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Products & Solutions

5 Predictions for Zero Trust and SASE in 2025: What’s Next?

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As we head into 2025, the cybersecurity landscape is set for another period of rapid transformation. With the rise of generative AI, hybrid work models, and increasingly complex cyberattacks, enterprises are looking for ways to simplify, automate, and strengthen their security postures. At Zscaler, we’re at the heart of these changes, helping organizations accelerate digital transformation while embracing zero trust and secure access service edge (SASE) architectures.

Based on our insights from customer engagements, industry research, and the evolution of our own solutions, we’ve identified five key trends that will shape the future of cybersecurity in 2025.

Prediction 1: Zero trust will become the default security model for enterprises

In 2025, zero trust will no longer be a forward-thinking approach—it will be the baseline. Organizations are recognizing that legacy perimeter-based models are no match for the challenges of hybrid work, cloud adoption, and rising insider threats.

Why this matters

Zscaler has seen explosive growth in the adoption of our Zero Trust Exchange, with more than 8,000 customers, including 40% of the Fortune 500. Our experience shows that zero trust is no longer just a "nice to have"—it's a business imperative. Companies are shifting from VPNs to zero trust network access (ZTNA) to ensure only the right people have access to the right applications, at the right time, from anywhere.

What to watch for

Expect more organizations to migrate from legacy VPNs to ZTNA solutions. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of new remote access deployments will rely on ZTNA rather than VPNs. Our recently enhanced Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) platform is purpose-built to support this transition, delivering fast, direct, and secure access to internal applications without exposing them to the internet.
 

Prediction 2: SASE consolidation will accelerate as vendors push for single-vendor solutions

The fragmented SASE landscape is about to see a major shift. As organizations look to reduce complexity, they will consolidate their security and networking vendors, opting for unified, cloud native platforms.

Why this matters

The unified Zscaler Experience Center embodies this shift, providing customers with one console to manage it all and a single-pane-of-glass view into their security posture, operational health, and risk exposure. Our unified platform approach eliminates the need for disparate point products, simplifying operations and driving down costs.

What to watch for

Look for enterprises to prioritize SASE platforms with end-to-end visibility and cross-product integrations. Zscaler's partnerships with CrowdStrike and Okta further reinforce this trend, enabling more streamlined security operations. As more vendors attempt to build “single-vendor SASE” platforms, enterprises will favor solutions with proven scale, zero trust capabilities, and seamless user experiences.
 

Prediction 3: Real-time executive visibility will become a C-suite mandate

As C-level executives take more active roles in cyber risk management, the need for executive-friendly reporting tools will rise. Gone are the days of static PDF reports. In 2025, executives will require real-time insights into threats, incidents, along with security risk and digital transformation progress—all at their fingertips.

Why this matters

The Zscaler Executive Insights app is a prime example of this shift. By providing CXOs with actionable, real-time visibility into security posture, digital experience, and risk exposure, we enable business leaders to make informed decisions on the fly. This capability isn’t merely convenient, but essential. When a major security incident occurs, executives need to know what’s happening right now, not what happened last week.

What to watch for

The rise of mobile-friendly dashboards and executive-grade analytics will help shape future buying decisions. The Executive Insights app is already seeing widespread adoption, with over 400 active users monthly. Expect more demand for proactive notifications, curated security insights, and risk-based decision support.
 

Prediction 4: AI and automation will redefine cyberthreat detection and response

By 2025, the majority of threat actors will leverage AI to enhance and automate attacks. To effectively counter this shift, enterprises will have to start fighting back with more AI-enabled threat detection and automated response capabilities.

Why this matters

Zscaler ThreatLabz, our elite threat research team, is already observing the rise of generative AI-driven malware and phishing campaigns. Our collection of annual ThreatLabz Global Threat Reports highlights how cybercriminals are using AI to create more convincing phishing lures and automating social engineering tactics. But the same AI technologies can be used defensively to help better identify anomalies, detect zero-day threats, and provide accurate context for automated incident response.

What to watch for

Expect rapid adoption of AI-powered threat intelligence for real-time risk scoring, threat detection, behavioral analysis, and incident context enrichment. Zscaler is embedding these capabilities directly in our Zero Trust Exchange platform, empowering customers to stop threats with greater speed and precision. Recent product updates include AI-driven security recommendations, comprehensive risk scoring, and automatic security policy adjustments.
 

Prediction 5: Identity-driven security will redefine access control

Identity has always been central to zero trust, but in 2025 it will take center stage. The shift from IP-based access to identity-based access will become universal, especially as organizations move toward passwordless authentication and real-time entitlement management.

Why this matters

Our recent launch of ZIdentity is a testament to this trend. This unified identity service provides organizations with a centralized way to manage identities, enforce MFA, and provision access across Zscaler products. As threats like credential theft increase, organizations must shift to more sophisticated identity controls.

What to watch for

Watch for a major shift toward passwordless MFA and real-time entitlement management. As seen in ZIdentity’s capabilities, the ability to provision and de-provision user access dynamically is critical for reducing attack surfaces. Look for tighter integrations with third-party identity providers like Okta and Azure AD as enterprises demand simplified access management for employees, partners, and contractors alike.
 

How Zscaler is leading the charge for 2025

These five trends aren't just predictions: they are priorities. At Zscaler, we’re already working on these areas through our launches, product enhancements, and partnerships. From advancing the Zscaler platform experience to expanding our AI capabilities, we’re at the forefront of zero trust + AI and SASE innovation.

Want to learn more?

Check out our latest ThreatLabz Global Threat Reports or request a demo of the Zscaler platform to see these predictions in action. As 2025 approaches, Zscaler will continue to deliver the next wave of zero trust innovation to keep enterprises secure in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

 

Forward-Looking Statements
This blog contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning predictions about the cybersecurity landscape in calendar year 2025 and our ability to capitalize on such market opportunities and the use of Zero Trust and Secure Access Service Edge architectures to simplify, automate and strengthen security postures for enterprises. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and a significant number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this blog, including security risks and developments unknown to Zscaler at the time of this blog and the assumptions underlying our predictions regarding the cyber security industry in calendar year 2025. Additional risks and uncertainties are set forth in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on December 5, 2024, which is available on our website at ir.zscaler.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on the limited information currently available to Zscaler as of the date hereof, which is subject to change, and Zscaler does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made in this blog, even if new information becomes available in the future.
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