Proofpoint extends human-centric security to AI and data security

Extending AI protection through regional partnerships

“We're going to introduce more AI agents in our entire portfolio to help the customer cope with this new age of AI,” says Nelson Soon, Vice President of Channels and Alliances for APJ at Proofpoint.

As the AI world sees an increasing convergence between human and agents, Proofpoint believes that there is a strong need for agents to have a facet of protection, which is similar to intent and behaviour.

According to Nelson Soon, Vice President of Channels and Alliances for Asia Pacific and Japan as Proofpoint is a cybersecurity vendor that focuses on protection that is not rule-based, but intent-based, he believes that with the worldwide explosive adoption of AI, agents also have behavioural and intent associated with all the actions they are doing.

At the Proofpoint global flagship event Protect 2026, Proofpoint unveiled the Proofpoint Agentic Data and AI Security system, built to secure AI and data as one connected risk. The cybersecurity vendor also announced the Agentic Collaboration Security system which reasons about what an interaction is trying to accomplish, uses context to distinguish malicious intent from legitimate activity, and turns those decisions into action across email, collaboration tools, and the browser.

“We are embedding more AI into our products. We realize time is crucial. Therefore, we need our products to be smarter, faster and more accurate. We're going to introduce more AI agents in our entire portfolio to help the customer cope with this new age of AI,” Soon explained.

With an increasing need to secure organizations and their use of AI, Soon also pointed out that a lot of customers are looking to Proofpoint to help them while this adoption goes on. This is also why the cybersecurity vendor is focused on educating the market about why Proofpoint is essential in the world of AI and how the vendor can help businesses address some of the concerns that they might have while they are aggressively deploying AI.

“We will extend our protection from humans to agents. And we believe that the ability to address this makes us even more relevant in the AI age,” he added.

Proofpoint also continues to strengthen its portfolio with the recent announcement of an agreement to acquire Varonis Systems. The combined company is expected to establish the industry’s largest data and AI cybersecurity organisation, with Proofpoint intending to integrate capabilities, align go-to-market efforts, and accelerate delivery of the combined platform to customers.

For Soon, this is also where partnerships become even more important, especially as the vendor looks to support more customers in the region.

“We bring the global view of how our technology is adopted by different types of customers. Our partners in region bring the local view of how AI is adopted and what challenges they face. We marry this two information together and we will collectively determine the most suitable go-to-market. We are in a stage of constant discovery, constant evolution, and therefore, collaboration becomes even more important,” he said.

Proofpoint will bring Protect to the region in the coming months, with Protect Tour Singapore happening on November 18. Partners and customers across the region will have the opportunity to share their feedback with the leadership team in town.

“AI is changing how work gets done, and that changes how risk works. Our partners see how AI is adopted in their markets, and that insight turns global innovation into protection that fits. Protect Tour Singapore brings our customers and partners together with the regional team and global senior leaders. We will share our roadmap and strategy, and we want to hear yours,” Soon said.

The event in Singapore takes place on November 18^th. Click here for more details.