Infoblox strikes Kentik deal to deepen network intelligence

Infoblox has agreed to acquire network observability specialist Kentik, bringing together core internet infrastructure data and real-time traffic intelligence as enterprises seek greater control over increasingly complex digital operations.

The companies announced a definitive agreement on July 8, with completion subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kentik will continue operating under its existing contracts, pricing, account teams and support arrangements while the transaction moves towards completion.

The deal combines Infoblox’s strengths in Domain Name System services, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, IP address management and asset discovery with Kentik’s platform for monitoring traffic flows, application performance, routing paths, cloud networks and digital user experiences.

Infoblox said the acquisition would expand its visibility beyond network identity and configuration data into continuously updated intelligence showing how traffic is moving, where performance is changing and which infrastructure problems require immediate attention.

The combination is intended to create a unified operational data layer across on-premises systems, public clouds, applications and internet infrastructure. That data could be used by network, security and cloud teams, as well as artificial intelligence agents designed to investigate incidents, prioritise problems and recommend remedial action.

Infoblox chief executive Scott Harrell said every device, application and cloud workload running through the company’s technology generated valuable operational context. Kentik would enrich that information with real-time hybrid-cloud intelligence, helping customers improve resilience, performance and security.

Kentik chief executive Avi Freedman said the companies planned to build a common operational foundation for the next generation of networking. Kentik, founded in 2014, has developed its business around converting network telemetry into answers for operators managing distributed and cloud-based infrastructure.

The acquisition arrives as businesses deploy more AI workloads and digital services across environments that may include private data centres, multiple cloud providers, branch locations and third-party networks. Traditional monitoring tools often provide separate dashboards for devices, applications, security alerts and traffic patterns, leaving operators to correlate information manually.

Infoblox and Kentik are seeking to address that fragmentation by combining authoritative network records with live telemetry. DNS data can reveal which services, users and devices are communicating, while flow records and routing information can show how traffic moves and where disruption or congestion has emerged.

The deal also strengthens Infoblox’s push into so-called agentic operations, where AI systems perform multi-step operational tasks rather than merely generating summaries. Reliable infrastructure data is considered essential for such systems because incomplete inventories or outdated configuration records can lead automated tools to misdiagnose incidents or recommend unsafe changes.

Infoblox launched Infoblox IQ in June as an agentic operations layer for networking and security. The system analyses DNS queries, DHCP leases, IP assignments, device activity and security events, allowing teams to investigate conditions through natural-language commands and automate parts of incident response.

The company has said one deployment reduced more than 504,000 operational events to 24 prioritised actions. Investigations that previously took between 45 and 90 minutes were surfaced immediately with supporting context. Infoblox IQ for Threat Defense became available during June, while additional DDI, assistant and Model Context Protocol capabilities are scheduled for wider availability later in 2026.

Infoblox also expanded its Universal Asset Insights platform in June, adding more than 40 third-party application programming interface integrations across cloud, networking, endpoint, identity, security and operational technology systems. Those additions are designed to maintain a continuously updated inventory rather than rely on periodic network scans.

Kentik’s technology could broaden that strategy by supplying telemetry from routers, cloud platforms, synthetic tests, internet routes and application traffic. The company’s platform is used to identify outages, detect abnormal traffic, analyse capacity, assess service performance and trace problems affecting customers.

The acquisition reflects a wider convergence between network management, cybersecurity and observability. As infrastructure becomes more distributed, security incidents can resemble performance failures, while routing changes, cloud misconfigurations and capacity problems can expose services or disrupt business operations.

Network observability providers are therefore moving beyond dashboards towards automated diagnosis and predictive analysis. At the same time, DNS and IP address management vendors are adding asset intelligence, security analytics and cloud automation to defend their role as foundational infrastructure platforms.