Vanta, the security and compliance Trust Platform, announced on November 9, 2026 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pillar Security, an Israeli startup that protects AI agents at runtime — a deal Israeli business outlet Calcalist reports is valued at approximately $150 million in cash and shares. Why it matters: as companies hand real permissions to AI agents, Vanta is betting the winning governance product is not a policy document but a guardrail that can stop an agent mid-action.
November 9, 2026 — San Francisco.
What happened
Pillar Security, founded in 2023 by Ziv Karliner and Dor Sarig, gives companies one platform to discover, test, secure and govern AI agents across their lifecycle. Its runtime protection and adversarial testing are the pieces Vanta is buying: the ability to test agents the way attackers will, and to block unauthorized actions in real time. Vanta did not disclose the price in its own announcement; the roughly $150 million figure comes from Calcalist’s reporting and should be treated as reported, not confirmed.
Following completion, Pillar will become Vanta’s research and development center in Israel, according to Calcalist, with its team of more than 20 employees expected to join and founders Karliner and Sarig staying on to lead the AI security business. Pillar has raised $9 million since its inception, including a seed round announced in April 2025 led by Shield Capital. This is Vanta’s third acquisition, after Trustpage in January 2023 and Riskey in July 2025.
The rollout runs through 2027
Vanta plans to fold Pillar’s capabilities into its platform in stages. An AI Inventory arriving in January 2027 will automatically map AI applications, models, agents, skills and MCP servers across an enterprise, each connected to its owner, approved use cases, data access and risks. Runtime monitoring and detection also land in January 2027. Red-teaming tailored to a customer’s business context follows in spring 2027, and runtime enforcement — turning governance requirements into boundaries that block actions in real time — is scheduled for summer 2027.
The deal builds on the AI governance product Vanta introduced in July 2026, whose early-access program Vanta says has become its most requested to date, with a waitlist now six times oversubscribed. Vanta’s own research, cited in the announcement, found 65% of IT and business leaders say their use of agentic AI is outpacing their understanding of it, and fewer than half — 48% — have a framework for granting or limiting AI autonomy.
Why it matters
Vanta now serves more than 20,000 customers, up from 16,000 in the first quarter of 2026, and in April 2026 announced it had passed $300 million in annual recurring revenue, up 63% year over year. It says it serves three in four companies on the Forbes AI 50. The strategic read is straightforward: compliance platforms that only document risk after the fact are exposed in an agent era, and Vanta is buying its way from governance-on-paper to governance-at-runtime before a pure-play AI security vendor takes that layer. For buyers, the practical question is timing — the enforcement piece that makes this deal distinctive is not scheduled until summer 2027, so what ships in January is inventory and monitoring, not the kill switch.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Vanta paying for Pillar Security?
Vanta did not disclose terms in its announcement. Calcalist reports the deal is valued at approximately $150 million, in a combination of cash and shares. Treat that figure as reported rather than company-confirmed.
What does Pillar Security do?
Founded in 2023 by Ziv Karliner and Dor Sarig, Pillar Security is an AI security platform that helps companies discover, test, secure and govern AI agents, with runtime protection and adversarial red-teaming across the agent lifecycle.
When will Pillar’s features appear inside Vanta?
Vanta’s staged plan runs through 2027: AI Inventory and runtime monitoring in January 2027, red-teaming in spring 2027, and runtime enforcement in summer 2027.
Is the acquisition complete?
No. Vanta has signed a definitive agreement; the deal has been signed but not completed, and no closing date has been announced.
Sources: Business Wire (Vanta), Calcalist via CTech, Pulse 2