Workforce AI Security · Why Aona

Aona
Holistic AI

Aona vs Holistic AI

Choose Aona for employee AI security.

See what sets Aona apart, compare the details, and try it on your own devices.

30-day free trialSOC 2 Type II

The verdict

The Aona advantage

Aona is the workforce control point Holistic AI does not have: hard-block DLP at the browser and native AI app with no user override, layout-preserving DOCX, XLSX and PDF redaction, real-time coaching at the moment of a risky prompt, seven Aona-managed hosting regions and a 30-day guided trial and a first signal during the agreed evaluation. Holistic AI is the governance platform for the models and agents you build and run, with model testing, agentic red teaming and framework assessments for the EU AI Act and ISO 42001; it connects through read-only integrations with no endpoint or browser component, so the moment an employee pastes client data into ChatGPT is where its reach stops and Aona's begins.

About this comparison

Aona is the workforce control point: hard-block DLP at the browser and in the native ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude apps, layout-preserving file redaction, real-time coaching and policy templates for the EU AI Act, ISO 42001, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR, live during the agreed evaluation. Holistic AI is an enterprise AI governance platform for the AI you build and run: an AI inventory fed by read-only integrations into cloud platforms, code repositories and SaaS, automated model testing and agentic red teaming, framework assessments for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC Local Law 144, and Guardian Agents that monitor and govern your own AI in production. Holistic AI has no endpoint or browser component, so enforcing the policy on what an employee sends to a third-party AI tool is Aona's job.

The Workforce AI Security platform for any company adopting generative AI, with broader endpoint coverage than the incumbents, a simpler trial, and one of the few that ships hard-block DLP for AI prompts and files.

Holistic AI: Enterprise AI governance platform: AI inventory through read-only integrations, model testing and agentic red teaming, framework assessments for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC Local Law 144, and Guardian Agents for the AI you run; demo-led.

Decision matrix

When to pick Aona

Five buyer scenarios, answered for employee AI use.

You build or deploy AI models and need bias, robustness and red-teaming evidence for the EU AI Act.

Holistic AI

Holistic AI's Protect module runs automated model testing and agentic red teaming, and its framework assessments map the results to the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC Local Law 144; Aona does not audit models. Verify what that toolkit does not do: it connects through read-only integrations with no endpoint or browser component, so what an employee sends to ChatGPT still needs Aona.

You need to stop staff pasting client data into ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude this quarter.

Aona

Aona hard-blocks the prompt on the device at submit with no user override, redacts DOCX, XLSX and PDF uploads with the layout intact and coaches the employee in the moment, in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari and in the ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude desktop apps, pushed with your existing deployment tooling. Holistic AI has no endpoint or browser component: its Sentinel agents inform without interfering and its Operative agents govern the AI you run, not an employee's prompt to a third-party tool (as of September 2026).

Your employee AI data must stay in-country: Australia, the EU or the UK.

Aona

Aona offers managed backend hosting in seven regions, Australia, France, the UK, Germany, the US, Singapore and Hong Kong, plus customer-cloud and on-premises options, with prompt processing selected separately. Holistic AI does not publicly document its hosting region or residency options (as of September 2026); ask for them in writing, and confirm the supported Aona configuration, storage, retention and telemetry for your rollout.

You already run Holistic AI and are adding workforce AI controls.

Aona

Nothing in Holistic AI changes: Aona slots underneath as the runtime control point on managed devices, leaves Holistic AI as the model governance record and exports blocked prompts to Microsoft Sentinel via OCSF. A 30-day guided trial, deployed with your existing tooling, puts the control live during the agreed evaluation, before the next assessment cycle.

You need evidence that the AI policy is applied at the prompt, not only assessed.

Aona

Holistic AI's Audit & Evidence module records the assessment of the models you run. Aona's per-team violation trends and adoption analytics show what employees did at the prompt, with block and coaching events per guardrail, so the ISO 42001 or EU AI Act control on employee AI use has operating evidence within 30 days of rollout.

You have an AI governance reporting obligation and an employee AI usage problem.

Run both

Holistic AI keeps the inventory, the model tests and the regulator-mapped evidence for the AI you run; Aona enforces on the device where employees use third-party AI tools, with no shared component and no overlapping policy engine. Aona's block and coaching events, exported to Sentinel via OCSF, give the reporting the operating evidence an assessment records only as intent.

Capability matrix

What each tool actually does

Choose a priority. Compare Aona’s browser plugin and native app with the other product.

Capability	Aona browser plugin	Aona native app	Holistic AI
Discover
Per-user shadow AI discovery across 10,000+ AI tools	Detection catalog; policy enforcement on the top-tier assistants	Supported	Discovers AI systems across cloud, repos and SaaS, not employee prompts
Prompt inspection at submit, before the prompt reaches the AI provider	Supported	Supported	No endpoint or browser component
Native desktop AI app interception (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude desktop)	The browser plugin covers the browser only	Supported	No endpoint component
AI agent and MCP inspection on the endpoint	Not included	Limited rollout, not general availability	Agent Graph and Guardian Agents cover the AI you run, not the endpoint
Govern
Real-time employee coaching at the moment of a risky prompt	Supported	Supported	Sentinel agents inform without interfering; no employee-facing prompt
AI policy templates: EU AI Act, ISO 42001, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR	Supported	Supported	Framework assessments for EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC LL144
Per-team policy violation trends and AI adoption analytics	Supported	Supported	Inventory and compliance reporting, not per-team prompt violations
Model testing and agentic red teaming (bias, robustness, jailbreak, prompt injection)	Not included	Not included	Protect module, core Holistic AI surface
Protect
Hard block on prompts and file uploads with no user override	Supported	Supported	Operative agents govern the AI you run, not an employee's prompt
Layout-preserving DOCX, XLSX and PDF redaction on upload	Supported	Supported	No upload interception; redaction not described
Operations
Choice of seven Aona-managed hosting regions	Supported	Supported	Not publicly documented
SIEM export: Microsoft Sentinel via OCSF, REST API and webhooks	Supported	Supported	REST APIs and webhooks; SIEM connector not documented
Free 30-day guided trial	Supported	Supported	Demo-led; no self-serve trial
Time to first signal	Agree during scoping	Agree during scoping	Weeks
AI system inventory across cloud, code repositories and SaaS via read-only integrations	Not included	Not included	Identify module; no agents to install

Discover

Per-user shadow AI discovery across 10,000+ AI tools

Aona browser pluginDetection catalog; policy enforcement on the top-tier assistants

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIDiscovers AI systems across cloud, repos and SaaS, not employee prompts

Prompt inspection at submit, before the prompt reaches the AI provider

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AINo endpoint or browser component

Native desktop AI app interception (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude desktop)

Aona browser pluginThe browser plugin covers the browser only

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AINo endpoint component

AI agent and MCP inspection on the endpoint

Aona browser pluginNot included

Aona native appLimited rollout, not general availability

Holistic AIAgent Graph and Guardian Agents cover the AI you run, not the endpoint

Govern

Real-time employee coaching at the moment of a risky prompt

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AISentinel agents inform without interfering; no employee-facing prompt

AI policy templates: EU AI Act, ISO 42001, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIFramework assessments for EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC LL144

Per-team policy violation trends and AI adoption analytics

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIInventory and compliance reporting, not per-team prompt violations

Model testing and agentic red teaming (bias, robustness, jailbreak, prompt injection)

Aona browser pluginNot included

Aona native appNot included

Holistic AIProtect module, core Holistic AI surface

Protect

Hard block on prompts and file uploads with no user override

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIOperative agents govern the AI you run, not an employee's prompt

Layout-preserving DOCX, XLSX and PDF redaction on upload

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AINo upload interception; redaction not described

Operations

Choice of seven Aona-managed hosting regions

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AINot publicly documented

SIEM export: Microsoft Sentinel via OCSF, REST API and webhooks

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIREST APIs and webhooks; SIEM connector not documented

Free 30-day guided trial

Aona browser pluginSupported

Aona native appSupported

Holistic AIDemo-led; no self-serve trial

Time to first signal

Aona browser pluginAgree during scoping

Aona native appAgree during scoping

Holistic AIWeeks

AI system inventory across cloud, code repositories and SaaS via read-only integrations

Aona browser pluginNot included

Aona native appNot included

Holistic AIIdentify module; no agents to install

Based on vendor documentation as of September 2026. Email trust@aona.ai if you find a factual error.

Deployment

From evaluation to rollout.

Aona

Shape: Browser plugin for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari plus a native endpoint app for Windows and macOS, deployed by IT with its existing software deployment tools (Intune is one option). No network routing or DNS changes.
Time to first signal: Agree during scoping
What IT must change: Push the plugin and the endpoint app with your usual deployment tooling and connect Microsoft Entra for admin SSO and user or group sync. Nothing changes on the network, in the SSE or in Microsoft 365.
Prerequisites: A software deployment tool for managed devices (Intune, Jamf or equivalent)
Microsoft Entra for admin SSO and user or group sync; general OIDC or SAML also works

Holistic AI

Shape: Cloud SaaS governance platform with read-only integrations (no agents to install) into cloud platforms, code repositories, ML tooling, model providers, agent frameworks and ticketing or GRC tools (ServiceNow, Jira, Confluence, SharePoint), plus REST APIs, webhooks and SDKs.
Time to first signal: Weeks
What IT must change: Connect the AI inventory sources through the integrations, then configure risk and compliance workflows and framework assessments. Enterprise onboarding, demo-led.
Prerequisites: Identity provider for SSO
An inventory of AI systems and a governance programme to operationalise

Scope, stated plainly

Know the scope. Plan with confidence.

Aona

Aona does not audit models or keep a model registry. That is model governance, a different discipline.
Aona secures employees' use of AI tools. It is not an LLM firewall, an AI-SPM tool or a red-teaming product for AI you build.
Coverage needs the Aona plugin or endpoint app on the device. There is no agentless or network-only mode, so personal and unmanaged devices are out of scope.
Aona has a SOC 2 Type II examination report. No FedRAMP, IRAP or ISO 27001 today.
No iOS or Android coverage: AI use on phones is out of scope.

Holistic AI

No endpoint or browser component: the platform connects through read-only integrations (15+ on the platform page, 20+ on the home page) into cloud platforms, code repositories and SaaS, so what an employee types into ChatGPT is outside that mechanism (as of September 2026).
Guardian Agents act on the AI you run: Sentinel agents are described as informing without interfering, and Operative agents govern tool calls, access and cost of your own AI in production. Blocking, redacting or coaching an employee's prompt to a third-party tool is not described (as of September 2026).
Demo-led: Get a demo is the path, with no self-serve trial (as of September 2026).
Hosting region, data residency and DPA terms are not publicly documented on the pages reviewed; the platform page describes a SOC 2 platform without stating the report type (as of September 2026).
Time to value is measured in weeks: connector setup, inventory population and framework assessment configuration precede the first evidence.

Security review facts

Ready for your security review.

Certifications, data handling, and residency for both vendors, answered up front so your GRC and legal review can start from this page.

Certifications

Aona

SOC 2 Type II (observation period to January 2026, report issued March 2026; trust center at trust.aona.ai). No FedRAMP or IRAP today.

Holistic AI

The platform page describes a SOC 2 platform; the report type and any ISO 27001 or ISO 42001 certification are not stated on the pages reviewed, and the trust portal requires JavaScript. As of September 2026.

Trial

Aona

Free for 30 days. Start with a scoping conversation; access is arranged after deployment requirements are confirmed.

Holistic AI

No self-serve trial: Get a demo is the evaluation path. As of September 2026.

Where prompts are processed

Aona

Choose backend hosting separately from Aona prompt processing. Host the backend in your cloud, on your premises or on Aona-managed servers. Process prompts on the user device/on-edge, in your cloud or on-premises, or on Aona-managed servers. Confirm the supported configuration, retention, telemetry and integrations for your rollout; these choices do not change a third-party AI provider's data handling.

Holistic AI

Not applicable: Holistic AI connects to AI systems through read-only integrations and does not intercept employee prompts; its Guardian Agents monitor and govern the AI you run in production. As of September 2026.

Data residency

Aona

Aona-managed backend hosting has seven regions: Australia, France, UK, Germany, US, Singapore and Hong Kong. Select prompt processing separately; confirm storage, retention, telemetry and any cross-region transfers for the supported configuration. Third-party AI providers have their own data handling.

Holistic AI

Not publicly documented (as of July 2026)

DPA and security docs

Aona

DPA available on request. Trust center at trust.aona.ai, security overview at aona.ai/security. SOC 2 report under NDA.

Holistic AI

Not publicly documented (as of July 2026)

Competitor facts come from public documentation and pricing pages. Where a vendor does not publish a fact, we say so rather than guess. Corrections: trust@aona.ai.

How they layer

How Aona and Holistic AI work together

Aona enforces at the moment of action: a modal pauses the prompt before sensitive data reaches the AI service, with hard-block DLP, layout-preserving file redaction and real-time coaching, in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari and in the native ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude apps. Holistic AI governs the models and agents you build and run: AI inventory through read-only integrations, model testing and agentic red teaming, and framework assessments for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC Local Law 144. Run both and the model governance lives in Holistic AI while the prevention on employee AI use, and the evidence that it ran, lives in Aona.

01 · Aona

Workforce control layer

Aona intercepts at the browser and native AI apps. Hard-block DLP, file redaction and coaching at submit, first signal during the agreed evaluation.

02 · Holistic AI

Model governance layer

Holistic AI inventories AI systems, tests models, runs agentic red teaming and maps the results to regulators.

03 · Outcome

Governance plus prevention

Aona enforces what employees can send at the moment of the prompt and keeps the operating evidence; Holistic AI evidences what the models you run should do.

Sources & review notes ↗Page updated: September 17, 2026

Aona publishes these comparisons to explain its fit for employee AI use. Competitor facts come from public documentation, are dated, and are stated as mechanisms you can verify. Corrections: trust@aona.ai.

Holistic AI platform
Product reference: Current AI governance, risk and evaluation product scope. This overview is not independent test evidence for every granular comparison claim.
Aona coverage and deployment scope
Aona's client and action boundaries; validate the configuration and actual policy result during your Aona pilot.

Get started

Layer Aona on top of your Holistic AI governance programme

Free for 30 days. Start with a scoping conversation; access is arranged after deployment requirements are confirmed.

Start free trial Book a demo

FAQ

Common questions from Holistic AI customers

We have Holistic AI for AI governance. Do we still need Aona?

Yes, for the control point. Aona pauses the prompt at submit in the browser and in the native ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude apps, hard-blocks sensitive data with no user override, redacts DOCX, XLSX and PDF uploads while preserving layout and coaches the employee in the moment, deployed with your existing device tooling and Microsoft Entra with a first signal during the agreed evaluation. Holistic AI inventories your AI systems through read-only integrations, tests models and maps controls to the EU AI Act and ISO 42001; it has no endpoint or browser component, so it governs the AI you run and Aona governs what employees send to third-party AI tools. The two run at different layers and do not conflict.

Does Aona compete with Holistic AI on model testing or red teaming?

No. Aona does not test models, run bias or robustness checks or red-team LLMs; that is Holistic AI's Protect module and it stays there. Aona covers employee AI use: hard-block DLP on prompts and uploads with no user override, layout-preserving file redaction, native ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude desktop app coverage and real-time coaching, with policy templates for the EU AI Act, ISO 42001, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR that configure enforcement on the device. Many regulated buyers run both, because testing a model says nothing about what an employee pastes into ChatGPT.

Will Aona conflict with our Holistic AI deployment?

No. Aona is endpoint-based on managed devices, pushed with your existing deployment tooling. Holistic AI is a cloud SaaS platform fed by read-only integrations. There is no shared component, no overlapping policy engine and no traffic conflict, and Aona's block and coaching events can be exported to Microsoft Sentinel via OCSF as operating evidence next to Holistic AI's assessments. Most organisations have Aona running alongside Holistic AI within an hour.

Both Holistic AI and Aona mention shadow AI discovery. Is that the same thing?

No. Aona discovers which AI tools your employees actually use, per user across 10,000+ tools, from the browser plugin and the endpoint app, with a first signal during the agreed evaluation and enforcement on the top-tier assistants. Holistic AI's Identify module discovers models, agents, APIs and pipelines your organisation runs by connecting read-only to cloud platforms, code repositories and SaaS. Different surfaces: Aona sees employee usage, Holistic AI sees the model estate, and the two inventories can sit side by side.

How fast can we get value from Aona compared to Holistic AI?

Aona deploys as part of the agreed evaluation with your existing device tooling and Microsoft Entra, starts with a 30-day guided trial, and flags sensitive data in prompts and uploads from day one, with per-guardrail tuning in your own tenant. Holistic AI is demo-led, with connector setup, inventory population and framework assessment configuration measured in weeks. They solve different problems on different timelines, and the Aona side needs no Holistic AI change.

Where does Holistic AI cover ground Aona does not?

When the obligation is model and system governance: an AI inventory across cloud, code repositories and SaaS through read-only integrations, model testing and agentic red teaming, framework assessments for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 and NYC Local Law 144, and Guardian Agents for the AI you run, which Aona does not ship. That scope has no endpoint or browser component, so what an employee pastes into an AI tool is outside its mechanism. Choose Aona for controlling employee AI use, and run it alongside Holistic AI when you need both the model evidence and the enforcement.

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