Akamai Workforce Protector, Formerly LayerX, Strengthens Enterprise Security

Akamai has announced Akamai Workforce Protector, formerly known as LayerX, as a security layer within its platform that already protects applications, APIs and infrastructure.

The new offering provides organizations with comprehensive visibility, AI usage controls, secure enterprise browser capabilities and real-time data loss prevention. It is also natively integrated with Akamai's global private access solution.

Akamai Workforce Protector is designed to govern how employees interact with AI tools, SaaS, web and private applications, as well as enterprise data, directly at the point of interaction. The launch also includes capabilities that extend visibility into modern desktop AI applications and emerging AI workflows.

Key Capabilities of Akamai Workforce Protector

The offering enables organizations to implement security functions that were previously considered complex or disruptive to deploy.

Real-time AI governance: Organizations can identify "shadow AI" usage, control employee interactions with AI tools and apply adaptive policies directly within browser sessions.

Zero-disruption deployment: Workforce Protector enables organizations to introduce controls without disrupting users. Employees do not need to change browsers, while organizations can deploy the solution without redesigning their network architecture.

Real-time data protection: The solution is designed to prevent sensitive information from being uploaded to unauthorized AI models or downloaded from enterprise applications to employee endpoints at the point of interaction.

According to the Gartner® Market Guide for Secure Enterprise Browsers, by 2028, “25% of organizations will augment existing secure remote access tools by deploying at least one secure enterprise browser technology, up from approximately 10% today.”¹

¹ GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

Akamai Focuses on Security at the Point of Interaction

Modern enterprise work increasingly involves continuous digital interactions, including employees accessing SaaS applications, AI agents connecting with APIs and workloads communicating across internal networks.

Akamai said traditional security approaches that rely on fixed zones and network perimeters are not designed around this continuous flow of activity.

The company's interaction security approach is designed to apply protection directly at the point where work takes place across three areas: the workforce, applications and APIs, and infrastructure.

This approach is intended to help organizations expand enterprise AI adoption while addressing risks related to data exposure and governance.

“Work is a nonstop flow of digital connections,” said Ofer Wolf, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Enterprise Security at Akamai. “With Akamai Workforce Protector, we’re making sure security follows your people and the AI agents they use wherever they go, rather than just guarding an office building. We want to give companies the safety net they need to embrace AI confidently, without slowing down their teams or forcing anyone to change how they get things done.”

Workforce Protector is designed to complement existing security investments and address gaps associated with traditional Security Service Edge (SSE), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and data loss prevention (DLP) tools.

The offering integrates with Akamai's wider security portfolio, enabling enterprises to manage workforce, application and infrastructure security under a unified approach. It also uses Akamai's distributed network to support connections between enterprises, users, applications and infrastructure from different locations.