Netskope expanded its NewEdge private cloud footprint with AI Fast Path, a series of capabilities designed to optimize network paths for AI applications.

The vendor claims its NewEdge AI Fast Path offering reduces both latency and transport costs for enterprise users by using telemetry-driven path selection to boost AI workload performance.

With more than 11,000 network adjacencies in its existing NewEdge platform, Netskope argues that the AI Fast Path iteration benefits from direct paths already being in place, with user workloads benefiting from reduced traffic hops.

Beyond boosting speeds and feeds, though, Netskope positions its new offering as a resilience play for enterprises, arguing that the more direct pathing enabled by its new offering provides for improved security for AI workloads.

The vendor cited survey figures suggesting just 18% of infrastructure and operations leaders felt confident their teams and budget can meet intensifying performance and security demands for AI workloads.

“With organizations moving at AI speed, any trade-off between security and performance is unacceptable, and also unnecessary,” Netskope Chief Platform Officer Joe DePalo explained. “We’re pleased to help customers meet their need for AI speed without adding unnecessary risks.”

The security-infused pathing play comes as Netskope has increasingly sought to augment its secure access service edge (SASE) offerings.

Last October, it teamed with Macquarie to bring its security solutions to the Australian carrier’s partners. The vendor also rode high in the upper echelons of Gartner’s rankings of secure service edge (SSE) vendors and SASE providers, drawing praise for its “strong technical capabilities” and robust brand awareness among enterprises.

The launch of AI Fast Path is the latest update to NewEdge after the vendor added features to the private cloud platform last March, including AI-driven network diagnostics and support for new data center regions.