Zscaler to Acquire Symmetry Systems in AI Security Push
Zscaler announced today that it has agreed to acquire Symmetry Systems and is launching Project AI-Guardian, an initiative aimed at extending Zero Trust governance from human users to AI agents.
The acquisition will fold Symmetry’s identity-mapping and data-access technology into Zscaler’s platform. Project AI-Guardian adds a services and implementation layer through global systems integrators Cognizant, EY, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS and Wipro.
Who: The Principals
- Jay Chaudhry, Zscaler’s founder, chairman and CEO
- Mohit Tiwari, Chief Executive Officer of Symmetry Systems
What: The Strategic Case
In Chaudhry’s framing, the corporate identity-and-access model built for human users and Active Directory cannot scale to a world where millions of AI agents make decisions and call applications on behalf of those users.
“As enterprises rapidly adopt AI, the old playbook for governing access built around users and directories cannot scale to millions of AI agents,” Chaudhry said in the announcement. “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.”
Tiwari described the combined company’s ambition: “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 centered on endpoints, applications, or perimeter networks increasingly operate at the wrong layer of abstraction.”
How: Project AI-Guardian
Under Project AI-Guardian, global systems integrators will use Zscaler’s AI Protect portfolio to help clients:
- Identify unauthorized AI use across the organization
- Map the connections between data, identities, and AI assets
- Assess risks including sensitive-data exposure, supply-chain weaknesses, and misconfigured systems
The launch underscores how large consultancies are positioning themselves around AI governance work. EY said clients were seeking stronger visibility into AI use across data, networks and applications. Infosys described AI security as a governance challenge requiring continuous control enforcement. Wipro and TCS pointed to a broader attack surface and the need to measure risk exposure as AI becomes more embedded in software and cloud workflows.
Financial terms were not disclosed.