Toronto startup adds new capabilities aimed at shadow AI, enterprise data access, and agent control.
Tailscale is a Toronto startup that sells virtual private network software to enterprises and is updating its product to simplify how enterprises manage and track their use of AI.
The company announced Tuesday that it is adding new features to Aperture to help clients compete in the ever-changing AI market. These include chat aimed at reducing the use of shadow AI. A connector designed to allow AI tools to access corporate data while preserving user and agent identities. A controlled environment for AI agents to work in.
“The best models, interfaces, sandboxes, and data connections will continue to change. Companies don’t need to rebuild their AI setup every time one of these elements changes.”
The use of AI is pervasive in organizations and can be difficult to track. Additionally, some vendors are pushing for closed AI stacks, even though the top-level AI models and tools available are frequently changing. Tailscale co-founder and CEO Avery Pennarun is skeptical that the situation will stabilize “any time soon.”
“The optimal models, interfaces, sandboxes, and data connections will continue to change,” Pennalun asserted in a news release. “Companies don’t have to rebuild their AI setup every time one of these elements changes.”
Tailscale aims to help customers avoid such lock-in and actually take control of their use of AI with Aperture, an AI access and control platform. The startup is building its platform, currently available in beta, into a “stable layer for identity, access, and control.” [corporate clients] You can keep changing tools without losing track of who is doing what,” said Pennalun.
“Adding a chat-based interface transforms Aperture from an engineering tool to a business tool,” Pennalun said. beta kit By email. “Historically, Aperture has been successful with teams using coding agents. Now, a much wider range of employees can run all their AI queries and workloads through Aperture.”
The U.S. government’s recent decision to cut off access to all foreign nationals (including those employed by AI companies) to Anthropic’s latest Mythos and Fable models puts controls over AI in the spotlight, further highlighting the need for companies to avoid over-reliance on any one provider.
“This situation serves as a reminder that access to models can change for reasons completely outside of a company’s control,” Pennalun said. “For Canadian businesses, that’s important. When AI workflows are locked into one provider, one policy change, price change, availability issue, or access restriction can become an operational issue.”
With Aperture, Tailscale aims to help enterprises keep their AI stacks “modular.” Today’s announcement marks the latest step in Tailscale’s commitment to go beyond just building simple VPNs to providing clients with fast, private access to the applications, devices, infrastructure, and AI systems they need.
Related: Tailscale makes first acquisition with acquisition of Border0
Tail scale introduced in The most ambitious beta kitLast year, the company raised C$230 million in Series C funding due to strong demand from AI companies. We currently serve over 30,000 businesses around the world, including Cohere, Duolingo, Instacart, Lovable, Microsoft, Mistral, Nvidia, SAP, and Telus.
Penalun sat together. beta kit In 2025, he reveals how the pressure to adopt AI has created a “wild west” for corporate cybersecurity and reveals his startup’s plans to become an air traffic control system for AI, something Toronto cybersecurity company 1Password is also doing in its own way. Meanwhile, Tailscale made its first acquisition earlier this year to support its vision, acquiring Vancouver’s Border0.
Feature image courtesy web summit vancouver. Photo by Florencia Tan Jun via Sportsfile.
