With approximately 150 manufacturing and 16 engineering sites across 25 countries, TI Automotive is a global Tier 1 automotive supplier serving every major OEM. Following recent merger activity, the company needed to consolidate a fragmented network, modernize security, govern rapid AI adoption, and protect highly sensitive OEM design data and proprietary IP across its global workforce of 33,000 employees.
Netskope One SD-WAN – Converged. Secured. Optimized. Secure SD-WAN built for the cloud and AI era Netskope One SASE Branch delivers high-performance connectivity and AI-powered zero trust security—all through the power of Netskope One SASE.
Netskope One Private Access (ZTNA) – Stop a modern threat with a modern approach. Netskope One Private Access is the foundation of Netskope’s Universal ZTNA, replacing outdated VPNs, as well as complex network access control and virtual desktop systems, to provide secure, unified access across IT, operational technology, and connected devices.
Netskope One SSE – Netskope One SSE, an important subset of our Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform, consolidates critical security services to enable secure access to web, cloud, and private apps for the hybrid workforce.
Simplified security and networking operations through a unified platform, reducing reliance on multiple standalone solutions
Accelerated acquisition onboarding through day-one secure access and standardized security controls
Improved network resiliency through multi-path connectivity and standardized architecture
Improved visibility and governance for AI applications and unsanctioned technology usage
For TI Automotive, a global Tier 1 supplier to virtually every major Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) worldwide, downtime isn’t an option. TI Automotive serves many of the world’s leading automotive OEMs across multiple vehicle segments and global markets. Operating approximately 150+ manufacturing and engineering sites across 25 countries and supporting 33,000 employees worldwide, the company needed to modernize a fragmented, acquisition-built network while protecting sensitive OEM design data in an era of rapid AI adoption and escalating cyber threats.
My life without Netskope would be a little more traumatic at this point. Chasing another solution, having mismatched solutions. Netskope just brings me to one playing field.
The merger of ABC Technologies and TI Fluid Systems created immediate complexity: conflicting IP addressing schemes, inconsistent network architectures, and a collection of point solutions across a footprint over 150 facilities. “Legacy firewall networks were impacting performance and connectivity greatly,” says Steve Frisch, Vice President of Information Technology – Infrastructure. “With the inconsistency and lack of standardization, it really caused problems with access and getting people to the data and applications they needed.”
For Scott Corneil, Chief Information Security Officer, the challenge ran deeper. TI Automotive holds OEM design data and engineering IP across a highly interconnected supply chain, with contractual obligations to protect that data beyond its own walls.
A move to a zero trust (ZT) mindset required consolidated visibility across identity, data, and network telemetry. “We had a lot of standalone, isolated security products that didn’t give us comprehensive, consolidated telemetry,” Corneil says. “One of our key criteria was a single platform that could bring all of that visibility together.”
We had a lot of standalone isolated security products that didn’t give us comprehensive, consolidated telemetry. One of our key criteria was a single platform, with AI, that could bring all of that visibility together.
TI Automotive observed security events where Netskope provided additional visibility and detection capabilities that improved investigation and response effectiveness. For a business driven by acquisitions, Netskope One Private Access (ZTNA) has removed a significant drag: Acquired companies can now be provisioned with day-one access to critical applications, including on-premises ERP systems, without requiring full network integration first. For an interconnected manufacturer, however, security cannot stop at user risk alone — it must extend to the thousands of unmanaged devices operating on the factory floor. To eliminate these blind spots, TI Automotive activated Netskope Device Intelligence, an agentless capability natively integrated within the Netskope One Gateway alongside SD-WAN. The platform provides visibility into unmanaged and operational technology devices and enables risk-based policy enforcement to reduce exposure across manufacturing environments.
TI Automotive selected Netskope One for its ability to seamlessly converge networking and security into a single, high-performance platform. “Before, it was separate between network, firewall, and security,” Frisch says. “Now we all have one platform that we can collaborate and work through.” Corneil adds: “Netskope has become an important strategic partner for both our infrastructure and security teams. The work the infrastructure team is doing goes hand in hand with the security team, and Netskope brings us together as a stronger team that is better positioned to support future business and technology initiatives”
Network modernization began with Netskope One SD-WAN across 40 initial sites before committing to global expansion. A tiering methodology Frisch calls the “Big Eight” sets the standards every site must meet to join the unified network: IP addressing, resiliency, network redundancy, power management, managed switches and routers, and SD-WAN devices. TI Automotive is on track for 180 sites by the end of the year, with tertiary cellular connectivity at critical plants protecting just-in-time delivery obligations. “The new architecture has increased our ability to scale tremendously,” Frisch says, “with the consistency, the dual path, the diversity, the ability to have a dynamic approach to everything.”
AI has arrived at TI Automotive at speed, and with it the risk of sensitive design data reaching unsanctioned tools. “From a security perspective, we need to understand where the data is going, who’s using it, and how we can protect it without being a hindrance to their processes,” Corneil says. Netskope One SSE and Netskope One AI Security tools give the security team visibility into which AI tools employees are using and what data is being shared, enabling the team to steer users toward sanctioned solutions before a contractual or reputational risk with an OEM customer materializes.
