The Future of SSE From the Customer Point of View

By Sanjay Castelino - President, Skyhigh Security

May 12, 2025 4 Minute Read

I joined Skyhigh Security six months ago and one of the most enjoyable and insightful things I’ve done in those six months is to hear from our customers and partners. Skyhigh has deep roots in data security and an ambitious vision for the future of the Security Service Edge (SSE), but I found myself wondering if that was a Skyhigh vision or a customer vision. Here’s what I heard.

1. Data Protection Is the New Perimeter

Enterprises are no longer asking if they need data protection at scale — they’re asking how they can make it seamless, consistent, and intelligent across environments. That means from endpoint, to cloud, to AI model and whether it’s at rest or in motion. More so, how is it protected when your employees are accessing it and when your employees are collaborating with partners and contractors to build your business.

Whether it’s regulated data in SaaS apps, sensitive IP in cloud storage, or financial records moving across shadow IT, our platform provides unmatched visibility and policy enforcement. Our unified policy engine enables security teams to build granular rules once and apply them consistently, no matter the location, thereby reducing the operational workload to deliver a consistent user experience while protecting data the same way— everywhere.

Our location-aware policy execution means we don’t force a cloud-only mindset on organizations that still rely on strategic on-prem infrastructure. This is something I’ve heard time and time again from customers in regulated industries, with a sensitivity to shipping their data to the cloud for policy enforcement or managing their policies in the cloud vs on-premises. Customers want and need the flexibility that is core to our strategy despite many people, from analysts to new entrants, claiming that the cloud is the only right way to secure data access and use.

2. AI Is Exploding — and Exposing New Gaps

If I had to create a word cloud from my recent customer conversations, “AI” would be front and center! AI is everywhere — and more importantly, it’s the new frontier for where organizations store and access data. The pace and scale of AI adoption, even in highly regulated industries, has been nothing short of staggering. But most existing security frameworks weren’t built with AI in mind, and enterprises are feeling the pressure.

Skyhigh Security’s 2025 Cloud Adoption and Risk Report (CARR) reveals that less than 10% of organizations have implemented data protection policies or controls for AI apps. That means most are venturing into the AI era without a seatbelt — let alone a map.

Denying access to AI isn’t practical. What’s needed is modern security that delivers visibility and control across Shadow AI, sanctioned tools, and private LLMs — without slowing innovation.

That’s why we’ve made AI Security a strategic priority.

From delivering visibility, governance and data protection controls on shadow AI apps to deep controls on corporate sanctioned AI apps such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and ChatGPT Enterprise, and protections around privately built AI apps , Skyhigh enables customers to leverage their existing SSE investments and easily extend to secure their AI usage instead of looking for yet another security tool.

3. Hybrid Is Not a Phase — It’s the Future

The pundits would tell you that on-prem is dead but that is not what I heard from our customers. I heard a multitude of reasons for a mixed on-prem and cloud, or hybrid security architecture, from compliance with regulations, to return to office (why send all your data to the cloud for inspection), to cost, and resilience. For some, cloud-first was a reality for 90% of their business, but 10% (a critical 10%) had to stay on-prem. I call this living in the real world, the marketing hype of the cloud can only take you so far.

What every one of those customers told me was that they wanted a consistent and seamless experience in their hybrid architecture and operational efficiency for their SOC teams. No one was interested in multiple policies, or different DLP approaches. This is the reality of having to deliver secure access and use of data in the modern enterprise.

Skyhigh Security’s approach to hybrid environments is designed to address these evolving needs. Our Security Service Edge (SSE) platform offers the flexibility to run on-premise versions of our Secure Web Gateway (SWG) alongside its cloud counterpart. This dual deployment model ensures that enterprises can maintain consistent security policies across both environments, facilitating seamless transitions and unified management. Skyhigh’s differentiating hybrid approach has been widely implemented by global organizations to provide consistent security posture and policy enforcement across multiple environments efficiently.

Looking Ahead

As we continue into the second half of the year, our focus will remain on innovating where it matters most to our customers:

• Data-first protection, powered by DSPM and context-aware DLP
• AI-aware security that keeps pace with enterprise innovation
• A hybrid SSE platform that’s location-aware, fabric-independent, and built for long-term flexibility
  

We know that as we double down on these investments, we’re listening to the voice of our customers and delivering for their reality today and into the future.