CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Pillar Security vs Zenity

Pillar Security sells one platform to discover, test, secure and govern every AI agent across an organization. Zenity sells an AI agent security platform built to govern how agents behave, not just what they say or generate. CISO Tribune files both under AI model and agent security and AI governance. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Pillar Security
  • Zenity
Pillar Security vs Zenity: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Pillar SecurityPillar Security sells one platform to discover, test, secure and govern every AI agent across an organization.pillar.securityZenityZenity sells an AI agent security platform built to govern how agents behave, not just what they say or generate.zenity.io
What it sells
  • Agentic Endpoint[7][10]Protects the AI agents that run on employee machines.
  • AI Observability[5]Builds a live inventory of every agent across an organization's environment and tracks the data those agents access.
  • AI Security Posture Management (AISPM)[7]Evaluates configuration, permissions, and integrations before an agent goes live.
  • Boundaries[4][6][8]Evaluates every agent action in real time against an organization's rules and decides to let it through, block it, or shut the agent down.
  • AI Detection and Response (AIDR)[9]AIDR reads the full sequence of an agent's activity, detecting threats mapped to the OWASP LLM and MITRE ATLAS frameworks.
  • Zenity Security Assessment Hub[13]A set of 10 free, open-source tools built by Zenity Labs to help security teams identify and understand immediate risks.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2021[2]
Ownership and funding
Owned by VantaPrivately held[3][6][17]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 9, 2026Vanta signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pillar Security, an AI security platform that protects AI agents across their lifecycle.[11]
  • September 23, 2026Zenity was named a Market Shaper in Gartner's inaugural Emerging Market Quadrant for AI Application Security.[15]
  • August 3, 2026Zenity announced a $125 million Series C round led by Norwest.[14]
  • June 17, 2026Zenity and Carahsoft announced a partnership under which Carahsoft serves as Zenity's Public Sector distributor.[17]
  • March 17, 2026Zenity announced general availability of runtime security controls for AI agents built on Microsoft Foundry.[16]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetZenity describes a global financial services firm and a global asset manager as organizations that write policy rules for agents. Zenity covers agents embedded in SaaS tools, home-grown agentic platforms in the cloud, and end-user devices. Zenity gives security and platform teams a single place to surface, enforce, and protect MCP usage.
Last verified
November 10, 2026November 9, 2026

Where they overlap

  • AI model and agent security is the primary category of both Pillar Security and Zenity; both are also filed under AI governance.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Pillar Security is also filed under AI firewalls and guardrails and Workforce AI usage security.
  • Pillar Security lists Agentic Endpoint. Zenity lists AI Observability, AI Security Posture Management (AISPM), Boundaries, AI Detection and Response (AIDR) and Zenity Security Assessment Hub.
  • Zenity was founded in 2021.
  • Pillar Security is owned by Vanta. Zenity is privately held.

What it sells: Pillar Security

What Agentic Endpoint does[7][10]
Pillar deploys through an MDM and inventories the AI coding agents across a fleet: which agents run where, their versions, sandbox state and risk. Runtime Guardian sits in the agent's own pre-tool hook for Claude Code, Codex CLI and Cursor, and decides on every action before it runs. Pillar inventories local and remote servers across a fleet and scores each against a catalog of 23,000+ pre-analyzed servers.

What it sells: Zenity

What AI Observability does[5]
AI Observability is Zenity's discovery and visibility layer for AI agents. Data Lens surfaces sensitive files and pages that are both frequently accessed and broadly exposed across agents.
What AI Security Posture Management (AISPM) does[7]
AISPM evaluates configuration and permissions for agents embedded in platforms like Microsoft Copilot Studio, ChatGPT Enterprise, and Salesforce Agentforce. AISPM applies stricter enforcement in production and more flexible policy in development or sandbox environments.
What Boundaries does[4][6][8]
Boundaries is Zenity's runtime enforcement engine. A rule written once in Boundaries is enforced on Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Agentforce, Bedrock, coding agents, and homegrown builds. Boundaries includes a built-in AI assistant that turns a plain-language request into a working rule.
What AI Detection and Response (AIDR) does[9]
AI Detection and Response (AIDR) is Zenity's runtime security layer for AI agents. AIDR detects direct and indirect prompt injection and blocks execution before the agent acts on them. AIDR breaks every agent interaction into individual steps and groups them by thread in a single activity table.
What Zenity Security Assessment Hub does[13]
The Zenity Security Assessment Hub is built by Zenity Labs. The tools take a Red-Team approach to visualize threats across Microsoft 365, with a focus on 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and Power Platform.

Questions about Pillar Security and Zenity

What do Pillar Security and Zenity sell?
Pillar Security sells Agentic Endpoint. Zenity sells AI Observability, AI Security Posture Management (AISPM), Boundaries, AI Detection and Response (AIDR) and Zenity Security Assessment Hub.
Are Pillar Security and Zenity in the same category?
Yes. AI model and agent security is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
When were Pillar Security and Zenity founded?
Zenity was founded in 2021.
Who owns Pillar Security and Zenity?
Pillar Security is owned by Vanta. Zenity is privately held.
Who are Pillar Security and Zenity sold to?
Zenity describes a global financial services firm and a global asset manager as organizations that write policy rules for agents.
What have Pillar Security and Zenity announced recently?
November 9, 2026: Vanta signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pillar Security, an AI security platform that protects AI agents across their lifecycle. September 23, 2026: Zenity was named a Market Shaper in Gartner's inaugural Emerging Market Quadrant for AI Application Security.

About Pillar Security

Pillar Security sells one platform to discover, test, secure and govern every AI agent across an organization. Pillar catalogs AI agents, models, prompts, frameworks, tools, MCP servers, skills and coding agents through agentless integrations. The catalog covers shadow AI and unapproved systems deployed without oversight. Pillar maps instructions, data sources, tool permissions, and external connections for each agent. Pillar traces dependencies across models and agent harness and scans agent configs, permissions, and identities.[1][2][3][4]

For discovery, Pillar works through agentless integrations with source code repos, data platforms, and endpoints. Pillar assesses risks in AI stacks from vulnerabilities in models, frameworks, and dependencies. Pillar flags violations when unsanctioned AI appears in an environment. Pillar policy rules enforce approved models, frameworks, and data sovereignty standards across an AI stack. Pillar generates audit reports for GDPR, SOC 2, EU AI Act, and ISO 42001.[4]

For testing, Pillar executes multi-turn adversarial attacks against complete AI systems to test tool orchestration, permission escalation, and agentic workflows. Pillar maps an AI attack surface as a graph showing relationships between agents, tools, permissions, and data sources. RedGraph maps how tools, prompts, and data combine to create exploitable surfaces specific to an environment. Pillar tests AI platforms, third-party agents, and production systems that a customer does not own or control through multi-step black box adversarial attacks against prompts, tools, and workflows. Pillar documents exploitability with attack transcripts, recordings and reproduction steps, and feeds validated findings into adaptive guardrails.[2][3][5]

For runtime protection, Pillar analyzes user and agent intent to detect malicious behavior before it impacts production. Pillar identifies PII, PHI, secrets, and credentials flowing through AI interactions in real time. Pillar applies configurable policies to mask, block, or log sensitive data before exposure to AI models or external systems. Pillar guardrails calibrate using red teaming findings from specific applications to tune protection against the manipulation patterns detected during testing. Pillar logs prompts, responses, tool invocations, and results with timestamps. Pillar streams telemetry to security platforms for centralized monitoring.[6]

For developer machines, Pillar deploys through an MDM and inventories the AI coding agents across a fleet: which agents run where, their versions, sandbox state and risk. Pillar runs full configuration scans for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Pi Coding Agent, and detects other agents such as Amazon Q, Antigravity, Codeium and OpenClaw by fingerprint. Runtime Guardian sits in the agent's own pre-tool hook for Claude Code, Codex CLI and Cursor, and decides on every action before it runs. Pillar inventories local and remote servers across a fleet and scores each against a catalog of 23,000+ pre-analyzed servers. Pillar rolls out through Jamf Pro, Kandji, JumpCloud or any MDM that runs scripts, on macOS, Linux and Windows. On endpoints, Pillar analyzes permissions, credentials, access scopes, and auto-run settings, then provides step-by-step remediation. At runtime, Pillar monitors every prompt, tool call, and command to detect prompt injection, tool poisoning, and data exfiltration.[7][8]

For governance, Pillar translates governance policies into technical controls that enforce approved models, licensing standards, and data sovereignty requirements at every stage. Pillar extends governance controls to external AI providers, SaaS platforms, and vendor integrations. Pillar maps governance findings, testing results, and runtime logs to regulatory requirements automatically. Pillar adds a security enforcement layer on AI gateway frameworks without re-architecting a stack. Pillar inspects every prompt and response in real time for sensitive data exposure, prompt injection, toxic content, and policy violations. For tool integrations, Pillar validates at runtime that tool calls match their declared schemas and flags anomalous behavior, like a tool accessing resources outside its expected scope.[8][9]

Pillar can be deployed in its managed cloud, in a customer's own cloud account or data center, or as a mix of both. Self-hosted deployments include runtime guardrails, AI discovery, red teaming and agentic endpoint security. Adaptive guardrails are available in the managed cloud only today. Telemetry back to Pillar is off unless the customer enables it. A Fortune 300 manufacturer runs Pillar fully self-hosted. Pillar cites SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022.[1][6][7][8][10]

Pillar Security on the record

Sources

Pillar Security full record

  1. [1]pillar.securityPillar Security · pillar.security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Pillar Security | Securing the Agentic WorkforcePillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Pillar Security Platform | Securing the Entire AI Software LifecyclePillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]AI Discovery & Posture | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]AI Red Teaming & Risk Detection | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Runtime Guardrails | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Agentic Endpoint: Secure AI Coding Agents | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI Security Solutions | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI Governance & Compliance | Pillar SecurityPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Deployment Options: Cloud, Self-Hosted, Hybrid · PillarPillar Security · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Vanta to Acquire Pillar Security to Turn AI Policy Into PracticeBusiness Wire · published November 9, 2026 · Tier A

Zenity full record

  1. [1]AI Agent Security and Governance | Zenity AI Security PlatformZenity · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Zenity announces strategic investment led by m12Zenity · zenity.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Zenity raises 38m series b funding round to secure agentic aiZenity · zenity.io · published October 29, 2024 · Tier A
  4. [4]AI Agent Security & Governance Platform for the Enterprise | ZenityZenity · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]AI Observability | Zenity AI Security PlatformZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Agent Security | Model Context Protocol (MCP) | ZenityZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]AI Security Posture Management | Zenity AI Security PlatformZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Runtime Boundaries | Zenity AI Security PlatformZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI Detection and Response (AIDRZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Agentic Identity & Access Management: Zenity AI Security PlatformZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Securing Financial Services AI | Zenity, Microsoft & SlalomZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Company | Zenity | Secure AI Agents EverywhereZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Zenity Security Assessment Hub | Zenity | Secure AI Agents EverywhereZenity · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Zenity Raises $125 Million to Secure the Era of 1 Billion AI AgentsZenity · published August 3, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Zenity Named a Market Shaper in Gartner’s Inaugural Emerging Market Quadrant for AI Application SecurityZenity · published September 23, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Zenity Announces Availability of Inline Agent Runtime Security for Agents Built on Microsoft FoundryZenity · published March 17, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Zenity and Carahsoft Bring AI Agent Security and Governance to Federal, State and Local AgenciesZenity · published June 17, 2026 · Tier A

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