Akamai Technologies

When Netflix streams to millions of viewers without buffering, when a major website stays online during a massive DDoS attack, or when your DNS queries resolve in milliseconds from anywhere in the world — there's a good chance Akamai Technologies is quietly making it happen. Founded in 1998 by MIT researchers who cracked the code on distributed content delivery, Akamai has built something remarkable: a globally distributed network of over 325,000 servers spanning more than 1,000 cities that processes roughly 15-30% of all web traffic.

What started as a content delivery network (CDN) has evolved into something much bigger. Akamai operates one of the world's largest authoritative DNS infrastructures, providing DNS services that handle billions of queries daily with the kind of reliability that keeps the internet humming. Their Edge DNS platform doesn't just resolve domain names — it's engineered for the massive scale that modern applications demand, with built-in DDoS protection and traffic management that automatically routes requests to the optimal server.

But Akamai's real differentiator isn't just the size of their network — it's how they've layered intelligence on top of it. Their proprietary algorithms continuously analyze network conditions, user locations, and content types to make split-second decisions about where to serve each request from. When a user clicks a link, Akamai's mapping system translates that domain name into the IP address of whichever edge server can deliver the content fastest, creating an experience that feels instantaneous.

The company has systematically expanded beyond pure content delivery into cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure. Their web application firewall and bot management solutions protect against the kinds of attacks that can cripple websites, while their microsegmentation technology — acquired through their $600 million purchase of Guardicore in 2021 — helps enterprises secure their internal networks. The $900 million acquisition of Linode in 2022 brought serious cloud infrastructure capabilities, giving Akamai compute and storage services to compete directly with AWS and Azure at the edge.

What makes Akamai particularly relevant in the DNS and domain space is their role as internet infrastructure. They're not just delivering websites — they're the authoritative DNS provider for many of those domains, handling the critical first step that turns a domain name into a routable IP address. Their recent $450 million acquisition of API security vendor Noname Security in 2024 shows they're doubling down on protecting the application layer where domains and APIs intersect.

Today, Akamai sits at a fascinating inflection point. They're transforming from a CDN company into what CEO Tom Leighton calls "the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online." With $3.99 billion in revenue and over 10,000 employees, they're betting their massive edge infrastructure can do for cloud and AI what they've already done for content delivery and security.