Assaf Namer of Google Cloud presents "Securing the Autonomous Frontier: Zero Trust Architecture for Agentic AI Workloads" at 2:30 p.m. ET at OpenVPN [Con]nected 2026, our free virtual event on October 22, 2026. Google Cloud is an OpenVPN technology partner, and Assaf's session shows how to secure AI agents with the same Zero Trust principles you apply to people.
Welcome to the next post in our Meet the [Con]nected 2026 Speakers series. Each post introduces one of our guest speakers, the company behind them, and what they'll bring to the event.
Register for free to join the session.
Meet Assaf Namer
Assaf Namer is Head of AI Security at Google Cloud, helping enterprises securely adopt AI services and deploy agentic workloads in their environments. His career spans intelligence-force security analysis, a decade of firewall design at Cisco, embedded and IoT security at Wind River and Intel, and cloud security at AWS. At Google Cloud, he has made key technical contributions to foundational cloud infrastructure and security products, and holds multiple patent applications and defensive publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University, along with Master’s degrees in business administration and cybersecurity from Lansbridge University and Maryville University of Saint Louis, respectively. Outside of his professional endeavors, he is an avid athlete who enjoys playing basketball and cycling across Northern California.
Google Cloud and OpenVPN
Google Cloud and OpenVPN work together to give businesses secure access to the workloads they run on Google Cloud.
- Access Server on Google Cloud Marketplace. You can launch a preconfigured OpenVPN Access Server appliance from the Google Cloud Marketplace in minutes, with Zero Trust access controls and SAML single sign-on through Google Cloud Identity or Google Workspace.
- CloudConnexa connectors for Google Cloud. With CloudConnexa, you can connect a Google Cloud VPC by deploying a connector, so your users reach private resources without exposing them to the internet.
- Identity that works together. Read how Google Cloud Identity can secure both SaaS and VPN access.
This is Google Cloud's second year at [Con]nected. In 2025, Enrique Alvarez, Public Sector Advisor in the Office of the CISO at Google Cloud, shared stories from the front lines of Zero Trust. You can watch it in the [Con]nected 2025 session replays.
Why AI agents need Zero Trust
AI agents don't just answer questions anymore. They call APIs, read files, and take actions across your systems, often on their own. That makes them a new kind of user, and they need the same care you give to people: a verified identity, only the access they need, and ongoing checks on what they're doing.
Most access tools were designed around human logins. Agents work differently. They run continuously, act quickly, and can be steered by the content they process. Securing them means rethinking identity, privilege, and verification for non-human workloads.
What Assaf will cover at [Con]nected 2026
Assaf's session lays out a practical framework for Zero Trust in agentic AI. Topics include:
- Non-human cryptographic identity with SPIFFE, so every agent and workload has a verifiable identity instead of a shared secret
- Privilege minimization, so agents get only the access a task requires
- Continuous, per-event verification, instead of trusting an agent for an entire session
- An agent gateway that scores behavioral risk and enforces policy before and after agent interactions
- Google Cloud capabilities including Model Armor, for guardrails against prompt injection, and Cloud KMS, for cryptographic attestation and trustworthy audit trails
The big idea: shift from inspecting data payloads to verifying an agent's operational purpose. In other words, context is the new perimeter.
Earlier that day, at 12:30 p.m. ET, OpenVPN's CloudConnexa team previews two related betas: MCP Gateway, for securing the connections between AI agents and the tools they use, and AI Proxy, for visibility into AI traffic. Together, the two sessions give you a full picture of where AI security is headed.
About OpenVPN [Con]nected 2026
OpenVPN [Con]nected 2026 is a free, half-day virtual event on Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. As OpenVPN celebrates its 25th anniversary, the event dives into AI and Zero Trust, with product roadmap sessions for Access Server and CloudConnexa, guest speakers, live Q&A, and on-demand product support. See the full agenda.
Frequently asked questions
When is Assaf Namer's session at OpenVPN [Con]nected 2026?
Assaf presents at 2:30 p.m. ET on October 22, 2026.
What is SPIFFE?
SPIFFE (Secure Production Identity Framework for Everyone) is an open standard for giving software workloads, including AI agents, a cryptographically verifiable identity, so they can authenticate without shared passwords or long-lived keys.
Does OpenVPN work with Google Cloud?
Yes. You can deploy OpenVPN Access Server from the Google Cloud Marketplace, or connect Google Cloud VPCs to CloudConnexa with a connector.
Is [Con]nected 2026 free?
Yes. It's free and fully virtual, and replays will be emailed to all registrants.
Save your spot
Get a practical roadmap for securing AI agents, and bring your questions for Assaf. Register for OpenVPN [Con]nected 2026 today. It's free.
