MarTech Pulse Exclusive Interview with Buchi Reddy is the Founder and CEO of Levo.ai

Welcome to MarTech Pulse! We chat with Buchi Reddy built Levo.ai from his belief that innovation needs trust, creating unified runtime security to accelerate safe, scalable AI adoption.

We would love to know what inspired you to develop Levo.ai’s unified AI security platform, and how your personal journey shaped this vision from shift-left to runtime security?

Levo.ai was born from a simple but powerful realization I carried for years, that security only works when it helps people move forward, not hold them back. At AppDynamics and later through the Cisco acquisition, I saw the tension firsthand where brilliant teams tried to innovate but constantly slowed by fragmented tools and blind spots. Those experiences stayed with me. They shaped my belief that modern software, especially AI, needs protection that moves with it, not behind it.

When I started Levo, I spent countless hours with CISOs and engineering leaders who were excited about AI but hesitant to deploy it widely. Not because of the technology, but because they couldn’t see what was happening inside it, the model behaviour, agent actions, data flows, identities. Their message to me was consistent, ‘If we could trust it, we would scale it.’ That’s when the vision for unified, runtime AI security became deeply personal. I knew we had to build something that gave enterprises the confidence to innovate without fear.

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So the platform we’re building today is a reflection of that journey, a blend of my own experiences, the trust our early customers placed in us, and the belief that security should unlock possibility, not restrict it. Levo’s unified AI security platform is our way of helping companies step boldly into the future, knowing that the foundations beneath them are secure.

AI ecosystems are incredibly complex with multiple moving parts. From your experience, what are the biggest security challenges enterprises face when adopting AI at scale?

The challenges enterprises face with AI adoption at scale are absolutely fascinating, and we’re seeing organizations tackle them headon with incredible innovation.

The first challenge is the skills revolution we’re witnessing right now. We’re in an extraordinary moment where entire workforces are transforming themselves to harness AI’s power. Companies aren’t just training employees, they’re reimagining what work itself looks like. Yes, we’re all learning together, but that’s what makes this moment so electrifying. Organizations are approaching this with remarkable creativity, building AI literacy programs, bringing in specialized talent, and creating cultures of continuous learning. It’s not just upskilling, it’s a complete evolution of the modern workforce.

The second challenge, and this is where my passion really ignites is security. I’ve watched brilliant companies create groundbreaking AI proof of concepts, only to pause at the production line. Why? Because they’re smart enough to know that production data requires bulletproof protection. This isn’t hesitation, it’s wisdom. These organizations understand that rushing AI into production without proper security is like launching a rocket without checking the fuel. That’s exactly why Levo.ai exists, to give them the confidence to move from POC to production at full speed.

The third challenge is the economics of AI, which is rapidly evolving in exciting ways. Yes, token costs and consumption rates are real considerations, not every organization has unlimited budgets for AI experimentation. But here’s what’s thrilling, we’re watching costs plummet month by month. The democratization of AI is happening before our eyes. Smart organizations are strategically optimizing their model usage, leveraging specialized models when available, and building cost effective AI strategies that deliver massive ROI.

But here’s the key insight, while cost considerations matter, the skills and security challenges are the real game changers. Organizations that solve these two challenges unlock exponential value that dwarfs any token costs. At Levo.ai, we’re laser focused on the security piece of this puzzle. We’re enabling enterprises to deploy AI with absolute confidence, turning what was once their biggest concern into their greatest competitive advantage.

The future belongs to organizations that master all three challenges, and we’re thrilled to be their security partner on this incredible journey.

Many enterprises hesitate to fully deploy AI due to security and compliance concerns. How does Levo.ai help companies overcome these barriers and accelerate AI adoption?

This is exactly the challenge that fires us up every single day at Levo.ai. Security concerns shouldn’t be the handbrake on AI innovation, they should be the accelerator, and that’s precisely what we’ve achieved with our platform.

We’re fundamentally transforming how enterprises approach AI deployment. Instead of hesitation, we’re enabling bold, confident action. Our platform delivers something revolutionary, complete, realtime visibility into every model and application across the entire AI ecosystem. Think of it as giving enterprises superpowers, they can see everything, monitor everything, and control everything in their AI stack.

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Here’s what makes our approach so powerful. We’ve built an end to end security fortress that protects organizations at every stage. Before any AI agent or application goes live, we put it through rigorous battle testing against threats like prompt injection and model abuse. It’s like having an elite security force validating every deployment before it reaches production.

But the real magic happens at runtime. Our continuous monitoring engine is relentless, scanning 24/7 for sensitive data leaks, catching governance violations in real time, flagging regulatory breaches instantly, and neutralizing threats before they materialize. This isn’t just security, it’s security with intelligence.

The result? Enterprises aren’t just overcoming barriers, they’re demolishing them. With Levo.ai, companies are gaining their confidence to accelerate their AI initiatives dramatically. They’re no longer flying blind, they’re soaring with complete visibility and control. We’re not just enabling AI adoption, we’re unleashing it at unprecedented scale and speed. That’s the Levo.ai difference, turning security from a roadblock into a runway for AI innovation.

Your platform provides automated discovery and runtime governance for AI components. How does this improve an organization’s ability to detect and respond to threats in real time?

This is where Levo.ai absolutely revolutionizes the game. Let me paint you a picture of what true AI security looks like in action.

The foundation of everything is visibility, and we deliver it at an unprecedented level. Without visibility, organizations are essentially fighting threats blindfolded. We completely eliminate that vulnerability. Our automated discovery engine illuminates every single AI component in your ecosystem, every application, every skill your AI agents possess, every model weight, every origin story. Whether it’s a third-party provider model or cloud hosted infrastructure, we’ve got it mapped, tracked, and monitored in real time.

But here’s where it gets incredibly powerful. We transform this visibility into actionable intelligence. Our platform continuously analyzes production traffic using both signature based and behavioral detection methods, it’s like having thousands of security experts watching every data flow simultaneously. When we detect a potential threat or vulnerability, we don’t just sound an alarm, we deliver it with full context that empowers immediate, informed action.

And this context is absolutely game changing. Imagine responding to a threat and instantly knowing. Which exact application is affected? What model is involved? When was it deployed? Who owns it? Who should you contact? This isn’t just data; it’s intelligence that transforms your security team into a rapid response force.

The result is extraordinary. Organizations move from reactive scrambling to proactive mastery. They’re not just detecting threats faster, they’re preventing them with surgical precision. Our runtime governance ensures that every AI component operates within defined security parameters, automatically. It’s like having an immune system for your AI infrastructure that gets smarter and faster with every interaction.

This is what real time threat detection and response looks like in the AI era, comprehensive, contextual, and blazingly fast. With Levo.ai, organizations don’t just respond to threats, they stay perpetually ahead of them.

Looking forward, how do you foresee the AI security landscape evolving over the next few years, especially as AI usage becomes more widespread?

The future of AI security is absolutely electrifying, and we’re positioning ourselves at the forefront of this revolution. We’re witnessing the dawn of a new era, what we’re seeing today is literally just the first 1% of what’s coming. The entire SaaS landscape is about to be completely reimagined through AI, and the security implications are mindblowing.

Here’s what excites me most. AI is about to become as natural as breathing. I recently had this incredible realization while talking with my family. Within the next few years, even my non-technical relatives will be commanding sophisticated AI systems just by having conversations with their phones. This democratization of AI is unstoppable and transformative.

But with this explosion comes fascinating security challenges that we’re already preparing to conquer. Picture this future, AI agents being manipulated through sophisticated social engineering, identity spoofing at unprecedented scales, permission systems being exploited in ways we’ve never imagined, and threat actors attempting to extract intelligence from models through slow, methodical data exfiltration. These aren’t just theoretical risks, they’re the battlegrounds of tomorrow.

What makes this incredibly exciting for Levo.ai is that we’re not just anticipating these challenges, we’re actively building the solutions today. The security paradigms we’re developing now will become the foundation for protecting AI systems that haven’t even been invented yet. We’re staying agile, adaptive, and ahead of the curve because we know that flexibility is survival in this rapidly evolving landscape.

The bottom line? We’re standing at the precipice of the most significant technological transformation in human history. The challenges ahead are complex, sophisticated, and absolutely thrilling to tackle. At Levo.ai, we’re not just ready for this future, we’re helping create it, secure it, and enable organizations to embrace it fearlessly. The next few years aren’t just going to change AI security; they’re going to define it for generations to come. And we couldn’t be more excited to lead that charge.

For IT and security leaders planning to deploy AI, what is the most critical piece of advice you would offer to ensure they build a secure and compliant AI environment from the start?

Here’s my essential advice for IT and security leaders embarking on their AI journey, and it’s both reassuring and exhilarating.

First, the good news. You’re not starting from zero. Many of the battle tested security practices you’ve perfected over the years remain absolutely critical. Your SAST and SEAS scanning, application inventory management, dynamic testing, and firewall strategies, these aren’t obsolete; they’re your foundation. These proven practices translate beautifully into the AI world and give you a massive head start.

But here’s where it gets truly exciting, AI applications are fundamentally different beasts. They think, they decide, they adapt their execution paths in real time. This autonomous decision making capability introduces risks we’ve never encountered before. It’s like the difference between securing a building and securing a brilliant, unpredictable team of decision makers.

The winning strategy? Embrace a dual track approach with confidence. Keep leveraging your existing security arsenal where it applies, but be fearless about adopting new, AI specific security solutions. Some of your current tools will evolve brilliantly to meet these challenges, others simply won’t cut it. The key is knowing the difference and acting decisively.

My critical advice. Don’t let security become the enemy of innovation. The worst thing you can do is either proceed blindly OR become so paralyzed by security concerns that you block AI adoption altogether. Instead, build your security posture intelligently, implement robust visibility tools, establish clear governance frameworks, and deploy smart guardrails that protect without constraining.

The organizations that win in the AI era will be those that master this balance, maintaining ironclad security while enabling their teams to harness AI’s transformative power for massive productivity gains. With the right approach and tools like Levo.ai, you’re not just securing AI; you’re unleashing it. This is your opportunity to be a hero in your organization, the leader who made AI both safe and spectacular. The future is secure, and it’s yours to build.

Thank you, Mr.Buchi, for taking the time to share your insights with us.

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