NetFoundry has been recognized by Network Infrastructure Magazine as “Buyers Choice Zero Trust Networking Platform Of The Year 2026” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry. This profile has been developed by the Network Infrastructure Magazine research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Galeal Zino, Founder and CEO.
Enterprise systems are moving beyond a human-centric model, with applications, services and AI agents operating across cloud platforms, private infrastructure and partner environments. In this environment, organizations are struggling to securely connect these distributed systems without relying on complex network reconfiguration and manual controls. NetFoundry addresses this by providing a software-defined zero-trust connectivity platform designed specifically for the complexities of modern, distributed non-human workloads. By shifting the control plane from the network to identity, NetFoundry allows organizations to meet security requirements without slowing deployment. Because the platform is entirely software-based, organizations can establish private, end-to-end encrypted connections in minutes instead of weeks without compromising security.
Key Takeaways
- Identity as the Control Plane: NetFoundry assigns cryptographically verifiable identity to everything—users, applications, services, devices, APIs, microservices, server workloads, IoT systems, robotics, autonomous systems and AI agents and MCP servers—creating a consistent framework for authentication and authorization, with identity defining trust across all interactions.
- Zero Network Reconfiguration: Connectivity is established directly between endpoints, without requiring changes to firewalls, DNS or underlying infrastructure.
- Invisible Attack Surface: Applications are never exposed to the public internet, and all connections are initiated outbound over the overlay. This eliminates inbound attack surfaces and reduces exposure to external threats.
- Rapid Deployment for AI Projects: Teams can securely connect distributed systems, enabling them to scale operations, support autonomous systems and deploy new applications without ongoing reconfiguration. Businesses need to operate at “AI speed,” meaning security and networking can’t be in the way.
The Challenge of Modern Connectivity
The shift toward distributed, autonomous systems exposes a fundamental gap in how identity is managed. While users have long-established identities that can be authenticated and controlled, machines, services and workloads typically do not. As organizations build increasingly distributed applications, machine-to-machine and service-to-service communications dominate, and the absence of a consistent machine identity introduces both security risk and operational complexity.
At the same time, most organizations still rely on network-centric controls such as firewall changes, VPN provisioning and routing updates to secure these interactions. These approaches require ongoing manual configuration every time applications evolve, creating friction that does not scale in dynamic, software-driven environments. While zero-trust has proven effective in securing user-to-application access, it does not fully address this growing volume of machine-to-machine interactions in architectures still dependent on firewalls and VPNs.
How NetFoundry’s Zero-Trust Platform Works
NetFoundry’s overlay network is independent of the underlying network, and invisible to anyone who’s not authenticated. If identity and policy do not allow the interaction, no routable service path is created, making it invisible to attackers. It can be consumed as a globally distributed service across hundreds of data centers and tier-one backbone networks, or deployed within an organization’s own environment, including on-premise and air-gapped setups.
Real-World Impact: From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs
The impact of this model becomes clear when applied to time-sensitive projects. For example, a major airline set out to launch an AI-powered chatbot designed to enhance operations and customer experience. Despite clear business value, the project stalled due to infrastructure and security constraints. Establishing secure connectivity across Microsoft Azure and private enterprise environments using traditional methods would have required four to six weeks of configuration, including firewall changes and network provisioning.
NetFoundry eliminated these constraints by establishing secure connections almost immediately, eliminating the need for manual network changes. Using NetFoundry SDKs for native Android and iOS, the airline embedded zero-trust connectivity directly into the chatbot application itself. This allowed users to securely connect from any device, on any network, without VPNs, while keeping the Azure environment completely private and not exposed to the internet. Initial validation was completed in under an hour, and within weeks, the system was fully operational. The initiative moved from stalled to operational.
Scaling at Your Own Pace
In practice, adoption rarely begins as a full transformation. Teams typically start with a single, high-impact use case, whether enabling an AI initiative, connecting partner environments or securing a legacy workload, and then expand incrementally, reusing the same platform across priorities. This incremental adoption model reduces risk while allowing organizations to modernize at their own pace, aligning security transformation with immediate business outcomes rather than large-scale, disruptive overhauls. This operational impact underpins NetFoundry’s recognition as Zero Trust Networking Platform of the Year 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why are traditional network controls insufficient for AI and microservices? Most organizations still rely on network-centric controls such as firewall changes, VPN provisioning and routing updates to secure interactions. These approaches require ongoing manual configuration every time applications evolve, creating friction that does not scale in dynamic, software-driven environments.
Does NetFoundry require organizations to rip and replace their current identity systems? No, this identity layer complements existing identity systems, allowing organizations to use multiple attributes rather than replace what is already in place.
How does NetFoundry protect against external threats? Applications are never exposed to the public internet, and all connections are initiated outbound over the overlay. This eliminates inbound attack surfaces and reduces exposure to external threats.
