Palo Alto Networks targets application observability gains with latest acquisition
The company will integrate Embrace features with its Cortex AgentiX service
Palo Alto Networks has announced the acquisition of application monitoring provider Embrace as the security giant targets real-time observability gains.
The firm said the acquisition will add “high-fidelity real user monitoring (RUM) capabilities” to its existing observability platform and provide customers with deeper insights into user activity.
As part of the announcement, Palo Alto Networks has also introduced Synthetics, a new service built with its Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) team.
Synthetics will help enterprises proactively validate application performance, the company noted, with these capabilities also extending improved observability to digital experience monitoring (DEM).
“Customers will gain a complete, unified view, from end-user interactions and proactive app validation to backend software and infrastructure, all on the industry's leading, innovative, cost-effective platform,” the company said in a blog post.
The Embrace deal comes hot on the heels of the Chronosphere acquisition, which also aimed to bolster observability capabilities for Palo Alto Networks.
The $3.35 billion acquisition, first announced in November 2025 and closed in January this year, saw the cybersecurity vendor combine Chronosphere's observability platform with its own Cortex AgentiX offering.
Terms of the Embrace deal were not disclosed.
Palo Alto Networks wants the ‘whole picture’
Lee Klarich, chief product and technology officer at Palo Alto Networks, said this latest acquisition aims to provide users with a comprehensive overview of application performance.
“To truly understand how their applications are performing, organisations need to see the whole picture - from the moment a user taps or clicks to what exactly happened on the backend,” he said.
“By combining Palo Alto Networks' leading Observability platform with Embrace's innovative Real User Monitoring and the organically developed Synthetic Monitoring capabilities, we'll deliver exactly that.”
Klarich said the firm also plans to take things “a step further” by linking these new capabilities with Cortex AgentiX.
“Organizations will be able to both see and automatically fix issues across their ecosystem,” he added. “This is what true platformization looks like in practice.”
Observability in the spotlight
Palo Alto’s observability focus comes amidst a critical time for enterprises globally, particularly with the influx of AI tools and agents across IT environments.
Modern applications are “increasingly complex and autonomous”, the company said in a blog post, and enterprises require more detailed performance visibility to ensure reliability.
“Embrace’s proven RUM capabilities are built for modern environments, allowing customers to deliver applications that scale at the pace of AI,” the firm noted.
“Sythetics will leverage Palo Alto Networks’ globally distributed infrastructure to proactively validate application availability and performance from strategic locations across the globe.”
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