If You Invested in Zscaler (ZS)

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) is a cloud security company that delivers its capabilities as software-as-a-service. The firm focuses on cloud-native cybersecurity for enterprise and other large organizations, with a particular emphasis on zero trust security, secure access, and protection against cyberattacks and data loss. According to company disclosures, Zscaler is headquartered in San Jose, California and went public in 2018.

Zscaler describes itself as a pioneer and global leader in zero trust security. Its platform, known as the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™, is a SASE-based in-line cloud security platform distributed across more than 160 data centers globally. The platform is designed to securely connect users, devices, applications, data, and branches in any location while helping organizations accelerate digital transformation, reduce IT complexity, and improve security outcomes.

The company’s cloud-native offerings include Zscaler Internet Access, which provides secure access to external applications, and Zscaler Private Access, which provides secure access to internal applications. Zscaler states that thousands of customers, including many of the world’s largest businesses, critical infrastructure organizations, and government agencies, rely on its platform to combat billions of cyber threats and policy violations every day.

Business model and platform focus

Zscaler operates as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider. Its security capabilities are delivered through its multi-tenant cloud, rather than traditional hardware appliances. The Zero Trust Exchange platform is positioned as a cloud-native switchboard that brokers secure connections between users, devices, and applications based on identity, context, and policy, instead of relying on legacy network perimeter models.

The company emphasizes Zero Trust as foundational for secure digital transformation and AI adoption. Its disclosures highlight that organizations use Zscaler to move away from legacy network security architectures, simplify operations, and securely connect users, devices, workloads, and applications across hybrid and cloud environments.

AI security and emerging threats

Zscaler places particular emphasis on AI security and the security implications of agentic AI, mobile, IoT, and OT environments. The company notes that AI is evolving from chat bots into autonomous agents that function as both users and applications, which introduces new categories of risk that traditional tools may not address effectively. To respond to this, Zscaler has created an executive role focused on Agentic AI Security Engineering and is expanding its Zero Trust architecture to secure both human and machine identities.

Through its ThreatLabz research organization, Zscaler publishes threat reports that analyze trends such as Android malware growth, IoT attacks on critical infrastructure, and the behavior of malware families targeting mobile and IoT devices. The company uses telemetry from its global cloud to identify threat patterns and to inform enhancements to its AI-powered protection capabilities.

Key products and capabilities

Based on company communications, Zscaler’s platform includes several notable components and capabilities:

• Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA™) – a cloud-delivered service that provides secure access to external applications and internet destinations.
• Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) – a service that provides secure access to internal applications without exposing them directly to the internet.
• Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ – the core platform that enforces Zero Trust policies, inspects traffic, and connects users, devices, and applications through more than 160 data centers.
• Zscaler Digital Experience™ (ZDX™) – a set of capabilities for end-to-end monitoring, diagnostics, and remediation, giving IT teams visibility into device, network, and application performance to help reduce downtime and improve user experience.
• Zscaler Zero Trust Branch – capabilities aimed at branch offices and distributed networks that rely heavily on mobile, IoT, cellular IoT, and OT technologies, using a cloud-native Zero Trust architecture.
• Zscaler Cellular – connectivity and security for IoT and mobile devices that rely on cellular connections, with centralized policy enforcement and visibility.

The company also highlights AI-focused features such as AI Runtime Guardrails, data protection that classifies and governs sensitive data across prompts, models, and outputs, and capabilities for securing agentic workflows and AI agents.

AI lifecycle and SPLX acquisition

Zscaler has expanded its AI security capabilities through the acquisition of AI security company SPLX. The company states that this acquisition extends the Zero Trust Exchange platform with shift-left AI asset discovery, automated AI red teaming, and governance, with the goal of securing AI investments from development through deployment. SPLX’s technology is described as providing AI asset discovery and risk assessment across public and private deployments, automated AI red teaming with thousands of attack simulations, AI runtime guardrails and prompt hardening, and AI governance and compliance features.

By combining SPLX’s technology with the intelligence and data protection of the Zero Trust Exchange, Zscaler aims to secure the entire AI lifecycle on one platform, including models, workflows, code repositories, and AI-related infrastructure such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

Partnerships and ecosystem

Zscaler participates in major cloud and identity ecosystems. The company has been recognized as an AWS Marketplace Partner of the Year (NAMER), reflecting its activity and sales through Amazon Web Services Marketplace. It reports that it has surpassed a significant level of software sales through AWS Marketplace and holds multiple AWS Competencies, including an AI Security specialization. Zscaler works with partners to co-sell, co-innovate, and deliver joint solutions on AWS, including use cases such as Zero Trust access to SAP, private applications on AWS, and securing generative AI workloads.

The company is also an early adoption partner in the Microsoft Entra Agent ID ecosystem. It is integrating across Microsoft’s Agent Registry, Agent ID, and Agent Directory services to help organizations onboard, manage, and govern AI agents at scale. Zscaler states that it is working to treat Entra Agent ID as a first-class identity within its platform, supporting consistent Zero Trust protections across users, applications, and AI agents.

Customer base and use cases

According to company statements, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform protects thousands of customers worldwide. The company notes that the world’s largest businesses, critical infrastructure organizations, and government agencies rely on Zscaler to secure users, branches, applications, data, and devices, and to support digital transformation initiatives. Zscaler also reports that its platform is trusted by a substantial portion of Fortune 500 companies.

Use cases highlighted by Zscaler include securing hybrid and remote work, protecting mobile and IoT devices, enabling Zero Trust access to SaaS and private applications, supporting compliance requirements, and providing visibility and control for AI-driven workflows and agentic AI use cases.

Corporate governance and capital markets

Zscaler is a publicly traded company listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol ZS. It files periodic reports, proxy statements, and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s definitive proxy statement describes its board structure, annual meeting process, and proposals submitted for stockholder vote, including director elections, auditor ratification, and advisory votes on executive compensation and board structure.

The company has also issued convertible senior notes due 2028, as disclosed in a Form 8-K. These notes are senior unsecured obligations of Zscaler and are convertible into cash, shares of common stock, or a combination of both, subject to specified terms and conditions. In connection with the notes, Zscaler entered into capped call transactions intended to reduce potential dilution upon conversion and/or offset cash payments above principal.

Research, reporting, and thought leadership

Through its ThreatLabz team and related research efforts, Zscaler publishes reports on mobile, IoT, and OT threats, including analysis of malware families, targeted industries, and geographic attack patterns. These reports draw on data from the Zscaler cloud, including millions of threat-related transactions and device fingerprinting data. The company uses these insights to inform its product roadmap and to highlight the importance of Zero Trust and AI-powered detection in defending against evolving threats.

Summary

In summary, Zscaler, Inc. is a San Jose–based, Nasdaq-listed SaaS company focused on cloud-native cybersecurity and Zero Trust security. Its Zero Trust Exchange platform, distributed across more than 160 data centers, is designed to securely connect users, devices, and applications anywhere, protect against cyber threats and data loss, and support digital transformation and AI adoption for large organizations and government agencies.