Today, almost all enterprise workloads already operate in the cloud. But now that everything is more spread across different clouds and locations, hybrid work models and increasing AI integration, the way we protect them has to evolve as well. Security can no longer be an add-on at the end: it has to be built in from the design. And that's where Zero Trust comes in.

This approach is based on a simple but powerful idea: do not trust by default any user, device or access request, wherever it may be. Everything must be verified continuously and according to the context: identity, device, location, risk level. In a cloud environment where data is mobile, applications are decentralized and users access from anywhere, this is the only way to have real control.

But Zero Trust is not just about "closing doors". Organizations that are implementing it well are achieving greater visibility, better compliance and operational efficiencies. For example, dividing access by service type or workload helps prevent an attacker from moving freely within the system. In addition, automating who can access when based on risk level saves time and reduces manual tasks.

In more advanced architectures, where artificial intelligence is already part of business processes, Zero Trust provides a layer of security needed to scale without compromising sensitive data. In fact, many current solutions already integrate real-time behavioral analysis to detect anomalous access and block it before it becomes an incident.

All this represents more than a technical strategy. It is a new way of thinking about cloud infrastructure, where security, performance and scalability coexist without friction. And it is precisely this vision that is making the difference between those who are still putting out fires and those who are building truly resilient cloud operations.

In Cloud & AI Infrastructure 2025, we'll talk about how infrastructure teams are incorporating Zero Trust into their architectures to sustain distributed operations, deploy AI with assurance and meet new regulatory demands without losing agility. Because if one thing is clear, it's that today's cloud is no longer protected like it used to be.