CNBC’s John Fortt interviews Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry about the company’s AI security strategy after earnings. Chaudhry says the rise of agentic AI increases the need for zero-trust security because enterprise agents will be harder to trust than users, and Zscaler is extending its existing architecture to protect those interactions. He also says rising memory and processing costs are a manageable headwind for Zscaler’s infrastructure-heavy model, and that more public AI model companies should ultimately help Zscaler by accelerating enterprise adoption of agentic applications.
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This is a short CNBC interview centered on Zscaler’s AI-security positioning after earnings. The core thesis from Jay Chaudhry is that agentic AI expands the attack surface for enterprises, and Zscaler’s zero-trust architecture is well suited to secure it. His framing is that CIOs and CISOs want to adopt AI, but they worry about data loss and unsafe communication between agents, applications, and users. Zscaler is responding by extending the same trust model it already uses for users and apps to agent interactions. Chaudhry argues that legacy security architectures like firewalls and VPNs are outdated because they rely on an in/out model that no longer fits a world where “everyone is everywhere” and agents operate from many locations at machine speed. He emphasizes that Zscaler’s architecture validates identity and then connects the requester only to the right application or service. …
Tactically, the setup is about whether the new AI-security message can offset a weak software tape and rising AI infrastructure-cost concerns. Near-term upside likely depends on investors viewing the Zenith Live product launch as a real catalyst rather than a marketing update.
Over the next few months, Zscaler’s thesis improves if enterprise customers begin deploying agents in production and AI-security spend becomes visible in bookings. If adoption stays niche or competitors narrow the gap, the stock may revert to being treated as just another mature security name.
Structurally, the interview argues that AI agents push enterprise security toward a zero-trust, identity-validated model. If that shift proves durable, Zscaler benefits from a regime change in how companies secure data and applications, not just a temporary AI cycle.
Zscaler’s new AI security offering is designed to let enterprises adopt agentic AI without causing data-loss problems.
He directly links secure AI adoption to data-loss prevention and agent communication security.
Zero trust is the right architecture for secure communication among agents and applications.
This is the core product thesis he repeats multiple times.
Memory and processor cost inflation affects Zscaler, but only in a manageable way.
He contrasts Zscaler’s infrastructure exposure with firewall vendors shipping boxes.
Why is the new AI security technology important for customers adopting agentic AI?
Jay Chaudhry says CIOs and CISOs want to embrace AI without creating data-loss or security problems. He says Zscaler’s zero-trust exchange lets groups of agents access only approved applications, which should help customers roll out agent solutions securely.
How is the memory-chip crunch affecting Zscaler's infrastructure business?
He says Zscaler’s global infrastructure does use memory and processors, so rising costs affect the company somewhat. But because it is not shipping thousands of physical boxes like firewall vendors, the impact is manageable and not meaningful.
Why is Zscaler's infrastructure investment a long-term differentiator in the agentic AI era?
Chaudhry argues that firewall and VPN security is an old 30-year model. Zscaler’s zero-trust architecture treats everyone and every agent as untrusted, validates identity, and connects them only to the right applications and services, which he says is the modern model that scales for machine-speed agents.
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