The acquisition of CyberArk by Palo Alto Networks looks like a move of much deeper strategic significance. The finalisation of the deal, announced on 11 February 2026, is not only the next step in Nikesh Arora’s ‘platformisation’ process, but above all an attempt to solve the most pressing problem of modern business: the identity crisis in the age of artificial intelligence.
This acquisition comes at a critical time. Traditional corporate walls of defence are crumbling under the onslaught of machine identities, which now outnumber employees by a ratio of 80 to 1. In the age of AI agents and ubiquitous automation, credentials have become the new security ‘perimeter’. The statistics are unrelenting – nearly 90 per cent of organisations have experienced identity-related breaches and 75 per cent admit to operating on overly permissive credential models.
For Palo Alto Networks, integrating CyberArk technology into its ecosystem is more than just expanding its portfolio. It is an attempt to dismantle ‘identity silos’. The business case for this operation is based on a simple premise: network security and cloud operations cannot exist in isolation from privilege management. The integrated platform is expected to allow companies to reduce so-called fixed permissions and limit the lateral movements of attackers, which is estimated to speed up incident response times by up to 80%.
An interesting aspect of the transaction is its symbolic and stock market dimension. Palo Alto Networks, by opting for a dual listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), takes over the symbol “CYBR” – CyberArk’s previous trademark. This is a clear signal to the market: the identity is becoming a foundation and not just an add-on to PANW’s strategy. At the same time, the company is strengthening its R&D centre in Israel, making it a key innovation centre outside Silicon Valley.
This merger marks the end of the era of choosing between multiple niche providers (so-called ‘best-of-breed’) in favour of a single, consolidated architecture. If Arora and Cohen’s promises of seamless integration are fulfilled, the market can look forward to a standard that can realistically keep up with the pace at which AI is generating new points of contact – and new threats – in the digital ecosystem.
