As companies deploy AI-powered chatbots, agents, and copilots across their operations, they’re facing a new risk: how do you let employees and AI agents use powerful AI tools without accidentally leaking sensitive data, violating compliance rules, or opening the door to prompt-based injections? Witness AI just raised $58 million to find a solution, building what they call “the confidence layer for enterprise AI.”
Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan was joined by Barmak Meftah, co-founder and partner at Ballistic Ventures, and Rick Caccia, CEO of Witness AI, to discuss what enterprises are actually worried about, why AI security become an $800 billion to $1.2 trillion market by 2031, and what happens when AI agents start talking to other AI agents without human oversight.
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
01:03 – Peeling back the “onion layers” of AI security challenges
04:40 – Why Ballistic Ventures invested in Witness AI
07:12 – From fear to enablement: A new approach to cybersecurity
11:21 – $58M funding round and strategic investors
15:16 – Market opportunity and competitive landscape
18:08 – Speed-running through AI threats: What enterprises are paying for
21:21 – Security risks and protecting AI data
28:51 – Outro
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