Cohere Introduces North: An Enterprise AI Agent Platform Built for Unmatched Data Security

Addressing the Top Enterprise AI Concern: Data Security

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape enterprise workflows, many organizations remain wary of adopting AI agent technologies due to persistent security concerns. Companies handling sensitive intellectual property, those operating under strict regulatory environments, and government agencies are particularly cautious, fearing exposure of proprietary or client data and misuse in subsequent AI model training.

Cohere North: Enterprise-Grade Security for AI Deployment

Canadian AI leader Cohere is setting a new industry benchmark with its latest release—North, a cutting-edge AI agent platform designed specifically for secure, private deployment. North empowers businesses and governments to leverage AI automation without exposing their sensitive data to external cloud providers. Instead of relying on public clouds like Azure or AWS, North can be directly installed on an organization’s own on-premises infrastructure, hybrid cloud systems, Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), or even completely isolated (air-gapped) environments.

Nick Frosst, Cohere's co-founder and CEO, emphasizes, “Large Language Models (LLMs) are only as effective as the data they're allowed to access. To make them truly valuable, they need direct access to enterprise data, securely deployed within the customer’s own environment.” North achieves this by operating on as few as two GPUs and even supports deployments on modest hardware—making private, high-security AI accessible for a wide range of enterprise and government use cases.

Robust Security Features and Compliance

Cohere’s North is purpose-built with enterprise AI security at its core. The platform provides granular access controls, defined agent autonomy policies, and undergoes regular red-team simulations and third-party security assessments to identify vulnerabilities proactively. North also adheres to key international data compliance standards, including GDPR, SOC-2, and ISO 27001, ensuring that organizations across the globe can confidently integrate AI into their operations while meeting regulatory requirements.

Feature Set: From Chat and Search to Automated Research

While security is a highlight, North’s functionality brings productivity to the next level. The platform offers robust chat and search features that support a wide range of workplace tasks, from answering customer support queries and summarizing meetings to generating marketing copy and accessing both internal knowledge bases and web content. Every AI-generated response comes with transparent citations and reasoning chains, giving users the tools to audit and validate outputs.

Under the hood, North is powered by specialized versions of Cohere's Command (generative AI) and Compass (multimodal search) engines, both enhanced for enterprise-grade reasoning. It extends well beyond simple Q&A—North can autonomously create business assets such as tables, reports, documents, presentations, and even perform advanced market research automatically.

Expanding Capabilities with Strategic Acquisitions

Recently, Cohere acquired Ottogrid, a Vancouver-based startup specializing in automated market research tools, further expanding North’s capabilities for enterprise research automation.

Integration and Market Adoption

With $970 million in funding and a recent $5.5 billion valuation, Cohere has already onboarded notable clients such as RBC, Dell, LG, Ensemble Health Partners, and Palantir as pilot users. North integrates seamlessly with leading workplace tools—including Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, Outlook, and Linear—and can connect with any Model Context Protocol (MCP)-compatible application to further extend its value across vertical-specific or proprietary enterprise platforms.

This flexible integration architecture helps organizations transition smoothly from augmented AI workflows, where employees validate AI output, to fully automated processes as confidence grows. Cohere North is positioned as a powerful, secure, and future-proofed AI solution for enterprises seeking to automate tasks while maintaining full control over their data landscape.

Why North Matters in Today’s Digital Enterprise Landscape

In a market where AI adoption is widely seen as a key driver for productivity but is hindered by valid data security concerns, Cohere North stands out. By offering on-premises deployment, robust compliance, and flexible integration options, it enables businesses in regulated and security-sensitive sectors to confidently reap AI’s benefits. As workflow automation and secure AI agent adoption become priorities across industries, solutions like North will be central to the next era of digital transformation.