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NeuralTrust has been recognized as a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security, 2026 (ID G00846830, published July 23, 2026, authored by Theo de Feligonde and Charlie Winckless).
The report places AI Runtime Defense At the Peak of Inflated Expectations, the highest point of market visibility on the Hype Cycle, with a High benefit rating and 5% to 20% market penetration.
This is the second Gartner Hype Cycle in July 2026 in which NeuralTrust is named as a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense. The first was the Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Security, 2026, published July 21, 2026.
TL;DR - Key Takeaways
- NeuralTrust is named a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security, 2026
- AI Runtime Defense is rated At the Peak with High benefit, 5-20% adoption, and Emerging maturity
- The report was renamed from "Workload and Network Security" to "Infrastructure Security" to reflect a broader scope
- AI Security Platform is a brand-new entry on the Hype Cycle with Transformational benefit — the highest possible rating — signaling where Gartner sees the market heading
- 48% of organizations plan to invest in AI services in 2026, per the report
- Gartner recommends evaluating AI Runtime Defense tools immediately, within a 2-5 year maturity window
What the 2026 Hype Cycle Shows
The Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security, 2026 is a significant update from prior editions. The report has been renamed from "Hype Cycle for Workload and Network Security" to "Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security" — a deliberate signal that Gartner's scope now explicitly covers the security of AI infrastructure, not just traditional network and compute workloads.
Three observations stand out from this year's report.
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1. AI Security Is Now an Infrastructure Problem
For years, AI security conversations happened at the application layer. Prompt injection, jailbreaks, output filtering — these were developer concerns, handled in code.
The 2026 Infrastructure Security Hype Cycle says that framing is too narrow.
Gartner has added two new AI security entries this year: AI Runtime Defense and AI Security Platform. Both appear on an infrastructure-level security report. That placement is intentional. As AI agents proliferate, the attack surface extends beyond individual applications into the infrastructure they run on. Security teams that wait for development teams to handle AI security are already behind.
AI Runtime Defense lands At the Peak — the point where market hype is highest and early adopters are active. Gartner rates it with High benefit. The report defines the category as tools that "implement intent-based policy enforcement and anomaly detection for AI applications and models," covering content inspection for prompt injection, toxicity detection, hallucination detection, and the evolution toward protecting AI agents.
AI Security Platform is an even newer entry, placed On the Rise — earlier on the curve, but with a Transformational benefit rating. That is the highest benefit designation Gartner assigns. The category reflects an emerging market view that AI security requires a converged platform across runtime, posture, and governance — not a collection of point tools.
2. The Market Is Bifurcating: Mature Platforms vs Emerging AI Security
The report's second major theme is bifurcation. On one side: mature, consolidating technologies. CNAPP (Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform) and SSE (Secure Service Edge) are both on the Hype Cycle as established categories nearing mainstream adoption. Enterprises are moving toward platform consolidation in these areas.
On the other side: a cluster of AI-specific security technologies in rapid early growth. AI Runtime Defense. AI Security Platform. AI Usage Control. Post-Quantum Cryptography.
These two groups are moving on completely different timelines. Mature technologies are in deployment planning. Emerging AI security technologies are in evaluation. The challenge for security teams is managing both at once — completing the last mile of platform consolidation while standing up net-new AI security capabilities before AI deployments outpace the controls protecting them.
48% of organizations plan to invest in AI services in 2026. That number comes from the report itself. The implication is direct: more than half of organizations are accelerating AI investment while the security tooling to govern that investment is still being evaluated.
3. Post-Quantum Cryptography Is No Longer Optional
The third new entry this year is Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Its placement on the Hype Cycle signals that Gartner now views the migration from classical encryption algorithms to quantum-resistant alternatives as an infrastructure security imperative — not a future consideration.
While PQC is not directly related to AI runtime defense, its appearance in the same report reinforces the broader thesis: infrastructure security is changing faster than most organizations' security roadmaps reflect. Teams that are only focused on today's threat model will be caught twice.
NeuralTrust's Position: AI Runtime Defense
NeuralTrust is listed as a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense alongside Akto, Check Point Software Technologies, F5, HiddenLayer, Lasso, Noma Security, Pillar Security, SentinelOne, and TrojAI.
Gartner's definition of AI Runtime Defense maps directly to what TrustGuard does. TrustGuard connects to every LLM route and inspects each prompt and response in real time. It maintains session memory — tracking content across multi-turn conversations to catch attacks designed to bypass per-request filters. It covers prompt injection, jailbreaks, data exfiltration, policy violations, toxicity, and hallucination detection. As Gartner notes in the report, AI runtime defense tools are evolving to protect AI agents specifically. That evolution is already in NeuralTrust's product roadmap.
TrustGate, NeuralTrust's AI gateway, handles the enforcement layer: rate limiting, model routing, budget controls, and MCP tool governance. It acts as the control plane that routes traffic through TrustGuard's inspection.
TrustLens covers agent posture management — discovering, inventorying, and assessing every AI agent in the enterprise, including those not running through the gateway. It addresses the visibility gap that precedes any meaningful governance program.
Together, these three products reflect the direction of Gartner's emerging AI Security Platform category: converged, cross-layer AI security rather than a single point tool.
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Planning Assumptions from the Report
For security and technology leaders making investment decisions, the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security, 2026 contains several planning assumptions relevant to AI security:
- AI Runtime Defense is rated with a 2-5 year window to mainstream adoption — meaning investment decisions made now will define an organization's security posture through 2028-2031
- AI Security Platform carries a Transformational benefit rating — Gartner's signal that this category will fundamentally change how enterprises govern AI infrastructure security
- 5% to 20% of target organizations have already adopted AI Runtime Defense tools — early movers are building their programs now
- 48% of organizations plan to invest in AI services in 2026 — the AI deployment wave that needs securing is already underway The practical implication: organizations that wait for AI Runtime Defense to reach mainstream adoption will be deploying AI faster than they are securing it. The evaluation window is open now.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security?
The Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security is an annual research report that maps the maturity, adoption, and business benefit of security technologies relevant to infrastructure — including cloud workloads, networks, and, as of 2026, AI infrastructure. The 2026 edition was published July 23, 2026 (ID G00846830) by analysts Theo de Feligonde and Charlie Winckless.
2. What is AI Runtime Defense, and where is it on the Hype Cycle?
AI Runtime Defense is a category of tools that implements real-time policy enforcement and anomaly detection for AI applications and models. Gartner's definition covers prompt injection detection, content inspection, toxicity and hallucination monitoring, and the extension of these capabilities to AI agents. In the 2026 Infrastructure Security Hype Cycle, AI Runtime Defense is placed At the Peak with a High benefit rating and 5-20% market penetration.
3. Why is NeuralTrust named in this report?
NeuralTrust is listed as a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense. Gartner includes NeuralTrust to illustrate the range of vendors providing tools in this category. Sample vendor lists are selected based on Gartner's research process and do not constitute an endorsement.
4. What is the difference between AI Runtime Defense and AI Security Platform?
AI Runtime Defense refers to tools that protect AI applications and models at the inference layer in real time. AI Security Platform is a newer, broader category covering converged AI security across runtime, posture management, governance, and policy enforcement in a single platform. AI Security Platform carries a Transformational benefit rating, suggesting Gartner views the long-term market moving toward platform consolidation. NeuralTrust's product architecture spans both categories.
5. Is this the first time NeuralTrust has been recognized in a Gartner Hype Cycle?
No. NeuralTrust was also named as a Sample Vendor in AI Runtime Defense in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Security, 2026, published July 21, 2026. Prior recognition includes the Gartner 2025 Market Guide for AI Gateways and Guardian Agents and the KuppingerCole 2025 Leadership Compass for Generative AI Defense.
NeuralTrust is an AI agent security platform recognized in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security 2026, the Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Security 2026, the Gartner 2025 Market Guide for AI Gateways and Guardian Agents, and the KuppingerCole 2025 Leadership Compass for Generative AI Defense. ISO 27001 certified. Headquartered in Barcelona.
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