption: by packaging agent governance, monitoring and control into endpoint and cloud security portfolios, and by treating AI-driven automation as a distinct source of risk rather than a feature layered onto existing defenses.

The acquisition is the second AI-focused deal for Palo Alto in the plast six months. In November, the company announced it was acquiring Chronosphere, an AI-focused observability firm, for $3.35 billion. 

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