Robust Intelligence was acquired by Cisco in September 2024.
The technology has been integrated into the acquirer's product line. New buyers should evaluate the successor product directly.
See the current product from CiscoRobust Intelligence
AI security startup acquired by Cisco in September 2024; its validation and AI firewall technology is the core of Cisco AI Defense
Last checked October 15, 2026Quick facts: Robust Intelligence is an AI compliance vendor founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, United States. The vendor publicly documents coverage for EU AI Act. Pricing is available on request. Profile last checked October 15, 2026; sources are cited at the bottom of this page.
About Robust Intelligence
Robust Intelligence was an AI security company founded in 2019 by Yaron Singer, a Harvard computer science and applied mathematics professor who became its CEO, and Kojin Oshiba, his former student. It was based in San Francisco and also had operations in Israel. Sequoia Capital led its seed and Series A rounds ($14 million combined, announced in October 2020), and Tiger Global and Sequoia led a $30 million Series B in December 2021, bringing its funding to about $44 million. Cisco Investments was also an investor. Cisco announced its intent to acquire Robust Intelligence on August 26, 2024 and completed the deal on September 24, 2024. The price was not disclosed. Robust Intelligence is no longer a separate product: its technology is the core of Cisco AI Defense, which Cisco unveiled on January 15, 2025 and said would be available that March. Buyers should evaluate Cisco AI Defense. **What it sold** Robust Intelligence started with RIME (the Robust Intelligence Model Engine), built around an "AI Firewall" that wraps a model, checks its inputs and outputs, and stress-tests it. Its later platform had two parts. AI Validation automatically tested models for security and safety vulnerabilities (such as prompt injection and data poisoning) before and after deployment, scanned open-source models, data and files for supply chain vulnerabilities such as malicious pickle files, recommended guardrails and produced reports. AI Protection applied those guardrails in production. It ran as SaaS in Robust Intelligence's private AWS VPC or as a hybrid deployment with a self-hosted data plane, and it integrated with observability and SIEM tools such as Splunk, Datadog, CrowdStrike and AppDynamics. The company also co-developed the AI Risk Database and said it co-authored NIST's adversarial machine learning taxonomy and contributed to the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications. **Frameworks** Its product page says tests were mapped to the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS, NIST's adversarial machine learning taxonomy, the EU AI Act and the White House executive order on AI. It does not mention the NIST AI RMF or ISO 42001. Cisco AI Defense maps to the NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATLAS and the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs. **Status** The robustintelligence.com site is still online and describes AI Validation and AI Protection without mentioning Cisco. We found no current way to buy Robust Intelligence separately from Cisco.
Frameworks supported
Regulations, voluntary standards and compliance programs Robust Intelligence documents support for on their own materials. Chip shading reflects the strength of the claim, not an independent audit.
Regulation · EU · Phased — in force; high-risk rules deferred
Robust Intelligence features
Capabilities Robust Intelligence markets publicly. Inclusion means the feature is documented on the vendor's site — not that it's best-in-class. Last checked October 15, 2026.
LLM Red Teaming
Automated adversarial testing of LLMs for jailbreaks, prompt injection, and unsafe outputs.
Model Validation
Verification that a model meets accuracy, robustness, and compliance requirements before deployment.
AI Guardrails
Runtime controls that constrain LLM input and output to enforce safety, compliance, and brand policies.
Prompt Injection Defense
Detection and mitigation of malicious prompts intended to bypass system instructions or exfiltrate data.
Runtime Enforcement
Inline policy enforcement on AI inputs and outputs at request time.
AI Supply Chain Risk
Assessment of risks from third-party models, datasets, and AI service providers.
Integrations
Documented by Robust Intelligence in public product materials.
- Splunk
- Datadog
- Databricks
Robust Intelligence pricing
Robust Intelligence is no longer sold on its own and its site lists no prices. Cisco sells the technology as Cisco AI Defense, also without public prices: its offer description lists Advantage, Validation Essentials and Runtime Essentials packages, bought per AI application or as committed usage. AWS Marketplace lists Cisco AI Defense by private offer, and Cisco offers a self-service red-teaming tool, AI Defense: Explorer Edition, at no upfront cost.
Vendor changelog
Durable events we've independently sourced — acquisitions, certification milestones, product launches. Each entry cites a primary or trusted secondary source.
- product launch
Cisco unveiled AI Defense, built on Robust Intelligence
Cisco launched AI Defense for AI discovery, model validation and runtime protection, with availability planned for March 2025.
Cisco - acquisition
Cisco completed its acquisition of Robust Intelligence
Cisco updated its announcement to say the acquisition was complete.
Cisco - acquisition
Cisco announced its intent to acquire Robust Intelligence
Cisco said it would integrate Robust Intelligence's AI security platform into Cisco Security Cloud. Terms were not disclosed.
Cisco
Pros and cons of Robust Intelligence
Pros
- The technology lives on with Cisco's backing: Dark Reading described Robust Intelligence as the core component of Cisco AI Defense, which adds asset discovery, supply chain scanning and agent security.
- Strong research pedigree: founded by a Harvard professor, it co-developed the AI Risk Database, co-authored NIST's adversarial machine learning taxonomy and contributed to the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications.
- Covered both sides of model security: pre-deployment validation and red teaming (AI Validation) and production guardrails (AI Protection), with tests mapped to OWASP, MITRE ATLAS and the EU AI Act.
Cons
- No longer sold as Robust Intelligence: new buyers have to go through Cisco and buy Cisco AI Defense, which has no public prices.
- The robustintelligence.com site still describes the old products and doesn't mention Cisco, so its pages don't tell you what Cisco sells today.
- Built for AI security testing and guardrails, not governance: we found no model inventory or policy management features (its compliance output was test reports mapped to standards), and its pages don't mention the NIST AI RMF or ISO 42001.
Alternatives to Robust Intelligence
Cisco AI Defense
Compare Robust Intelligence vs Cisco AI Defense
HiddenLayer
Compare Robust Intelligence vs HiddenLayer
Prisma AIRS
Compare Robust Intelligence vs Prisma AIRS
F5 AI Guardrails
Compare Robust Intelligence vs F5 AI Guardrails
Noma Security
Compare Robust Intelligence vs Noma Security
Lakera
Compare Robust Intelligence vs Lakera
Frequently asked
What was Robust Intelligence?+
Robust Intelligence was a San Francisco AI security company founded in 2019 by Yaron Singer and Kojin Oshiba. It sold AI Validation, which tested models and AI applications for security and safety vulnerabilities, and AI Protection, which applied guardrails in production, building on its earlier AI Firewall.
Is Robust Intelligence still an independent product?+
No. Cisco completed its acquisition of Robust Intelligence on September 24, 2024, and the technology is now the core of Cisco AI Defense, which Cisco launched in January 2025. We found no way to buy Robust Intelligence separately; evaluate Cisco AI Defense instead.
When did Cisco acquire Robust Intelligence, and for how much?+
Cisco announced its intent to acquire Robust Intelligence on August 26, 2024 and completed the acquisition on September 24, 2024. Cisco did not disclose the price.
How much did Robust Intelligence raise?+
About $44 million: $14 million in seed and Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital, announced in October 2020, and a $30 million Series B led by Tiger Global and Sequoia in December 2021. Cisco Investments was also an investor.
What are the alternatives to Robust Intelligence?+
Cisco AI Defense is its direct successor. Other AI security platforms in this directory are HiddenLayer, Prisma AIRS (Palo Alto Networks), F5 AI Guardrails, Noma Security and Lakera.
Sources
- Robust Intelligence: homepage (AI Validation, AI Protection; no mention of Cisco)
- Robust Intelligence: platform overview (SaaS or hybrid deployment, SIEM and observability integrations, standards mapping)
- Robust Intelligence: AI Validation (algorithmic red teaming, supply chain scanning, reports mapped to standards)
- Robust Intelligence: About (founded 2019; Yaron Singer and Kojin Oshiba)
- Cisco blog: Cisco announces intent to acquire Robust Intelligence (August 26, 2024; updated September 24, 2024: acquisition completed)
- Cisco: Acquisitions list (Robust Intelligence, August 26, 2024)
- SiliconANGLE: Cisco snaps up AI model and data security startup Robust Intelligence (August 27, 2024; price undisclosed)
- Cisco newsroom: Cisco unveils AI Defense (January 15, 2025)
- Dark Reading: Cisco previews AI Defense (January 21, 2025; Robust Intelligence as its core component)
- Cisco: AI Defense offer description, version 2.1 (packages and usage units)
- Sequoia Capital: Robust Intelligence (founders, partnered 2019, acquired 2024)
- Calcalist: Robust Intelligence raises $30M from Tiger Global and Sequoia (December 10, 2021; earlier seed and Series A)
- Globes: Robust Intelligence to expand Israel activities after raising $30M (December 2021)
- The SaaS News: Robust Intelligence raises $30M Series B (founders, San Francisco, RIME)
- Global Venturing: Robust Intelligence grasps $14M (October 27, 2020; seed and Series A led by Sequoia)
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