Databricks Mosaic AI Gateway vs Trussed AI: Which Governs Regulated LLM Traffic?

What a gateway does and what runtime enforcement does

An AI gateway is generally described as a routing and control layer for LLM requests. Market descriptions commonly include routing traffic across providers, applying input and output controls, detecting prompt injection and sensitive data exposure, central logging, policy management and usage visibility. A platform-native gateway such as Mosaic AI Gateway applies that pattern inside a single data platform. For teams whose models, data and applications already live there, that proximity is a real advantage: one set of identities, one place to administer, and less infrastructure to run.

Runtime policy enforcement answers a narrower question: what is this specific interaction allowed to do, right now? The enforcement point sits in the execution path, so a decision is made on each model call or tool call before it proceeds. Policy is enforced at runtime, not reviewed after the fact. The available actions matter as much as the detection, because a finding that cannot change the outcome is only an observation.

Trussed operates in this second category. It enforces policy in the execution path across models, agents, tools, MCP servers, AI sites and coding assistants. The actions are allow, redact, block, rate limit and escalate for human approval, applied to individual interactions and tool calls. This is not a replacement for platform administration. It is a different layer with a different job.

Comparing the two approaches on the criteria that matter

The table contrasts the platform-native gateway pattern with Trussed. Test Mosaic AI Gateway against each row using its current Databricks documentation, since specific capabilities and limits vary by product and release.

• Enforcement point: Platform-native gateway: an endpoint inside the data platform that requests are routed through. Trussed: in the execution path, so each interaction and tool call is evaluated as it happens.
• Policy scope: Platform-native gateway: traffic to models served through that platform. Trussed: models, agents, tools, MCP servers, AI sites and coding assistants under one policy plane, with 100+ models under one policy plane in production.
• Action types: Platform-native gateway: confirm which of allow, redact, block, rate limit and escalate are supported, and at what granularity. Trussed: allow, redact, block, rate limit and escalate for human approval.
• Evidence generation: Platform-native gateway: confirm what is recorded per request, where it is stored and how it maps to your controls. Trussed: continuous audit-ready evidence generated by enforcement, mapped to HIPAA, NAIC, NYDFS, EU AI Act and NIST.
• Deployment and residency: Platform-native gateway: runs within the platform's own deployment and residency boundaries. Trussed: self-managed in the customer cloud, with configurable retention and data residency.
• Coverage beyond one platform: Platform-native gateway: strongest where workloads are concentrated in that platform. Trussed: applies wherever the AI execution path runs, including outside a single data platform.

Evidence: request records versus proof of enforcement

Regulators and auditors rarely ask only whether traffic was recorded. They ask what the system was permitted to do, which policy applied, what decision was made and who approved exceptions. A request and response record shows that an interaction happened. Evidence generated by enforcement also shows the policy version evaluated, the action taken and any human approval, which is closer to what an examination needs.

The frameworks point in this direction. The EU AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, adopted on 13 June 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 12 July 2024, sets requirements for high-risk AI systems that include risk management, technical documentation, record-keeping, transparency, human oversight, and robustness, accuracy and cybersecurity. Which obligations apply depends on how a system is classified. As of October 2026, a consolidated text dated 27 July 2026 is available, but it is a documentation tool with no legal effect, so cite the original act for obligations. The NIST Generative AI Profile, published in July 2024, is a practical reference for mapping controls to generative AI risks.

For HIPAA, NYDFS and NAIC, the test is the same: map the evidence you hold to the specific control language you are audited against. Trussed generates audit-ready evidence mapped to these frameworks and operates at a scale of 30+ GB of audit evidence per day in production. Whichever layer you choose, ask whether the evidence is durable, retained under your own policy, and held where residency rules require.

Where each approach fits, and where both belong

Mosaic AI Gateway is a strong fit when LLM workloads are concentrated in the Databricks ecosystem and the controls you need are available at the platform endpoint. It keeps administration close to the data and models, and for many teams that is the right starting point. Treat it as part of the platform's own control set.

Gaps tend to appear when requirements extend past one platform. Agents call tools, tools reach external APIs, and models are served from several places. Controls at the model request do not automatically cover those steps, and OWASP treats policy between agents, tools and external APIs as its own control area. If you must show a regulator what the AI was allowed to do across that whole path, an enforcement layer in the execution path addresses a different surface from a platform gateway.

The two can be complementary. A platform-native gateway can continue to serve routing and platform administration, while runtime enforcement applies one policy across models, agents and tools and produces evidence in a consistent form. Trussed has run for 18+ months in continuous production in a regulated enterprise at 99.95% uptime on live traffic, with customers in insurance, pharma, healthcare and education. Its scope is individual interactions and tool calls. Decide by mapping your traffic paths and audit requirements to the checklist above, not by product category alone.