WatchGuard expands MSP security platform with AI, access, and network tools

Marijan Hassan - Tech Journalist

5 minutes ago

2 min read

Cybersecurity vendor WatchGuard Technologies has unveiled a series of platform updates to its Unified Security Platform at its IMPACT North America conference, expanding capabilities across agentic AI, network visibility, and secure access management. The releases are designed to help managed service providers (MSPs) automate threat triage, combat unauthorized software usage, and consolidate secure access controls within a single administrative framework.

The expanded suite addresses escalating operational pressures facing service providers, where rising threat complexity and software sprawl frequently outpace security analyst capacity.

Scaling Operations with the Rai Agentic AI Digital Workforce

At the center of the platform expansion is the evolution of Rai, WatchGuard’s agentic AI digital security workforce engineered specifically for MSP operations. Unlike passive assistants that merely query data, Rai acts semi-autonomously across multi-tenant environments to perform contextual threat triage, risk scoring, and security posture evaluations.

Key technical enhancements to the Rai digital workforce include:

Hey Rai Natural-Language Interface: A conversational operational engine integrated directly into WatchGuard Cloud, enabling security analysts to query network risks, prioritizing incidents, and review automated mitigation actions using natural-language prompts.
Automated Audit & Analyst Engines: Includes Rai Analyst for automated incident investigation and prioritization, alongside Rai Auditor for continuous security posture assessments and compliance monitoring.
Model Context Protocol (MCP) Integration: Enables MSPs to connect WatchGuard’s security intelligence with external enterprise AI frameworks and broader operational workflows.

Shadow AI Visibility and Unified Access Management

To counter risks stemming from unauthorized enterprise generative AI usage, WatchGuard introduced a dedicated Shadow AI Visibility dashboard. The tool gives MSPs clear oversight of unapproved AI applications running across client networks, highlighting potential data exposure risks and application-level misconfigurations.

In tandem, WatchGuard consolidated user authentication and network access capabilities into the new WatchGuard Access App. By merging its AuthPoint multi-factor authentication (MFA) engine with FireCloud secure access features into a single client interface, the tool simplifies endpoint management while maintaining continuous Zero Trust access policies for remote workers.

Hardware and Firewall Infrastructure Upgrades

The platform update also introduces new hardware additions to support high-throughput perimeter security. WatchGuard unveiled the Firebox T175, a compact desktop firewall supporting 10Gbps connectivity designed for branch offices and distributed enterprise environments requiring high-bandwidth threat inspection.

By tying hardware, secure access, and agentic AI tools into a single multi-tenant control plane, WatchGuard aims to help channel partners expand their recurring security margins without forcing linear headcount additions to their security operations centers.