Vanta to acquire Israeli AI security startup Pillar for $150 million
The deal will turn Pillar into Vanta’s Israeli research and development center, bringing its team of more than 20 employees into the U.S. company. Its technology will help customers test AI agents, monitor their behavior and block unauthorized actions in real time.
Vanta, a developer of a platform for security, risk and compliance management, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli AI security company Pillar Security, Calcalist has learned. The deal is valued at approximately $150 million and consists of a combination of cash and shares. Following completion of the acquisition, Pillar will become Vanta’s research and development center in Israel. Its technology will be integrated into Vanta’s platform, which serves more than 20,000 customers. Pillar employs more than 20 people, all of whom are expected to join the new R&D center. Its founders, Ziv Karliner and Dor Sarig, will remain with the company and lead the development of its AI security business.
Founded in 2023, Pillar has raised $9 million since its inception. Its seed round, announced in April 2025, was led by Shield Capital, with participation from Golden Ventures, Ground Up Ventures and strategic angel investors. The company has developed a platform that enables organizations to discover their AI systems and agents, test their resilience against attacks and protect them while they are operating. Its customers include Fortune 500 companies, as well as technology and financial firms.
The acquisition marks a significant expansion of Vanta’s efforts to manage and secure AI systems. The company introduced an AI governance product in July 2026, and says its early-access program has become the most requested in its history, with demand exceeding available places on the waiting list by a factor of six. The addition of Pillar is intended to connect the policies that define how AI systems should operate with technical controls that can test and restrict their behavior.
“Customers, regulators and auditors want proof that a company’s AI does what it says on the tin,” said Christina Cacioppo, CEO and co-founder of Vanta. “A policy document doesn’t get you there. Pillar Security lets companies test their agents and stop them when they go out of bounds, and Vanta turns all of that into evidence.”
As AI agents gain access to sensitive data and business systems, organizations face security risks that can change in real time. Vanta's research found that 65% of IT and business leaders say their use of agentic AI is outpacing their understanding of it, while fewer than half have a framework for granting or limiting AI autonomy. The acquisition is intended to combine Pillar’s AI security capabilities with the risk information and business context managed by Vanta, allowing organizations to expand their use of AI while maintaining control over how their systems operate.
Vanta plans to integrate Pillar’s technology into its platform throughout 2027, with several new capabilities scheduled for release. An AI inventory tool, planned for January, will automatically map an organization's AI applications, models, agents, skills and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, linking them to their owners, approved uses, data access, vendors and associated risks. The company also plans to introduce runtime monitoring and detection in January, allowing customers to identify suspicious activity and violations of established safeguards.
The acquisition also brings Pillar's research operation, which focuses on vulnerabilities and emerging threats affecting AI systems and agents. Its researchers have identified vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to bypass security mechanisms in AI-powered development tools, including Cursor, Codex and Gemini CLI. The research demonstrated how AI agents could execute actions beyond the limits of their designated environments. The findings were presented at international conferences and shared with the relevant vendors, which subsequently patched the vulnerabilities.
“Pillar makes AI security work at the speed AI operates: we test AI systems the way attackers will and stop them the moment they go out of bounds. As every company becomes an AI company, that’s what it takes to keep AI secure and under control,” said Ziv Karliner, CEO and co-founder of Pillar Security. “Vanta is the governance platform thousands of companies already rely on. Together, we’ll make AI security a built-in part of every company’s governance program, so they can adopt AI with confidence.”
Vanta says it now serves three-quarters of the companies on the Forbes AI 50 list. Daily users of its Vanta Agent, which performs security and compliance work on customers' behalf, have increased by 253% over the past three quarters. The company currently serves more than 20,000 customers, up from 16,000 in the first quarter of 2026. In April 2026, Vanta announced that it had surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), representing 63% growth over the previous year and a threefold increase compared with 2024.
The acquisition will be Vanta’s third, following its purchases of Trustpage in January 2023 and Riskey in July 2025.
