As companies push generative AI and machine learning into customer-facing apps, a new question is landing on the desks of security chiefs: who protects the AI itself? AI-native cybersecurity company Protectt.ai is betting it can be one of the answers. The Bessemer Venture Partners-backed startup has taken a majority stake in AIShield, the AI security platform incubated within Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW), the wholly owned software arm of Robert Bosch GmbH.

The deal, announced on 27 October, is Protectt.ai’s first acquisition. It combines a primary issue of fresh shares in AIShield with a secondary purchase of shares from existing investors. Bosch will keep a minority stake. The companies have not disclosed the value of the transaction.

AIShield becomes an independent company

Under the new structure, AIShield will run as a separate entity, AI Shield Private Limited, under Protectt.ai, with its existing intellectual property moving into the new company. It will have its own professional management team, a focus on AI security research and product development, and the freedom to raise outside funding in the future.

Founded in 2022 by Shiv Kumar and Amit Phadke inside BGSW, AIShield builds security for machine learning models, generative AI applications and AI supply chains. Its platform covers the lifecycle of an AI system, from security assessment and red teaming during development to runtime protection and safety guardrails in production. It is designed to defend against attacks that try to manipulate AI systems, such as prompt injection, and to help enterprises manage compliance risk. AIShield has more than 40 patent filings, including 11 granted patent families, and customers across Europe and the Middle East.

From mobile app security to securing enterprise AI

Protectt.ai is best known for mobile application security, with a customer base concentrated in regulated sectors such as banking, financial services and insurance. Bringing AIShield in-house lets it pair that platform and those relationships with dedicated AI security capabilities, at a time when AI features are showing up inside almost every app that a bank or insurer ships.

Protectt.ai co-founder Manish Mimani has said the company plans to work with private enterprises and government organisations through AIShield to build an India-developed AI security platform. The fresh capital is earmarked for research and development, global expansion and sovereign AI security capabilities, and the partnership is also expected to take AIShield into Asian markets.

Hiring plans and more deals on the radar

AIShield currently has around 12 to 15 employees. According to Inc42, it plans to grow that to 50 to 60 people by March 2027, hiring PhD researchers, master’s graduates and engineers from leading institutions. Protectt.ai set up a dedicated M&A team earlier this year and is exploring further acquisitions and partnerships in areas such as API and cloud security as it works towards a full-stack AI security offering.

Why it matters

India’s enterprises and government departments are moving from AI pilots to production, and the attack surface is moving with them. Securing models, prompts and AI supply chains is fast becoming as important as securing networks and devices. A home-grown platform that combines app security with AI-specific defences, backed by Bosch-born research and patents, gives regulated Indian sectors another option as they look to keep sensitive AI workloads both safe and under domestic control.

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