In a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) deployment, a Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) acts as a segmentation gateway, which involves dividing the network into segments to limit the lateral movement of threats and enforcing security policies within those segments. Additionally, NGFWs are capable of performing deep packet inspection, a process where the data in the packet is analyzed in detail to detect and respond to threats, ensuring that malicious traffic is identified and blocked. These functionalities help in maintaining the security and integrity of the network within a ZTA framework.