HiddenLayer, a Gartner recognized Cool Vendor for AI Security, is the leading provider of Security for AI. Its security platform helps enterprises safeguard the machine learning models behind their most important products. HiddenLayer is the only company to offer turnkey security for AI that does not add unnecessary complexity to models and does not require access to raw data and algorithms. Founded by a team with deep roots in security and ML, HiddenLayer aims to protect enterprise’s AI from inference, bypass, extraction attacks, and model theft. The company is backed by a group of strategic investors, including M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Moore Strategic Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, and Capital One Ventures.
Our Story
The HiddenLayer team was born out of a real-world adversarial artificial intelligence attack in 2019.
Tito, Jim, and Tanner came face to face with an adversarial AI attack at Cylance, an AI company that revolutionized the anti-virus industry by leveraging deep learning to prevent malware attacks. At the time, Tito was was leading Threat Research for Cylance.
Attackers had exploited Cylance’s Windows executable AI model using an inference attack, exposing its weaknesses and allowing them to produce binary files that could successfully evade detection and infect every Cylance customer.
During the response and recovery effort, HiddenLayer’s founders realized the inherent weaknesses in AI would be the next threat landscape evolution, targeting the fastest growing, most important, and now most vulnerable technology the world has ever seen.
Formed from the best data science and threat research talent on the planet, we’re here to protect your most important technology, artificial intelligence.
Elegant Code, Not Complexity
We believe that dedicated AI security should be accessible to any organization that needs it, without being invasive.
Secure your AI from inference, bypass, extraction attacks, and model theft while analyzing the behavior of your in-production model with a cloud-based software solution and light-touch consulting.
Strategic Partners
HiddenLayer has developed partnerships with innovative big data organizations like Databricks and leaders in security standards like MITRE. HiddenLayer was also recognized as a cutting-edge AI startup as part of the NVIDIA Inception Program.
We’re proud to be part of these partnerships and programs, and grateful for the opportunities, thought leadership, and resources they provide to accelerate our mission.
The HiddenLayer Team
Leadership
As the security leaders within innovative AI organizations, we saw firsthand how typical security solutions failed to provide adequate defense, detection, and response to emerging adversarial AI attacks. Fixing that is our motivation.
August 23, 2022
Christopher "Tito" Sestito
Chairman of the Board, CEO & Co-Founder
Data Scientist, Threat Researcher, Reverse Engineer
August 24, 2022
Tanner Burns
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
Machine Learning Engineer, Automation Specialist, Published Researcher
August 30, 2022
Our Synaptic Adversarial Intelligence (SAI) Team
Through a blend of cybersecurity expertise and the latest in AI thinking, our SAI team constantly keeps the HiddenLayer platform one step ahead of attacker tactics, techniques and procedures.
Board of Directors
Our Advisors
May 4, 2023
Doug Merritt
Former CEO — Splunk
November 26, 2022
Chris Scanlan
President and Chief Commercial Officer — ExtraHop
President of Americas — Check Point Software
November 23, 2022
Matt Wolff
Co-Founder and Chief Scientist — Obsidian Security
Chief Data Scientist — Cylance
November 28, 2022
Stephan Chenette
Co-Founder and CTO — AttackIQ
November 24, 2022
Tom Pace
Co-Founder and CEO — NetRise
Cylance, Blackberry, Department of Energy, USMC
November 29, 2022
Scott Nicholson
Chief Data Scientist — Poynt
November 22, 2022
John Giacomini
SVP Sales — Netskope
Chief Revenue Officer — Agari
March 28, 2023
Charlie Kawasaki
CEO & President — Software Diligence Services
Embedded Entrepreneur — Galois
November 19, 2022
Howard Levenson
Former GM, Vice President — Databricks
November 18, 2022
Austin Hagerty
Director, Data & AI — Microsoft
Investors
© 2025 HiddenLayer
