Cloudbrink’s recognition by FastMode as a 2026 Vendor to Watch is not just about fast ZTNA—it is about preparing networks for an AI‑driven future where visibility and performance are inseparable from security.
AI changes what “ready” mean
AI workloads and AI‑assisted users create highly dynamic, latency‑sensitive traffic patterns that expose every weakness in legacy VPN and POP‑based ZTNA. When inference traffic, agent calls, and browser‑based AI tools are slowed or intermittently blocked, users either abandon them or find unsanctioned workarounds, breaking both security and governance.
To support this shift, enterprises need secure access that can see AI traffic clearly—who is using which agents, from which devices, and with what data—and still deliver low‑friction performance across variable networks. That combination of deep visibility and predictable speed is what separates Cloudbrink’s architecture from traditional access tools.
Cloudbrink’s AI‑ready visibility
Cloudbrink’s user‑centric ZTNA already gives organizations fine‑grained visibility into user‑to‑application access, device posture, and session behavior across SaaS, web, hybrid cloud, and private apps. This visibility naturally extends to AI usage patterns, allowing security and IT teams to see which AI agents and web‑based AI tools users are accessing, under what conditions, and with what performance characteristics.
Because policy and telemetry are unified in a single console, Cloudbrink can correlate AI usage with security posture and experience—for example, identifying unmanaged devices hitting corporate managed AI tools, or sessions where packet loss and latency are degrading agent performance. This gives enterprises the observability layer they need before enforcing more advanced AI security controls.
Performance as an AI control
High‑performance ZTNA is not just a convenience for AI; it is a prerequisite. AI agents and web‑based AI tools are highly sensitive to mid‑mile congestion, last‑mile instability, and packet loss, which can turn a powerful assistant into a frustrating bottleneck.
Cloudbrink’s ephemeral FAST Edges and Brink App address those constraints directly, dynamically optimizing user sessions so AI interactions remain responsive even under poor network conditions. By keeping latency low and responsiveness high, Cloudbrink helps ensure that sanctioned AI tools are actually used—making policy enforcement and upcoming AI security controls meaningful rather than theoretical.
Designing for AI security next
As enterprises move from “experimenting with AI” to “operationalizing AI,” access control and traffic insight will become the enforcement point for AI security. Cloudbrink’s roadmap builds on its existing visibility to add AI‑specific security capabilities, allowing organizations to apply differentiated controls to AI agents and web‑based AI use without degrading performance.
Because Cloudbrink already aligns trust evaluation with identity, device posture, and live session telemetry, it is well positioned to add AI‑aware rules—controlling which users and devices can talk to which AI services, under which risk conditions, and with what monitoring. That trajectory toward AI‑focused security, on top of proven performance and visibility, is a key reason Cloudbrink stands out as a vendor to watch for 2026.
