Console

AI Agents · Cybersecurity · IT Service Management

Acquisition

Palo Alto Networks reportedly paid $500M for AI helpdesk startup Console

A two-year-old company with just $29M raised delivered investors a roughly 3x return in barely 15 months.

• Palo Alto Networks paid $500 million in cash and stock to acquire Console, according to two people with knowledge of the deal, though neither company has disclosed official terms.
• Founded in 2024 by Andrei Serban and Neal Chandra, Console built AI agents that autonomously handle routine IT help desk work like password resets and app access grants.
• Palo Alto Networks plans to fold Console into Cortex, its security operations platform, so security teams can investigate and remediate alerts through natural-language requests.
• Console had raised just $29 million total, a $6.2M seed led by Thrive Capital and a $23M Series A co-led by DST Global and Thrive, and was last valued at $157 million by PitchBook.
• Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora had personally invested in Console as an angel before leading the company that ultimately acquired it.
• The Console deal is Palo Alto Networks' seventh acquisition of 2026, following its $3.35B purchase of Chronosphere and $25B acquisition of CyberArk.
• Console's exit leaves Sequoia-backed Serval, which hit a $1 billion valuation on a $75M Series B, as the leading independent startup in AI-driven IT service automation.
• The price tag signals that cybersecurity incumbents now see the interface layer for agentic IT automation as strategically critical, not just a helpdesk convenience.