Posts by Kumar Mehta
The WAN for AI-era applications is becoming a single system
Dell’Oro Group is putting a sharper name on something enterprise teams have been feeling for a while: in the AI era, the “WAN” cannot be a collection of loosely coupled products anymore. It has to operate like one end-to-end system with one policy model, one telemetry story, and one operational workflow.
Part 7. End-to-End Flow: North–South and East–West Controls (How It All Comes Together)
This series introduced the building blocks of enterprise GenAI security. In Parts 1–6 we introduced the building blocks. This post shows how the whole system works end-to-end, using one simple picture and a few real-world walk-throughs.
Geopolitics Is Fracturing The Cloud, And Sovereign SASE Is Emerging As An Answer
The cloud was supposed to simplify everything: global scale, shared infrastructure, one architecture for the world. However, that model is shifting, and I don’t see it shifting back again. The pressure driving that shift is sovereignty.
The question is no longer whether organizations trust the cloud but whether they can afford to cede control of their data and security enforcement mechanisms as digital systems increasingly intersect with national policy and regulation.
Part 6. The Full AI Security Architecture: Secure the Brain, Secure the Hands, Secure the Memory
By now you’ve seen the building blocks:
Discovery
Control
Prompt inspection
Model governance
Tool governance
This post ties these pieces into one system that a real enterprise can run.
Versa Zero Trust: From Network Trust to Application Trust
Zero Trust has become a foundational concept in enterprise security, but many implementations focus on only one part of the problem: application access. Zero Trust must be enforced at multiple layers of the network.
Part 5 — Securing Tool Access: MCP Server and MCP Gateway (The “Hands” Control Point)
Most AI incidents don’t start with “bad answers.” They start with “the AI took an action it shouldn’t have.”
That is why tool access matters as much as model access.
Part 4. Securing Model Access: Model Gateway and LLM Proxy (The “Brain” Control Point)
Parts 1, Part 2, Part 3 focused on visibility, policy, and inspection. Now we are moving into infrastructure. Once AI is in production, model calls become critical traffic. If those calls bypass governance, you lose policy enforcement, visibility, cost control, and consistent inspection. A Model Gateway solves that by acting as the front door for model access. 1) What a Model Gateway is (plain English) A Model Gateway is the “front door” for model traffic. Instead of every team calling model vendors directly, all model requests go through one controlled layer. A Model Gateway can: If a model is the…
Part 3. Prompt Inspection: How You Stop Data Leaks and Prompt Injection
Prompt inspection is not just “keyword filtering.” It is security inspection for AI interactions. The goal is to stop AI from becoming a silent data leak path or a pathway to unsafe actions.
Part 2. GenAI Control: Who Can Use What, With What Data, and Under What Rules
Control means setting clear rules for AI usage and enforcing them in a way that does not break the business. This is the point where many companies get stuck. Some teams over-block and kill adoption. Other teams do nothing and accept silent risk. The goal is neither. The goal is safe adoption by default.
Part 1. The New AI Perimeter: Discovery and Inventory for GenAI
AI is showing up everywhere in the enterprise sometimes through approved tools and sometimes through “shadow AI.” The first step to securing it is simple: if you cannot see AI usage, you cannot secure it. This post explains what to discover, why it is hard, and what to do in the first 30 days.
Industry Insights
In Defense of SD-WAN and the Power of Zero Trust Everywhere
By Kumar Mehta
Founder and CDO, Versa Networks
July 31, 2023
I recently read an article in CRN where Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry stated that he’s not a believer in SASE because he thinks “SD-WAN is anti-zero trust.” I respect Jay immensely, but I must respectfully disagree with this statement.
Industry Insights
What the Future Holds for SD-WAN in 2017
By Kumar Mehta
Founder and CDO, Versa Networks
December 20, 2016
It’s been an exciting year for SD-WAN technology. Not only have the leading industry analysts been bullish, but this year saw a major uptick in the number of high-profile service providers adopting the technology for their customers. I firmly believe the pace of SD-WAN adoption is only going to accelerate and further evolve into new markets. What follows are my top five predictions for SD-WAN in 2017. 1. Software-Defined Security (SD-Security) will be the Next Big Revenue Driver for Service Providers Already Capitalizing on SD-WAN Industry Solutions According to IDC, by 2020, the SD-WAN industry solutions market will grow to…
Company Updates
It’s Cool to Be a Gartner “Cool Vendor”
By Kumar Mehta
Founder and CDO, Versa Networks
May 9, 2016
Each year, Gartner produces a “Cool Vendor” report that spotlights innovative companies in the area of communications service provider infrastructure. This year we are honored to be included, given the strong amount of innovation occurring in the telecommunications industry. Gartner’s recognition of Versa in this category really highlights the great strides our team has made since founding the company in 2012. I like to think we are truly transforming how managed services like SD-WAN are being built and operated to achieve unprecedented agility and profitability. According to Gartner, Cool Vendors typically fall into two main groups. “Ones that offered a…
Company Updates
Versa Networks to Continue Momentum Across Geographies and Use Cases in 2016
By Kumar Mehta
Founder and CDO, Versa Networks
January 14, 2016
Awareness of, and demand for, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) exploded in 2015. This comes after just three years of life as a technology. It is no surprise to us that NFV is getting so much attention. The need for greater service agility, versatility and reduced costs around networking has never been clearer — especially in the wake of ongoing transitions to the cloud and DevOps operating modes, as well as the need to squeeze greater cost efficiencies from network resources. Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) in particular is gaining momentum. In the past six months, inquiries regarding this nascent technology have soared,…
Product & Engineering
Versa Launches New Branch & WAN Architecture
By Kumar Mehta
Founder and CDO, Versa Networks
November 10, 2015
Enterprise WAN and branch architectures really haven’t changed much in the last 20 years. Traffic patterns, though, have changed quite a bit with the advent of cloud apps like Office365 and Salesforce.com. Couple that with large amounts of branch traffic going to recreational sites. But today’s branch architectures are still designed for branch-to-data center or -HQ connectivity based on expensive MPLS connectivity or DIY over-the-top VPN technologies like DMVPN (which are complex to setup and manage). At the same time, broadband connectivity has significantly improved and its performance metrics are similar to MPLS. Compounding these WAN issues is the fact…
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