KuppingerCole has released its inaugural Generative AI Defense (GAD) Leadership Compass, naming F5 a leader in the product, market, and innovation categories of this nascent and evolving AI security space. At F5, we are thrilled and grateful to be recognized for leading the charge in AI security, a domain of critical importance as organizations confront AI risks from multiple dimensions.
Headlined by F5 AI Guardrails and F5 AI Red Team,
KuppingerCole recognizes F5 as a leader in AI security innovation.
F5 recognized as a leader in Generative AI Defense
KuppingerCole recognized F5 as a leader in three of its four defined categories for our advancements in securing generative AI applications and addressing the novel threats AI introduces into modern enterprises. Our highest placement was in the “Innovation Leader” category which KuppingerCole defines as, “vendors that deliver cutting-edge products, not only in response to customers’ requests but also because they are driving technical changes in the market by anticipating what will be needed in the months and years ahead.” KuppingerCole highlighted our flagship AI security products, F5 AI Guardrails and F5 AI Red Team, for providing a synergistic tandem of AI vulnerability testing and adaptable runtime security and governance for AI systems.
“F5 AI security suits organizations seeking combined defensive guardrails and offensive testing capabilities with flexible deployment options and privacy-focused architecture.”
KuppingerCole GenAI Defense Leadership Compass, 2025
As organizations scale their AI initiatives, F5 continues to push the boundaries with adaptable solutions engineered to detect and prevent evolving AI-specific risks like prompt injection, model manipulation, and sensitive data leakage. These capabilities reflect F5's commitment to innovation, serving our customers with solutions designed to secure today’s AI attack surface and help teams adapt security for future threats.
CASI and AI Red Team set the standard for AI risk assessment
KuppingerCole noted our capabilities in offensive security and threat research as a defining aspect of our overall solution. AI security posture cannot be accurately represented in legacy metrics like static attack success rate (ASR). The report recognizes F5’s contribution to a new industry standard focused on metrics more relevant to how threat actors are currently exploiting AI systems.
“F5 has introduced novel metrics including AWR (Agentic Warfare Resistance), which measures a system's ability to resist persuasion over time, and CASI scores based on severity, complexity, and defensive breaking points.”
KuppingerCole GenAI Defense Leadership Compass, 2025
Pairing this purpose-built methodology within F5 AI Red Team gives teams a reliable and scalable process for pressure-testing AI systems. To that end, KuppingerCole notes, “testing generates reports within two hours compared to traditional consultancy engagements that typically require four weeks.” With well over 1 million models available on Hugging Face, and new private and public additions created daily, F5 AI Red Team stands out as an essential accelerant for GRC and offensive security teams.
F5 AI Guardrails prioritizes customer-centric innovation
With nearly three decades of leadership in enterprise security, F5 prioritizes solutions that are not only effective out of the box, but also adaptable to the evolving needs of our customers. KuppingerCole notes this flexibility as an advantage that uniquely positions F5 AI Guardrails to address a broader range of customers.
“F5 AI Guardrails provides out-of-box compliance presets for EU AI Act requirements along with restrictions for medical, financial, and legal advice scenarios. Organizations can create custom guardrails using natural language definitions rather than technical policy syntax.”
KuppingerCole GenAI Defense Leadership Compass, 2025
Given the many new and recontextualized GRC frameworks for AI around the globe, AI Guardrails represents a streamlined path to compliance, one that is customer-driven and optimized for adaptability.
Addressing every dimension of AI security
KuppingerCole’s report demonstrates the myriad capabilities to consider for a truly comprehensive AI security strategy. The firm’s methodology maps solutions to the following categories:
- Input protection and validation
- Output safety and filtering
- Model safety and security
- Data leakage prevention
- Governance and risk management
- Monitoring, auditing, and response
- Enterprise integration and scalability
F5 scored highest for input protection and validation through the prompt injection and jailbreak safeguards of F5 AI Guardrails. Notably, our solutions registered considerable coverage across all categories with no outright gaps. Well-rounded solutions that address every element of AI risk are rare, but an absolute necessity to avoid tool sprawl and maintain effective governance across environments.
We’re grateful for KuppingerCole’s recognition and remain focused on advancing the state of generative AI defense by strengthening runtime protections, expanding integrations, and anticipating future threats so teams can secure and govern AI at scale.
To learn more about how F5 is addressing AI challenges, download the full KuppingerCole Generative AI Defense Leadership Compass.
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