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* Stop Gating Innovation: B...

# Stop Gating Innovation: Building Hyperscale Security for the AI Era

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By [Josh Pederson](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/author/josh-pederson/?ts=markdown "Posts by Josh Pederson")  
Jan 16, 2026  
4 minutes  
[AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown)  
[Software Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/software-firewalls/?ts=markdown)  
[hyperscale security fabric](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/hyperscale-security-fabric/?ts=markdown)  
[Prisma AIRS](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/prisma-airs/?ts=markdown)

From sales pipeline and closed deals to recruitment and staff performance, throughput determines many aspects of success in the modern enterprise. It also defines innovation. As organizations deploy high-throughput AI models and latency-sensitive applications within private data centers, CIOs must transition from static infrastructure to a [hyperscale security fabric (HSF)](https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/community-blogs/hyperscale-security-fabric-securing-the-dynamic-data-center-for/ba-p/1236825).

In these situations, using traditional firewalls forces organizations to make a difficult choice: overspend on massive hardware just to handle theoretical peaks or cap your growth and risk "failing open" during surges. Fortunately, the architectural shift to HSF empowers you to say "yes" to your boldest digital initiatives while simultaneously preventing performance bottlenecks by elastically scaling security capacity to match real-time business demands.

# Support High-Velocity Workloads Without Performance Degradation

Competitive enterprises today face the challenge of processing unprecedented data volumes without compromising security posture. To innovate with agility, you need a security architecture that breathes and grows alongside your most ambitious projects. Three primary drivers force this shift toward massive, scalable capacity in private data centers:

1. \*\*The AI Ecosystem (East-West Traffic):\*\*The modern AI landscape has evolved beyond static models into a dynamic ecosystem where AI applications, autonomous agents and data services constantly communicate with one another. Securing this east-west traffic is critical; if an adversary compromises a single agent or application, they must be prevented from moving laterally to hijack other models or exfiltrate sensitive data.
2. **Low-Latency Transactions:** Sectors like high-frequency trading and 5G telecommunications require zero latency for external client-facing traffic. Routing traffic unnecessarily to the cloud introduces unacceptable delays, making on-premises hyperscale efficiency a requirement.
3. \*\*Data Sovereignty and Compliance:\*\*Regulated industries handling personally identifiable information (PII) or intellectual property must replicate hyperscale efficiency on-premises to maintain data sovereignty while processing petabytes of information.

![](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/word-image-351281-1.jpeg)

*The three primary drivers of scalability and security in today's private data center.*

# Mitigate Financial Risk During Unforeseen Traffic Surges

To illustrate the operational impact of static versus adaptive security, consider a high-frequency trading firm operating proprietary algorithms to minimize latency. On a standard day, the organization manages 30 Gbps of traffic against a static firewall provisioned for 60 Gbps. However, a geopolitical event triggers an automated trading frenzy, causing ingress traffic to spike to 90 Gbps within minutes.

Legacy infrastructure fails in this scenario. The firewall CPUs hit 100% utilization and drop packets indiscriminately. Worse, security teams are often forced to "fail-open"---bypassing security entirely just to keep the business running---inviting attackers in during the chaos.

In contrast, an HSF detects the surge as traffic exceeds baseline thresholds. The system automatically spins up additional firewall instances and intelligently distributes traffic across the expanded cluster, preserving session integrity. The result? Zero dropped trades, zero latency penalty and 100% [Layer 7 security inspection](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/what-is-layer-7) during the market's most critical seconds. Once the market stabilizes, the system automatically scales down.

# Optimize Capital Expenditure and Ensure Operational Continuity

Adopting HSF delivers measurable business value beyond technical specifications. It allows you to finally eliminate the "overprovisioning tax" associated with traditional capacity planning, where you purchase hardware for worst-case scenarios that rarely occur.

HSF allows you to provision for baseline traffic and scale out elastically---consuming security capacity like cloud compute. You scale up when you need it, and scale back (and stop paying) when you don't. This drastically improves resource utilization and capex efficiency.

Furthermore, this architecture unblocks innovation; development teams launch high-bandwidth AI applications without waiting for hardware upgrades. Finally, you enhance resilience through active health monitoring and intelligent load balancing, which prevents downtime during critical events.

# Assess Your Infrastructure Scalability Against Modern Threats

Security throughput limitations should never restrict business ambition. Move from a defensive, static posture to a proactive strategy that supports confident innovation. [Prisma® AIRS™ and HSF](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/software-firewalls) are purpose-built to do just that.

Don't let legacy infrastructure be your bottleneck. Stop paying the overprovisioning tax. Use our [credits estimator](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/tools/ngfw-credits-estimator) to see how you can switch to elastic security using our flexible credits.

*** ** * ** ***

## Related Blogs

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/partners/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### The Power of Glean and Prisma AIRS Integration](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2026/02/power-of-glean-and-prisma-airs-integration/)

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown)

[#### Prevent Your AI from Becoming a Brand Liability](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/prevent-your-ai-from-becoming-a-brand-liability/)

### [AI Application Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/ai-application-security/?ts=markdown), [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown)

[#### Can Your AI Be Manipulated Into Generating Malware?](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/can-your-ai-be-manipulated-into-generating-malware/)

### [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown), [Software Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/software-firewalls/?ts=markdown)

[#### Protect Your AI and Multicloud Future with Prisma AIRS](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/protect-your-ai-and-multicloud-future-with-prisma-airs/)

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [News \& Events](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/sase/category/news-events/?ts=markdown)

[#### Winning the AI Race Starts with the Right Security Platform](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2025/12/winning-ai-race-starts-with-right-security-platform/)

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/partners/?ts=markdown)

[#### Securing the AI Frontier: Prisma AIRS \& Claude Code](https://origin-researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/securing-the-ai-frontier-prisma-airs-claude-code/)

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