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Palo Alto Networks Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results

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2 years ago

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Fiscal second quarter revenue grew 14% year over year to $2.3 billion.Next-Generation Security ARR grew 37% year over year to $4.8 billion.Remaining performance obligation grew 21% year over year to $13.0 billion.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), the global cybersecurity leader, announced today financial results for its fiscal second quarter 2025, ended January 31, 2025.

Total revenue for the fiscal second quarter 2025 grew 14% year over year to $2.3 billion, compared with total revenue of $2.0 billion for the fiscal second quarter 2024. GAAP net income for the fiscal second quarter 2025 was $0.3 billion, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with GAAP net income of $1.7 billion, or $2.44 per diluted share, for the fiscal second quarter 2024. GAAP net income for the fiscal second quarter 2024 included a $1.5 billion net tax benefit from a release of the company’s valuation allowance.

Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal second quarter 2025 was $0.6 billion, or $0.81 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $0.5 billion, or $0.73 per diluted share, for the fiscal second quarter 2024. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP information is contained in the tables below.

“In Q2, our strong business performance was fueled by customers adopting technology driven by the imperative of AI, including cloud investment and infrastructure modernization,” said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks. “Our growth across regions and demand for our platforms demonstrate our customers’ confidence in our approach. It reaffirms our faith in our 2030 plans and our $15 billion NGS ARR goal.”

“Platformization drove our Q2 results, including strength in NGS ARR and RPO,” said Dipak Golechha, chief financial officer of Palo Alto Networks. “As we drive leverage from our scale and see early benefits from AI-related efficiency initiatives, we again delivered profitable growth.  We expect this will continue and, as a result, we are raising operating margins and EPS for the year.”

Today, Palo Alto Networks also announced the appointment of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former prime minister of Denmark, and Ralph Hamers, former chief executive officer of UBS Group AG and ING Group, to the company’s board of directors. More information can be found here.

Financial Outlook
Palo Alto Networks provides guidance based on current market conditions and expectations.

For the fiscal third quarter 2025, we expect:

Next-Generation Security ARR of $5.03 billion to $5.08 billion, representing year-over-year growth of between 33% and 34%.Remaining performance obligation of $13.5 billion to $13.6 billion, representing year-over-year growth of between 19% and 20%.Total revenue in the range of $2.26 billion to $2.29 billion, representing year-over-year growth of between 14% and 15%.Diluted non-GAAP net income per share in the range of $0.76 to $0.77, using 703 million to 706 million shares outstanding.

For the fiscal year 2025, we expect:

Next-Generation Security ARR of $5.52 billion to $5.57 billion, representing year-over-year growth of between 31% and 32%.Remaining performance obligation of $15.2 billion to $15.3 billion, representing year-over-year growth of between 19% and 20%.Total revenue in the range of $9.14 billion to $9.19 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 14%.Non-GAAP operating margin in the range of 28.0% to 28.5%.Diluted non-GAAP net income per share in the range of $3.18 to $3.24, using 700 million to 708 million shares outstanding.Adjusted free cash flow margin in the range of 37% to 38%.

After the close of trading on December 12, 2024, Palo Alto Networks effected a two-for-one stock split. All share and per-share amounts presented have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the stock split.

Guidance for non-GAAP financial measures excludes share-based compensation-related charges, including share-based payroll tax expense, acquisition-related costs, including change in fair value of contingent consideration liability, amortization expense of acquired intangible assets, litigation-related charges, including legal settlements, non-cash charges related to convertible notes, and income tax and other tax adjustments related to our long-term non-GAAP effective tax rate, along with certain non-recurring expenses and certain non-recurring cash flows. We have not reconciled non-GAAP operating margin guidance to GAAP operating margin, diluted non-GAAP net income per share guidance to GAAP net income per diluted share or adjusted free cash flow margin guidance to GAAP net cash from operating activities because we do not provide guidance on GAAP operating margin, GAAP net income or net cash from operating activities and would not be able to present the various reconciling cash and non-cash items between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures because certain items that impact these measures are uncertain or out of our control, or cannot be reasonably predicted, including share-based compensation expense, without unreasonable effort. The actual amounts of such reconciling items will have a significant impact on the company’s GAAP net income per diluted share and GAAP net cash from operating activities.

Earnings Call Information
Palo Alto Networks will host a video webcast for analysts and investors to discuss the company’s fiscal second quarter 2025 results as well as the outlook for its fiscal third quarter and fiscal year 2025 today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time/1:30 p.m. Pacific time. Open to the public, investors may access the webcast, supplemental financial information and earnings slides from the “Investors” section of the company’s website at investors.paloaltonetworks.com. A replay will be available three hours after the conclusion of the webcast and archived for one year.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions including statements regarding our platformization strategy and financial outlook for the fiscal third quarter 2025 and fiscal year 2025. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made or implied in this press release, including: developments and changes in general market, political, economic, and business conditions; failure of our platformization product offerings; failure to achieve the expected benefits of our strategic partnerships and acquisitions; changes in the fair value of our contingent consideration liability associated with acquisitions; risks associated with managing our growth; risks associated with new product, subscription and support offerings, including our product offerings that leverage AI; shifts in priorities or delays in the development or release of new product or subscription or other offerings, or the failure to timely develop and achieve market acceptance of new products and subscriptions as well as existing products, subscriptions and support offerings; failure of our business strategies; rapidly evolving technological developments in the market for security products, subscriptions and support offerings; defects, errors, or vulnerabilities in our products, subscriptions or support offerings; our customers’ purchasing decisions and the length of sales cycles; our competition; our ability to attract and retain new customers; our ability to acquire and integrate other companies, products, or technologies in a successful manner; our debt repayment obligations; and our share repurchase program, which may not be fully consummated or enhance shareholder value, and any share repurchases which could affect the price of our common stock.

Additional risks and uncertainties on these and other factors that could affect our financial results and the forward-looking statements we make in this press release are included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on November 21, 2024, which is available on our website at investors.paloaltonetworks.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in other documents that we file with or furnish to the SEC from time to time. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on our beliefs and information available to management as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics
Palo Alto Networks has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). The company uses these non-GAAP financial measures and other key metrics internally in analyzing its financial results and believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics are helpful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends, and in comparing the company’s financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures or key metrics.

The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with the company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of the company’s historical non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures has been provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release, and investors are encouraged to review these reconciliations.

Non-GAAP operating margin. Palo Alto Networks defines non-GAAP operating margin as non-GAAP operating income divided by total revenue. The company defines non-GAAP operating income as operating income plus share-based compensation-related charges, including share-based payroll tax expense, acquisition-related costs, including change in fair value of contingent consideration liability, amortization expense of acquired intangible assets, and litigation-related charges, including legal settlements. The company believes that non-GAAP operating margin provides management and investors with greater visibility into the underlying performance of the company’s core business operating results.

Non-GAAP net income and net income per share, diluted. Palo Alto Networks defines non-GAAP net income as net income plus share-based compensation-related charges, including share-based payroll tax expense, acquisition-related costs, including change in fair value of contingent consideration liability, amortization expense of acquired intangible assets, litigation-related charges, including legal settlements, and non-cash charges related to convertible notes. The company also excludes from non-GAAP net income tax adjustments related to our long-term non-GAAP effective tax rate in order to provide a complete picture of the company’s recurring core business operating results. The company defines non-GAAP net income per share, diluted, as non-GAAP net income divided by the weighted-average diluted shares outstanding, which includes the potentially dilutive effect of the company’s employee equity incentive plan awards and the company’s convertible senior notes outstanding and related warrants, after giving effect to the anti-dilutive impact of the company’s note hedge agreements, which reduces the potential economic dilution that otherwise would occur upon conversion of the company’s convertible senior notes. Under GAAP, the anti-dilutive impact of the note hedge is not reflected in diluted shares outstanding. The company considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be useful metrics for management and investors for the same reasons that it uses non-GAAP operating margin.

Next-Generation Security ARR. Palo Alto Networks defines Next-Generation Security ARR as the annualized allocated revenue of all active contracts as of the final day of the reporting period for Prisma and Cortex offerings inclusive of the VM-Series and related services, and certain cloud-delivered security services. Beginning the fiscal first quarter 2025, Next-Generation Security ARR includes revenue attributable to QRadar software as a service contracts. The company considers Next-Generation Security ARR to be a useful metric for management and investors to evaluate the performance of the company because Next-Generation Security is where the company has focused its innovation and the company expects its overall revenue to be disproportionately driven by this Next-Generation Security portfolio. Because Next-Generation Security ARR does not have the effect of providing a numerical measure that is different from any comparable GAAP measure, the company does not consider it a non-GAAP measure.

Investors are cautioned that there are a number of limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics as analytical tools. Many of the adjustments to the company’s GAAP financial measures reflect the exclusion of items that are recurring and will be reflected in the company’s financial results for the foreseeable future, such as share-based compensation, which is an important part of Palo Alto Networks’ employees’ compensation and impacts their performance. Furthermore, these non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP, and the components that Palo Alto Networks excludes in its calculation of non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the components that its peer companies exclude when they report their non-GAAP results of operations. Palo Alto Networks compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures. In the future, the company may also exclude non-recurring expenses and other expenses that do not reflect the company’s core business operating results.

About Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks is the global cybersecurity leader, committed to making each day safer than the one before with industry-leading, AI-powered solutions in network security, cloud security and security operations. Powered by Precision AI, our technologies deliver precise threat detection and swift response, minimizing false positives and enhancing security effectiveness. Our platformization approach integrates diverse security solutions into a unified, scalable platform, streamlining management and providing operational efficiencies with comprehensive protection. From defending network perimeters to safeguarding cloud environments and ensuring rapid incident response, Palo Alto Networks empowers businesses to achieve Zero Trust security and confidently embrace digital transformation in an ever-evolving threat landscape. This unwavering commitment to security and innovation makes us the cybersecurity partner of choice.

At Palo Alto Networks, we’re committed to bringing together the very best people in service of our mission, so we’re also proud to be the cybersecurity workplace of choice, recognized among Newsweek’s Most Loved Workplaces (2021-2024), with a score of 100 on the Disability Equality Index (2024, 2023, 2022), and HRC Best Places for LGBTQ+ Equality (2022). For more information, visit www.paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks, the Palo Alto Networks logo, Cortex, Precision AI, and Prisma are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in the United States or in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. Any unreleased services or features (and any services or features not generally available to customers) referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available (or are not yet generally available to customers) and may not be delivered when expected or at all. Customers who purchase Palo Alto Networks applications should make their purchase decisions based on services and features currently generally available.

 

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Preliminary Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In millions, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

January 31,

January 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

Revenue:

Product

$             421.5

$             390.7

$             775.3

$             731.8

Subscription and support

1,835.9

1,584.4

3,620.9

3,121.4

Total revenue

2,257.4

1,975.1

4,396.2

3,853.2

Cost of revenue:

Product

101.3

88.2

176.3

165.6

Subscription and support

497.9

410.9

977.0

806.3

Total cost of revenue

599.2

499.1

1,153.3

971.9

Total gross profit

1,658.2

1,476.0

3,242.9

2,881.3

Operating expenses:

Research and development

505.7

447.9

986.1

857.4

Sales and marketing

758.3

673.0

1,478.4

1,333.5

General and administrative

153.8

301.5

251.5

421.6

Total operating expenses

1,417.8

1,422.4

2,716.0

2,612.5

Operating income

240.4

53.6

526.9

268.8

Interest expense

(0.9)

(2.8)

(2.1)

(5.7)

Other income, net

85.3

84.7

168.6

155.0

Income before income taxes

324.8

135.5

693.4

418.1

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

57.5

(1,611.4)

75.4

(1,523.0)

Net income

$             267.3

$          1,746.9

$             618.0

$          1,941.1

Net income per share, basic

$               0.41

$               2.73

$               0.94

$               3.08

Net income per share, diluted

$               0.38

$               2.44

$               0.87

$               2.74

Weighted-average shares used to compute net income per share, basic

659.3

639.3

656.5

629.7

Weighted-average shares used to compute net income per share, diluted

709.0

715.0

709.1

707.3

 

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

(In millions, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

January 31,

January 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

GAAP operating income

$          240.4

$            53.6

$          526.9

$          268.8

Share-based compensation-related charges

343.3

296.8

658.4

584.6

Acquisition-related costs(1)

9.7

7.3

24.8

7.3

Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets

43.8

27.9

84.5

52.4

Litigation-related charges(2)

3.2

178.6

(38.0)

180.4

Non-GAAP operating income

$          640.4

$          564.2

$      1,256.6

$      1,093.5

Non-GAAP operating margin

28.4 %

28.6 %

28.6 %

28.4 %

GAAP net income

$          267.3

$      1,746.9

$          618.0

$      1,941.1

Share-based compensation-related charges

343.3

296.8

658.4

584.6

Acquisition-related costs(1)

9.7

7.3

24.8

7.3

Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets

43.8

27.9

84.5

52.4

Litigation-related charges(2)

3.2

178.6

(38.0)

180.4

Non-cash charges related to convertible notes(3)

0.3

1.1

0.8

2.1

Income tax and other tax adjustments(4)

(101.9)

(1,753.9)

(237.9)

(1,796.9)

Non-GAAP net income

$          565.7

$          504.7

$      1,110.6

$          971.0

GAAP net income per share, diluted

$            0.38

$            2.44

$            0.87

$            2.74

Share-based compensation-related charges

0.50

0.44

0.96

0.88

Acquisition-related costs(1)

0.01

0.01

0.03

0.01

Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets

0.06

0.04

0.12

0.07

Litigation-related charges(2)

0.00

0.25

(0.05)

0.26

Non-cash charges related to convertible notes(3)

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Income tax and other tax adjustments(4)

(0.14)

(2.45)

(0.34)

(2.54)

Non-GAAP net income per share, diluted

$            0.81

$            0.73

$            1.59

$            1.42

GAAP weighted-average shares used to compute net income per share, diluted

709.0

715.0

709.1

707.3

Weighted-average anti-dilutive impact of note hedge agreements

(8.7)

(25.9)

(10.3)

(24.6)

Non-GAAP weighted-average shares used to compute net income per share, diluted

700.3

689.1

698.8

682.7

(1)

Consists of acquisition transaction costs, share-based compensation related to the cash settlement of certain equity awards, change in fair value of contingent consideration liability, and costs to terminate certain employment, operating lease, and other contracts of the acquired companies.

(2)

Consists of the amortization of intellectual property licenses and covenant not to sue, and a legal contingency charge (credit).

(3)

Consists of non-cash interest expense for amortization of debt issuance costs related to the company’s convertible senior notes.

(4)

Consists of income tax adjustments related to our long-term non-GAAP effective tax rate. During the three and six months ended January 31, 2024, it included a tax benefit from a release of our valuation allowance on U.S. federal, U.S. states other than California, and United Kingdom deferred tax assets.

 

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Preliminary Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In millions)

January 31, 2025

July 31, 2024

(unaudited)

Assets

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

$          2,226.3

$          1,535.2

Short-term investments

1,006.6

1,043.6

Accounts receivable, net

1,495.5

2,618.6

Short-term financing receivables, net

754.9

725.9

Short-term deferred contract costs

376.1

369.0

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

480.4

557.4

Total current assets

6,339.8

6,849.7

Property and equipment, net

358.2

361.1

Operating lease right-of-use assets

372.9

385.9

Long-term investments

4,559.8

4,173.2

Long-term financing receivables, net

1,163.8

1,182.1

Long-term deferred contract costs

523.4

562.0

Goodwill

4,050.8

3,350.1

Intangible assets, net

771.4

374.9

Deferred tax assets

2,446.9

2,399.0

Other assets

364.7

352.9

Total assets

$        20,951.7

$        19,990.9

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable

$             149.3

$             116.3

Accrued compensation

491.6

554.7

Accrued and other liabilities

777.6

506.7

Deferred revenue

5,599.9

5,541.1

Convertible senior notes, net

533.8

963.9

Total current liabilities

7,552.2

7,682.7

Long-term deferred revenue

5,662.5

5,939.4

Deferred tax liabilities

116.1

387.7

Long-term operating lease liabilities

363.0

380.5

Other long-term liabilities

882.6

430.9

Total liabilities

14,576.4

14,821.2

Stockholders’ equity:

Preferred stock

—

—

Common stock and additional paid-in capital

4,421.0

3,821.1

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(13.9)

(1.6)

Retained earnings

1,968.2

1,350.2

Total stockholders’ equity

6,375.3

5,169.7

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

$        20,951.7

$        19,990.9

 

 

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SOURCE Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

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Industry Report Shows 64% of Life Sciences Leaders Taking Action to Establish AI Governance

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6 minutes ago

on

October 28, 2026

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Research points to trust as the real barrier to scaling agentic AI, with 58% saying the industry still lacks clear standards for responsible AI

TORONTO and NEW YORK, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Life sciences organizations are putting governance in place to scale agentic AI across commercial, medical, and patient-facing work, according to the Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026. The new industry research is based on roundtables and a survey of senior leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Two-thirds (64%) surveyed say their organization has an AI governance process either fully established or in development.

The research, from ACTO, finds an industry ready to use AI but still working to trust it. Governance is the AI concern leaders cite most often. It is also the one they admit they have most neglected in practice. More than one-third still either have no defined governance or rely on a one-time IT approval.

Trust is the barrier to adoption at scale

The findings suggest trust will decide how far and how fast life sciences scales AI. Technology no longer appears to be the main obstacle. Leaders rank regulatory, legal, or compliance hesitation (21%) as the biggest internal barrier to scaling AI, while technical readiness ranks near the bottom (9%). Asked which measure matters most when judging an AI pilot, leaders put trust and adoption (24%) ahead of efficiency (23%), a signal that expectations are evolving.

Leaders trust AI more in their own hands than in their organizations’. More than two-thirds of leaders (68%) are involved in an AI project at their organization, and 69% rate their personal comfort with AI as high. But more than half (54%) remain concerned about how AI is being used in their own organizations. Fifty-eight percent say life sciences has no clear industry standard for responsible AI.

“The discussions reflected a wide range of perspectives and experiences related to AI understanding, adoption, and oversight across the industry,” said Lisa DeMarco, general counsel and chief business officer at Arctic Therapeutics and a moderator at the RAIL roundtables hosted by ACTO. “An important theme in the conversations was the need for practical guidance to help organizations assess AI trustworthiness while maintaining a focus on patient safety.”

Governance builds the foundation for trust

Leaders described governance as an ongoing operating model that continues well past initial approval. It needs named business owners, clear escalation paths, and standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as the ability to deploy and revoke an AI agent and governance enforced at both the agent and sub-agent level. A challenge is that ownership is still unsettled. Asked who should be held ultimately accountable for the actions an AI agent takes, leaders name the end user (34%), legal and compliance (28%), the third-party AI vendor (22%), and IT (16%).

The data suggests responsibility falls to the end user because so much AI use happens outside approved systems. Nearly a quarter of organizations (23%) don’t monitor or discuss employee use of unauthorized AI agents, and roundtable leaders described employees already building their own agents with no governance in place. The gap between AI adoption and AI oversight is where trust seems to be breaking down across the industry.

Industry quickly moving from where to start to what to build next

Leaders want AI to raise performance and to be judged fairly. Four in five (79%) agree AI risk and ROI should be measured against how people do the work today, with its own error rate. Improved results and outcomes (29%) ranked as the top expected benefit, well ahead of budgetary savings (10%) and reduced risk (8%).

The leaders furthest along with AI sort each use case by its value and how hard it is to govern. Most start with easier-to-govern work such as review and approval cycles, pre-call preparation, insight logging, triage, and coaching. With two-thirds already running AI projects, attention is turning to harder work: connecting systems, supporting a full product launch, and chaining multiple agents together. An agent supporting a field rep or medical science liaison has to work across many systems and with the AI agents already built into each one. That raises new questions about what to trust and who answers for the result.

People remain the hardest part of adoption. The issue of change management was a common challenge raised at every roundtable. Asked which skill humans most need to keep, 45% chose judgment, followed by human connection (31%) and strategy (24%). The report recommends redrawing roles in detail, separating what an AI agent handles from what the human keeps.

Introducing a Common Standard for Trust: The RAIL Score

To give the industry a shared bar, the RAIL Score provides a rubric that grades any agentic AI system on six components of responsible AI, including governance, security, testing and certification, human centricity, value creation, and orchestration. Each component is scored “high” and trustworthy enough for use in life sciences, “medium” with specific gaps to close first, and “low” and not fit for use. The report also includes tools to put the score to work. These include a self-grading scorecard, a vendor-grading checklist, an AI agent job description template, and a 90-day launch checklist.

“The industry has moved past whether to use agentic AI. Leaders now want to know which systems they can trust enough to scale, and today there’s no shared bar to answer that,” said Parth Khanna, co-founder and CEO of ACTO. “Any agentic AI system has to get security and governance right. The RAIL Score gives teams a consistent way to grade systems against the standard a regulated industry demands, so trust can rest on evidence instead of vendor claims.”

Methodology

The Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026 draws on eight in-person executive roundtables with 80 senior leaders across North America and Europe, held February through April 2026, as well as an online survey of 135 leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies, fielded June 8 through July 17, 2026. Nearly all survey respondents (97%) hold director-level roles or above across commercial, medical affairs, legal and compliance, learning and development, and marketing functions.

The complimentary RAIL Report 2026 and related tools are available now at acto.com/RAIL.

To hear more about the findings, register for the upcoming webinar, “Responsible AI in Life Sciences: What Leaders Say About Scaling Agentic AI,” on Wednesday, November 4 at 11:00am Eastern.

About ACTO

ACTO helps life sciences companies bring therapies to patients after regulatory approval. Its AI-powered Field Excellence Platform and AI SuperAgents speed product launches, strengthen field execution, and deepen customer engagement for commercial and medical teams. ACTO elevates training and coaching and agentifies up to 30% of the work in customer-facing roles. That frees reps, medical science liaisons, and their leaders to focus on human connection, judgment, and strategic execution. Fourteen of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies use ACTO, along with high-growth biotechs and leading medtech organizations. ACTO is FDA 21 CFR Part 11 validated, SOC 2 Type II certified, and a Veeva Gold Product Partner. Learn more at www.acto.com.

Research Highlights
Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026

The RAIL Report 2026 draws on eight executive roundtables with 80 senior leaders across North America and Europe and an online survey of 135 leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Nearly all respondents (97%) are director level or above. The research examines how life sciences organizations evaluate, govern, and scale agentic AI in commercialization.

Governance Is the Defining Issue

Nearly two-thirds (64%) say their organization has an AI governance process fully established (22%) or in development (42%).More than a third (36%) have no defined governance (21%) or rely on a one-time approval gate (15%).Governance was the most-cited AI concern across the roundtables, and leaders called it the most neglected in practice.Accountability is unsettled. Leaders are split on who owns an AI agent’s actions: the end user (34%), legal and compliance (28%), the AI vendor (22%), and IT (16%).Nearly a quarter (23%) don’t monitor or discuss employee use of unauthorized AI agents. Another 37% view it as a severe security violation.

Trust May Be the Real Barrier to Scale

Over half (58%) say the life sciences industry lacks clear standards for responsible AI.More than half (54%) are concerned about how AI is used in their organization, even though 69% report high personal comfort with AI.Leaders define responsible AI as validated (81%), ethical (79%), and safe (75%). Fewer chose compliant (46%), auditable (45%), or controlled (40%).Four in five (79%) agree AI risk and ROI should be measured against today’s human-led baseline.Trust and adoption (24%) narrowly lead efficiency (23%), risk (21%), and ROI (18%) as the most critical measure of a pilot’s success.

From Where to Start to What to Build Next

Two-thirds (68%) are already involved in an AI project at their organization.Start now (high value, easy to govern): review and approval cycles, pre-call prep, insight logging, triage, coaching.Build next (high value, harder to govern): connecting systems, supporting a full product launch, chaining multiple agents.Defer or constrain: anything that could reach a patient or regulator without a human in between.Improved results and outcomes (29%) lead efficiency (25%) and productivity (24%) as the most important expected benefit. Budgetary savings (10%) rank far lower, and reduced risk ranks last among the listed benefits (8%).

Barriers Are Organizational

The top barriers to scaling are regulatory, legal, or compliance hesitation (21%) and a lack of comparative ROI metrics (20%). Technical readiness ranks near the bottom (9%).Leaders named three pressures driving AI adoption: more to commercialize, tighter budgets, and pressure to adopt AI even without a clear strategy.Workforce redesign is the real bottleneck to scaling. Leaders say judgment (45%), human connection (31%), and strategy (24%) are the skills humans most need to keep.

The RAIL Score

The RAIL Score grades any agentic AI system on six components: Governance, Security, Testing & Certification, Human Centricity, Value Creation, and Orchestration.Each component is scored from 1 to 3, for a total out of 18: High (16–18), Medium (12–15), or Low (below 12).Security and Governance are hard floors. A score below 3 on either caps the system at Low.

The complimentary RAIL Report 2026 and related tools are available now at acto.com/RAIL.

To hear more about the findings, register for the upcoming webinar, “Responsible AI in Life Sciences: What Leaders Say About Scaling Agentic AI,” on Wednesday, November 4 at 11:00am Eastern.

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Netrio Recognized on the CRN® AI Innovators List for 2026

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October 28, 2026

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Company spotlighted for AI Advisory practice helping mid-market enterprises build structured, scalable AI capabilities and NetrioNow, its human-led, AI-powered service delivery platform

MCKINNEY, Texas, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Netrio, a global managed service provider (MSP) helping mid-market enterprises modernize and secure their IT environments, announced it has been named to the 2026 AI Innovators list by CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company.

CRN’s inaugural AI Innovators list celebrates North American solution providers at the forefront of the AI revolution. The companies featured on this list have recognized the vast opportunities of AI and have integrated AI technologies into cutting-edge solutions for their customers.

AI has quickly evolved from an emerging technology to a strategic business imperative. Solution providers are increasingly deploying AI solutions to help businesses improve customer experiences, enhance employee productivity, strengthen decision-making and uncover new opportunities for growth. As a result, the AI market has become a major catalyst for innovation across every sector of the IT channel. Each 2026 AI Innovator has shown dedication to building creative and unique AI solutions that deliver valuable business enhancements to customers.

“Mid-market enterprises are struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing AI landscape and are looking for a trusted advisor to help them navigate it,” said Al Calabrese, VP of AI Services at Netrio. “Being named a CRN AI Innovator affirms our commitment to being that advisor, giving our clients the strategy, platform and governance they need to turn their AI investments into measurable operational impact.”

In May 2026, Netrio launched its new AI Advisory and Transformation practice, which helps mid-market enterprises move from fragmented experimentation to AI capabilities that scale across the business. In September 2025, the company introduced NetrioNow, which fuses AI, automation and governance in one unified experience to deliver faster resolution, proactive security and executive-ready visibility.

“Our 2026 AI Innovators honorees are helping shape the next generation of business transformation through the imaginative use of artificial intelligence,” said Jennifer Follett, vice president, U.S. content and executive editor at CRN, The Channel Company. “By delivering forward-thinking solutions that create value for their customers and technology partners alike, they are pushing the industry forward and setting a high standard for innovation. We are honored to recognize their contributions.”

To view the 2026 CRN AI Innovators list, visit https://www.crn.com/rankings-and-lists/ai-innovators-2026.

About Netrio
Netrio is a full-service IT managed service provider (MSP) changing the way small- to mid-market enterprises think about technology’s role in driving innovation, efficiency and growth. We provide our customers with the skills, experience, tools, infrastructure and best practices to cost-effectively modernize their operations, capitalize on opportunity and thrive in today’s digital marketplace, while reducing costs and improving operational efficiencies from their technology investments.

Our end-to-end portfolio of services includes managed IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, connectivity and voice, and custom application development. With offices in Minnesota, New York, Texas, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Pune, India, Netrio supports more than 1,000 customers with 500 employees across the globe. For more information, visit www.netrio.com.

About The Channel Company 
The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.

Follow The Channel Company: LinkedIn and X.

© 2026 The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Netrio

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Transportation Insight Holdings CEO Mark Vale Delivered Industry Keynote at FreightWaves F3: Future of Freight Festival

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October 28, 2026

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Vale joined FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller to discuss The Evolving Future of Freight.

ATLANTA, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mark Vale, CEO of Transportation Insight Holdings, LLC (TI HoldCo), delivered the industry keynote on Day 1 of FreightWaves’ F3: Future of Freight Festival. TI HoldCo, the parent company of Transportation Insight (TI) and Nolan Transportation Group (NTG), is a leading North American provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and freight brokerage solutions.

Vale joined Craig Fuller, founder and CEO of FreightWaves and SONAR, for “The Evolving Future of Freight” on Tuesday, October 27, at 9:35 a.m. ET. The session took place on the General Session Stage at The Signal in Chattanooga, TN. The conversation explored where the freight market is heading and Vale shared how technology, data and hands-on expertise are coming together to help shippers make faster, better decisions across supply chain networks.

“Freight is changing faster than at any point in my career,” said Vale. “Shippers are asking for clear answers they can act on, across every mode. Together, TI and NTG offer a unique combination of brokerage scale, transportation strategy and execution expertise, supported by artificial intelligence, providing customers with the actionable insights they need to optimize operations and achieve better business outcomes.”

TI HoldCo serves more than 14,000 shippers through an extensive carrier network. In 2025, the company generated more than $5.1 billion in gross revenue.

Vale shared how TI and NTG are already putting AI to work every day, with results to show for it:

Productivity improvements up over 20% year-over-yearApproximately half of all proof-of-delivery documents collected by NTG’s AI agent, Buzz, and about 25% of loads built through automationLoad growth year-over-year trending upward in Q3 with high single digit growth in OctoberManaged services new customer wins up more than 45% year over yearTotal company Q3 2026 revenue up about 18% year-over-year, with EBITDA improvement of over 90%.EBITDA has improved for three consecutive yearsAdjusted Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) is a non-GAAP financial measure.

“Across NTG, we’ve focused AI on productivity. We use it for tracking and tracing and for scheduling, and we now book about 80% of our loads digitally. That frees our carrier sales team to focus on their relationships with carriers, and our brokers to focus on taking care of customers,” said Vale.

The keynote follows TI’s October launch of TI Infinity, a decision intelligence platform that lets shippers ask questions of their transportation data in plain language. TI Infinity helps teams spot what is changing, understand why, anticipate outcomes and choose the next best action.

“TI Infinity enables different levels within our customer organizations to become experts on freight very quickly,” said Vale. “Speed of understanding data is very important. Having a lot of data and the ability to use it is a huge competitive advantage.”

TI and NTG were also named to FreightWaves’ 2026 FreightTech 100, which recognizes the most innovative and disruptive companies in freight technology. The recognition reflects how both companies run AI as daily operating infrastructure, from Buzz in NTG’s brokerage operations to TI Infinity, powered by Beon, for TI’s managed transportation customers.

Vale also spoke about how carrier safety and vetting are changing how shippers pick their partners. “A customer came to us recently during a bid process. They used to use 30 different providers and cut it down to four. We’re one of them, and they told us it was because our vetting process gives them confidence,” said Vale. “Trust is a huge factor in supply chain resilience, and it’s becoming a competitive advantage.”

TI and NTG were headline sponsors of F3 2026. The festival ran Oct. 27-28 and brought together more than 1,000 attendees and 50-plus speakers. TI and NTG also hosted “Under the Stadium Lights: Lookout for a Good Time,” an evening reception for attendees at the Chattanooga Lookouts stadium on October 27. More information about F3 is available at live.freightwaves.com.

“I want to thank Craig and the entire FreightWaves team for having me,” said Vale. “Craig has built something rare in F3, a place where shippers, brokers and carriers come together to talk candidly about where this industry is going. It was a pleasure to join him on stage and share how TI and NTG are putting AI to work for our customers every day.”

Fuller founded FreightWaves, which delivers freight market news, data and analytics through its media properties and the SONAR platform. Before FreightWaves, he founded TransCard, a fleet payment processor that US Bank later acquired. A trucking industry veteran, he also founded and led U.S. Xpress Enterprises’ XpressDirect division.

About Transportation Insight Holdings
Transportation Insight Holdings, LLC (TI HoldCo), operating under the Beon brand, is a leading provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and freight brokerage solutions in North America. It is the parent company of Transportation Insight, founded by Paul Thompson, and Nolan Transportation Group, founded by Kevin Nolan. Through TI, NTG and its proprietary Beon Digital Logistics Platform, the company serves more than 14,000 shippers through an extensive carrier network.

About Transportation Insight
Transportation Insight (TI) is a leading provider of supply chain and logistics solutions, helping North American manufacturers, retailers and distributors optimize transportation, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency for more than 25 years. Offering expertise in managed transportation, freight audit and payment, parcel optimization and data-driven analytics, TI partners with clients to streamline supply chains, enhance visibility and drive strategic growth. For more information, visit http://www.transportationinsight.com.

About Nolan Transportation Group
Nolan Transportation Group (NTG) is a leading logistics provider, offering a wide range of services including truckload brokerage, third-party logistics and specialized transportation like LTL, expedited and drayage. With an extensive network of carriers serving 14,000+ customers, NTG experts leverage the advanced technology of the Beon Digital Logistics Platform, with a customer-centric approach, to deliver efficient, scalable solutions. For more information, visit www.ntgfreight.com.

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SOURCE Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group

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