AI is transforming how organizations use their most valuable asset: data. Models, copilots, and agents can now access and act on information across the enterprise at unprecedented speed and scale.
But there’s a problem. Many organizations still struggle to answer some surprisingly fundamental questions: What sensitive data do we have? Where is it? Who, or what, can access it? And is it protected?
AI doesn’t make those questions obsolete. It makes answering them urgent.
More AI Means More Access to Data
AI agents don’t necessarily create a new category of sensitive data. They gain access to the data organizations already have. And they can find, retrieve, and use it in ways humans simply couldn’t at the same scale.
That changes the risk equation. Information that may once have been effectively protected by obscurity can become discoverable through an AI interface. New training datasets are being created. Enterprise applications are exposing organizational data to copilots and agents. And every new connection can introduce another layer of authorization that security teams need to understand and govern.
As Dan Benjamin, VP of Product Management for Data, Identity and AI Security at Palo Alto Networks, puts it:
“AI just essentially doubles down on the same data security problem.”
Data Security Has to Evolve With It
Securing this new reality requires more than knowing where sensitive data resides.
Organizations need to understand who and what can access it, protect it wherever it moves, and detect and respond when something goes wrong. That means evolving DLP beyond traditional control points, moving from identifying exposure to real-time detection and response, and connecting data security with identity and AI security rather than treating each as a separate problem.
It also means addressing fragmentation. With multiple data security products using different classification and policy engines, protecting the same sensitive information consistently across the enterprise becomes increasingly difficult.
Hear More From Dan Benjamin
In a new interview with Information Security Media Group, Dan explores how AI is reshaping enterprise data security, including the expanding role of AI agents, the evolution of DLP, the move toward real-time detection and response, and why data, identity, and AI security increasingly need to come together.
Get the ebook: How AI Increases the Risk of Enterprise Data Exposure