Versa unveils AI edge, secure browser & inbound SSE push

Versa has rolled out three product and partnership updates aimed at bringing security controls closer to where enterprise users and applications operate. The moves span edge infrastructure, the web browser and inbound internet traffic.

The announcements include a collaboration with Intel on AI processing at the network edge, an early access release of a secure enterprise browser, and a new cloud service that inspects inbound traffic before it reaches internet-facing applications.

Edge collaboration

Versa is working with Intel on an approach that runs AI-driven networking, security and analytics functions in distributed edge environments such as branches and campuses. The effort combines Intel Xeon 6 processors with VersaONE, Versa's Universal SASE platform, and the Versa Operating System.

The companies described the effort as a pilot for AI inference on selected AI and machine learning workloads, including traditional machine learning models, deep neural networks and small language models. The goal is to process certain functions locally rather than sending data back to centralised locations.

Intel Xeon 6 includes Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions, which Intel positions as an accelerator for matrix operations used by many AI models. Versa said early testing showed improved throughput for edge AI inference compared with previous-generation processors, but it did not provide benchmark figures.

Versa linked the work to low-latency use cases for security and operations, citing advanced threat protection, data loss prevention and predictive analytics as examples of functions that can run at the edge. It also pointed to industry scenarios such as computer vision in retail, predictive maintenance in manufacturing and real-time fraud detection in financial services.

"AI is moving beyond the data center and into the environments where enterprises actually operate," said Nikhil Desai, Senior Director, Product Management, Versa. "Our collaboration with Intel is focused on helping customers explore how AI-powered security, networking, and analytics can run more efficiently at the edge, with the performance, control, and security required for distributed enterprise operations."

Intel framed the work as part of a shift in how organisations build networks as more traffic and workloads depend on AI. "The transition to AI-driven enterprise requires intelligence integrated directly into the network architecture," said Cristina Rodriguez, VP and GM, Network and Edge at Intel. "By leveraging Intel Xeon 6 with built-in AI via Intel AMX, we are providing the high-throughput, low-latency foundation Versa needs to run complex AI inference at the edge."

Browser controls

Versa has also opened early access for Versa Secure Enterprise Browser. The product integrates with the VersaONE platform and applies security and data protection policies within the browser session.

Versa is positioning the browser as a key control point as organisations rely more on SaaS, web applications and AI tools accessed through standard browsers. It said organisations need policy enforcement for in-session actions such as copying information, uploading files, pasting into AI tools and downloading sensitive content.

Built on Chromium, Versa Secure Enterprise Browser supports Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, according to the company. It is centrally managed through VersaONE and uses the same policy and telemetry frameworks as services including secure web gateway, cloud access security broker and zero trust network access.

Anusha Vaidyanathan, Senior Director, Product Management, Versa, said the browser extends existing policy models into the session layer.

"The browser is rapidly becoming the primary workspace for how employees interact with SaaS, web, and AI applications," she said. "With Versa Secure Enterprise Browser, customers can extend the same SASE architecture they already rely on into the browser session itself, bringing browser-native visibility, access control, and data protection into a unified policy framework across SWG, CASB, ZTNA, and the broader VersaONE platform. At RSA we will demonstrate this capability in a live GenAI environment."

Versa cited Gartner research on adoption of secure enterprise browsers. Gartner forecasts that "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."

"Web browsers are the primary access method for most modern corporate applications and provide an endpoint-agnostic enterprise security control point," said Max Taggett, Senior Principal Analyst, Gartner. "Security leaders can use a SEB to reduce risk and improve the digital experience."

Inbound inspection

The third update is Versa Inbound SSE, a cloud-delivered service that inspects inbound internet traffic and applies security policies before it reaches applications, APIs and services. Security service edge products have typically focused on outbound traffic from users to the internet; Versa said this capability extends that approach to inbound paths for internet-facing workloads.

The service directs inbound connections to Versa cloud gateways for inspection and evaluation against policy, then forwards permitted traffic to the target application environment. Versa said protections include access control based on IP address and location, denial-of-service detection and mitigation, bot filtering, intrusion detection and prevention, and malware detection.

Rahul Vaidya, Senior Director of Product Management, Versa, said inbound traffic patterns have changed as applications spread across data centres, branches and cloud environments.

"Security Service Edge was designed for a world where users initiate connections outward," he said. "But enterprise applications are now distributed everywhere, and traffic flows in every direction. Versa Inbound SSE extends our unified SASE architecture to protect the inbound path, giving organizations consistent security enforcement regardless of where applications are hosted or where traffic originates."

Versa also positioned Inbound SSE as an opportunity for service providers. Swisscom is using the capability within its beem offering, according to Versa.

"Versa's Inbound SSE capability enables beem to inspect and control internet traffic before it ever reaches customer applications. As a result, beem customers can remove redundant on-premises firewalls without giving up the ability to host applications locally," said Egon Steinkasserer, Chief Technology Officer, B2B, Swisscom.

Versa Inbound SSE is available as part of the VersaONE Universal SASE Platform. The browser is offered through an early access programme, and the Intel collaboration will focus on pilots for selected edge AI workloads.