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World IP Day 2026 — Recognized Innovator

Andrew Davis

  • Chief Data Scientist
  • HiddenLayer, Inc.

Recognized for scientific leadership in AI security and adversarial machine learning.

Andrew Davis brings more than a decade of machine learning and cybersecurity experience to HiddenLayer, where his data science work supports the platform built to detect, test, and defend enterprise AI systems.

Certificate of Recognition

Top IP Innovator — AI Security & Adversarial ML · 2026

HiddenLayer Patents (last 5 years)
0
First Filing
2022
USPTO Art Unit Focus
2435 / 2432 / 2431
Role
Chief Data Scientist
Presented by InspireIP

World IP Day Recognition Series · 2026

HiddenLayer patents, last 5 years
0
Filed in 2024 alone
0
Recognition category
0 Networks & Crypto
The Recognition

Building the data science behind defending AI from AI

On World IP Day 2026, InspireIP recognizes Andrew Davis, Chief Data Scientist at HiddenLayer, for his scientific leadership in AI security and adversarial machine learning.

The recognition is based on HiddenLayer’s patent activity and Andrew’s broader inventor footprint. He is named on earlier patents covering neural networks and attention mechanisms for malware analysis, work that reflects his long-running focus on applying machine learning to cybersecurity.

Andrew earned his PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with research focused on deep and recurrent neural networks. Before HiddenLayer, he held senior data science roles at Cylance, Sophos, Elastic, and Ghost Security.

That background matters because HiddenLayer operates in a category where the attack surface is changing quickly. AI systems now need the same kind of security thinking that traditional software, networks, and endpoints have required for years.

At HiddenLayer, Andrew leads the data science work behind systems that help enterprises discover AI assets, scan models, simulate attacks, and defend AI applications at runtime.

Adversarial Machine Learning
AI Runtime Security
AI Supply Chain Security
Model Scanning & Red Teaming
Agentic AI Protection
AI Threat Detection
Patent Footprint

A portfolio shaped around the security layer for the AI era

2019–2021

HiddenLayer is founded by Chris Sestito, Tanner Burns, James Ballard, and others coming out of cybersecurity backgrounds. The company starts with a focus on protecting machine learning models from adversarial attacks, model theft, and inference manipulation.

2022–2023

8 filings across two years as the platform takes shape. Andrew Davis joins as Chief Data Scientist in November 2022. The company develops its AI Detection and Response (AIDR) capability and begins disclosing CVEs in third-party AI systems through its SAI Team (Synaptic Adversarial Intelligence) security research group. HiddenLayer is recognized as one of the most innovative AI security startups by Gartner and RSAC.

2024–2025

A sharp acceleration. 14 patents across two years, peaking at 11 filings in 2024 — the company's most active filing year. The platform expands to cover AI Discovery, AI Supply Chain Security, AI Attack Simulation, and AI Runtime Security. HiddenLayer publishes the annual AI Threat Landscape Report, expands its enterprise customer base across Financial Services, Federal, and Technology, and adds Agentic and MCP Protection to defend autonomous AI systems.

AI Security & Adversarial ML

A small-entity company filing in a category it helped create

HiddenLayer is classified by the USPTO as a Small Entity, yet its five-year filing volume of 22 patents reflects a company building intellectual property in a field — security for AI systems — that essentially did not exist a decade ago. The portfolio is concentrated in the networks and cryptography art units that protect machine learning model security, adversarial detection methods, and AI runtime defense systems.

Patents, last 5 years
Peak year (2024)
Filings
USPTO entity status
Small Entity
Art unit focus
2435 / 2432 / 2431
"Leading an innovation program is harder than inventing on your own. It means choosing what to file, who to credit, and where to invest, over and over, for years. The leaders we recognize on World IP Day have done that consistently, and built something that compounds."

Sam Zellner

Founder, InspireIP · Inventor · Innovation Leader

About HiddenLayer

Securing AI across the enterprise lifecycle

HiddenLayer is an AI security company built to help enterprises protect generative, predictive, and agentic AI systems.

Its platform covers AI discovery, AI supply chain security, attack simulation, and runtime defense. These capabilities help teams identify AI assets, scan third-party models, test systems against attacks, and monitor AI applications in production.

The company’s research team has disclosed more than 70 CVEs, reflecting its active work in identifying security risks across AI tools and systems.

HiddenLayer serves enterprise customers across financial services, federal, technology, and other sectors where AI adoption creates new security and compliance risks.

IP Day 2027

Know an IP innovator who deserves recognition?

Each year we recognize the inventors and IP leaders behind the portfolios that protect what their companies create. That includes founder-inventors whose contributions often go unmarked. Nominate someone for next year’s list.

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