New AI, who this? 4 areas to consider when adopting agentic endpoint security

We have entered a remarkable new era of productivity. For years, the industry spoke about digital transformation as a distant goal, but today, it is happening in real-time right at the front of every employee’s screen. AI is no longer just a feature; it has become the core operating system of modern work.

From developers using AI to write code at lightning speed to marketing teams deploying autonomous agents to manage complex workflows, we are seeing a massive shift in how teams are deploying and using AI. But as with any major technological leap, this transition is also redefining the defensive perimeter.

For a long time, the security community operated under a comfortable assumption: if we secured the "binary" layer, the traditional applications and operating systems, we had secured the enterprise. We built world-class tools to watch for malicious processes, and that was enough to keep the organization safe.

However, as organizations shift toward frontier AI, we are discovering a structural blind spot. The modern endpoint is no longer just a device running Windows or macOS. It is now a stack of agentic software, sophisticated AI models, and specialized skills that are often self-provisioned by employees looking to work more efficiently.

The agentic perimeter is the new frontline

This new "non-binary" perimeter represents a fundamental shift in the software stack. Think about the average knowledge worker today. Their environment is a sprawling web of scripts, IDE extensions, package registries, and autonomous agents.

These tools are what analysts call the "ultimate insiders" that demand cybersecurity oversight. They are powerful, essential to modern productivity, and yet they often operate outside the view of traditional security controls. This gap is not just a technical detail; it is a new architectural layer that requires a new way of thinking about defense.

Traditional security has always been a game of catch-up. It waits for something to go wrong, detects the problem, and then tries to fix it. But when an autonomous AI can speed through an entire attack in minutes, waiting to react is no longer a viable strategy. As leaders, we should not have to choose between letting our teams use the best AI tools and keeping our organizations secure.

Shifting left in agentic security

To thrive in this agentic era, we need to move the defensive line. Instead of scanning for threats after the fact, we need to secure the software supply chain to include AI agents and their endpoints.

When an employee connects a new AI agent, they are not trying to launch an attack; they are trying to be productive. But in doing so, they may inadvertently bring unvetted, high-risk software into the heart of the enterprise. We need a way to manage the risk of trusted tools being used in untrusted ways.

This is why industry leaders are increasingly turning to Agentic Endpoint Security (AES). By placing a highly context aware control point directly on the endpoint, organizations can finally close the visibility gap that frontier AI is already beginning to exploit.

4 areas to consider when adopting agentic endpoint security (AES)

The goal of security should not be to add noise or slow people down. It should be about creating a safe, frictionless path for innovation and productivity to thrive. This vision has led to the development of Agentic Endpoint Security (AES), powered by Koi and recently acquired by Palo Alto Networks which operates seamlessly across four critical areas:

By bringing this new layer of intelligence into platforms like Cortex®, organizations are able to see a more complete story of their agentic endpoints and protect every interaction between AI agents, code, and data. This approach, powered by Koi technology, ensures that protection is natively built directly on the endpoint, which is the only location capable of providing continuous visibility and control over the entire AI attack surface in real time.

This is about more than just stopping attacks; it is about giving an organization the confidence to lean into the future of AI. The era of the unmanaged endpoint is behind us. To learn more, visit https://paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/agentic-endpoint-security.

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For years, the industry has operated under a comfortable assumption: if we secure the "binary" layer, we’ve secured the endpoint. We built world-class EDR and XDR to watch for malicious processes, and for a long time, that was enough.

But as organizations shift toward frontier AI and begin embedding agentic workflows everywhere, it’s clear that we are facing a structural blind spot. We have entered the AI-native era, where AI now sits at the front of every employee. It has effectively become the core operating system of modern productivity.

This means the modern endpoint has been quietly taken over by a "non-binary" perimeter. Think about the average developer or knowledge worker today. Their environment isn't just Windows or macOS anymore; it’s a stack of agentic software, sophisticated AI models, MCPs, and specialized skills. Because these tools are often self-provisioned, they have become the "ultimate insiders," which are powerful, essential, and largely unmanaged.

This isn’t just a new category of risk; it’s a new architectural layer that traditional security tools were never built to see, let alone control.

The blind spot: Where traditional EDR fails

Traditional security tools are reactive and wait for threats to strike. In the era of AI, where agents can execute attacks at faster speed and broader scale, minutes matter. Each delay means more room for a critical vulnerability.

In the modern workplace, employees are consistently adding new AI agents or coding extensions. However, this often inadvertently brings unvetted, high-risk software directly into the heart of the enterprise. Traditional security tools are built to catch malicious files, not to govern the behavior of the trusted AI tools your team uses daily. This creates a massive, invisible risk surface.

This means we must shift from securing devices to securing how work actually gets done. The real danger lies in the AI-powered tools themselves. Instead of waiting for detections to catch when something goes wrong, we need to secure a space where current security is largely blind. CISOs shouldn't have to choose between driving innovation and maintaining a secure environment.

This is why we have pioneered a Supply Chain Gateway (SCG) architecture. By placing a strategic control point at the moment of intake rather than waiting for a breach to happen, Agentic Endpoint Security (AES) closes the visibility gap that frontier AI is already beginning to exploit.

New AI, who this? 4 things your AES solution needs

The goal of Agentic Endpoint Security (AES) isn't about adding noise or more alerts to your dashboard. It’s about creating a safe, frictionless path for innovation, productivity, and security to work together. By acting as a proactive gateway, AES ensures that the tools your team relies on are verified before they ever enter your environment.

As AI evolves into the core operating system of productivity, security must evolve to be just as integrated, intelligent, and essential as the agentic workflows it protects. As organizations consider an AES solution, Koi provides a "Supply Chain Gateway" that uniquely can:

Meeting users where they work, stopping threats before they start

One of the big mistakes we traditionally see in security history is forcing users into rigid, "secure" environments that break their workflows. We’ve seen this with traditional secure browsers that add too much friction.

Our approach with AES is different. It is designed to be native and frictionless. Koi runs quietly in the background to catch risky tools and dangerous plugins, allowing developers to move fast without having to navigate complicated security barriers.

This is how we achieve real security: by making the right path the easy path.

A unified platform for the agentic era

By bringing Koi’s non-binary risk intelligence into the Cortex ecosystem, we are stitching together a complete story. We are combining the deep, behavioral analytics of XDR with the pre-execution supply chain control of AES.

This isn’t just about stopping the next attack; it’s about establishing a platform controller for the emerging agentic computing landscape. We want to give organizations the confidence to adopt AI agents and modern dev tools, knowing that the "ultimate insiders" are always working within a secure, verifiable boundary.

The era of the unmanaged endpoint is over. Click here to learn how to build a safer, more productive agentic future together.