Proofpoint, Inc. has acquired Acuvity, a specialist in AI enterprise security and governance, in a move designed to strengthen protections around generative AI, autonomous agents and model-connected applications increasingly embedded across corporate environments.
The acquisition enhances Proofpoint’s security and compliance platform with AI-native visibility, governance and runtime protection tailored to what executives are calling the “agentic workspace”, an emerging environment in which humans and AI agents collaborate on business-critical workflows.
As organisations accelerate the deployment of AI copilots and autonomous systems across departments ranging from software engineering and customer support to finance and legal, cybersecurity leaders are grappling with a new category of risks that traditional perimeter-based tools were never designed to handle.
Satyam Sinha, co-founder and Chief Executive of Acuvity, underscored the need for a redefined approach to security in AI-driven environments.
“In an AI-accelerated world, intelligence lives in interactions, decisions, and autonomous agents acting on our behalf. Securing that future requires a new approach — one that governs how AI thinks, acts, and learns in real time,” he said.
What You Need to Know
Generative AI adoption has introduced complex security challenges, including shadow AI usage, exposure of sensitive corporate data, intellectual property leakage and regulatory non-compliance.
More technically sophisticated threats, such as prompt injection, model manipulation and unauthorised data exfiltration through AI tools are also emerging.
Unlike conventional applications, AI systems process large volumes of structured and unstructured data, often interacting with external large language models and APIs. This expands the attack surface and blurs accountability across human and machine actors.
“Securing this new model of work requires understanding human intent, agentic behavior, and risk in real time,” said Ryan Kalember, Chief Strategy Officer at Proofpoint, adding that the combined platform uniquely protects the agentic workspace end-to-end.
Extending Security to the ‘Agentic Workspace’
Proofpoint has traditionally focused on human-centric security, protecting employees from phishing, insider threats and data loss. With Acuvity’s integration, the company is expanding that focus to encompass AI agents acting on behalf of employees.
Acuvity’s platform provides detection models and control points specifically designed for AI-driven environments. Its tools deliver visibility and enforcement across enterprise AI usage, spanning endpoints and browsers to emerging AI infrastructure such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and locally installed AI engines, including tools like OpenClaw and Ollama.
By incorporating AI-powered detection models capable of analysing context and behavioural intent, the platform enables organisations to monitor and govern interactions with third-party AI services while also safeguarding internally developed AI models and applications.
The emphasis on runtime protection is particularly significant. Rather than securing only access points, the technology monitors how AI systems operate once deployed, including how data is queried, processed and transmitted.
Governance, Compliance and Real-Time Control
For regulated industries, governance remains a primary concern. Financial services firms, healthcare providers and multinational corporations must ensure that AI systems do not inadvertently expose personal data or violate regional compliance frameworks.
Acuvity’s capabilities allow organisations to enforce policy controls around data usage, limit interactions with unauthorised AI services and apply governance frameworks to both human and agent-initiated activities.
The acquisition positions Proofpoint as a unified platform spanning collaboration security, data protection, governance and AI security. By integrating human-centric and agent-centric controls, the company aims to differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive cybersecurity landscape where vendors are racing to secure generative AI deployments.
For Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs), the challenge is balancing innovation with risk containment. Enterprises are under pressure to harness AI productivity gains, yet a single data breach involving AI systems could expose vast quantities of sensitive information.
By embedding AI-native security into its broader platform, Proofpoint is betting that enterprises will seek consolidated oversight rather than fragmented point solutions.
Securing Trust in an AI-Driven Enterprise
The broader strategic play is about trust. As AI becomes integrated into daily workflows, drafting contracts, writing code, responding to customers and analysing financial data, organisations must ensure that these systems operate transparently and securely.
The integration of Acuvity’s technology signals recognition that enterprise security can no longer focus solely on human behaviour. It must also account for autonomous systems capable of acting independently, learning dynamically and interacting with external services in real time.
In doing so, Proofpoint is aligning its platform with the next phase of digital transformation, one in which the boundaries between human decision-making and machine autonomy continue to blur.
Talking Points
It is notable that Proofpoint’s acquisition of Acuvity targets a new frontier in enterprise security: the “agentic workspace,” where humans and AI agents collaborate on business-critical workflows. This acknowledges that traditional cybersecurity approaches must evolve to address AI-driven risks.
This move positions Proofpoint as one of the first companies to integrate human-centric and AI-centric security within a single platform, offering visibility, governance, and runtime protection for both people and autonomous systems.
At Techparley, we see the potential for tools like this to enable organisations to adopt generative AI confidently. By securing AI copilots, autonomous agents, and model-connected applications, enterprises can innovate without compromising data privacy, compliance, or trust.
The integration of Acuvity’s AI-native detection and control points allows companies to monitor context, intent, and agent behaviour in real time, reducing exposure to emerging threats such as prompt injection, model manipulation, and shadow AI usage.
As Proofpoint scales this platform, partnerships with CISOs, CIOs, and compliance teams could accelerate adoption and establish standards for agentic workspace security. With the right execution, this combined platform has the potential to redefine how organisations manage AI risk, protect sensitive data, and maintain trust in an AI-driven enterprise.
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