NVIDIA and a group of cybersecurity and industrial automation vendors have introduced a set of integrations designed to embed AI-driven, zero-trust security controls directly into operational technology (OT) and industrial control system (ICS) environments. The announcements center on deploying security services on NVIDIA BlueField data processing units (DPUs) at the industrial edge.
As OT environments in energy, manufacturing, transportation and utilities connect more deeply with enterprise IT networks and cloud platforms, their attack surface has expanded. Unlike traditional IT systems, OT environments control physical processes where cyber incidents can disrupt production, compromise safety and halt critical services. Many of these systems were built for reliability and longevity, not for exposure to adaptive, software-driven threats.
The new integrations position BlueField DPUs as a hardware-isolated enforcement layer within industrial infrastructure. Security inspection and policy enforcement run on dedicated processing units, separate from operational workloads, with the goal of maintaining deterministic performance and low latency.
Forescout is working with NVIDIA to extend zero-trust controls into OT using agentless asset discovery, classification and network segmentation. By pairing Forescout’s visibility and policy engine with BlueField, enforcement can occur at the infrastructure layer without deploying agents on legacy or safety-certified devices.
Siemens, alongside Palo Alto Networks, is integrating BlueField into its Industrial Automation DataCenter architecture, aligned with IEC 62443 standards. Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma AIRS runtime security inspects industrial traffic and monitors for anomalous behavior, with enforcement executed on the DPU to reduce performance impact on automation systems.
Akamai has extended its Guardicore segmentation platform to run on BlueField, enabling agentless microsegmentation in OT and ICS environments. Segmentation policies are enforced at line speed within the network infrastructure, aimed at limiting lateral movement without introducing latency.
Xage Security is integrating its identity-based zero-trust platform with BlueField to protect distributed energy infrastructure and AI-related operations. The company reports coverage across a significant portion of U.S. midstream pipeline infrastructure and is demonstrating embedded enforcement within energy and AI environments.
Collectively, the architecture reflects a shift toward distributed, edge-based enforcement coordinated by centralized AI analytics. OT telemetry generated at industrial sites can be analyzed across locations to identify patterns and emerging threats, while containment actions are executed locally. For enterprises modernizing critical infrastructure, the approach addresses scale, uptime requirements and governance by embedding security controls directly into the operational fabric rather than layering them on top.