Overview
Christopher Sestito is chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and co-founder of HiddenLayer, per the company About Us page. HiddenLayer believes AI’s success depends on security. The company was founded by security researchers who uncovered the first-ever AI-specific malware and today partners with leading enterprises and governments to deploy AI safely, responsibly, and at scale.
HiddenLayer’s About page lists Sestito as Christopher “Tito” Sestito in the leadership roster; this profile uses Christopher Sestito in the name field per editorial standards. Co-founders include Tanner Burns (co-founder and chief scientist) and Jim Ballard (co-founder and CIO). The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas per the supporting news release.
HiddenLayer provides security for AI — safeguarding machine learning models behind enterprise products with turnkey security that does not add unnecessary complexity and does not require access to raw data and algorithms, per the CRO appointment press release About section.
Role
As chairman, CEO, and co-founder, Sestito leads HiddenLayer’s corporate strategy, research agenda, and executive team expansion. The July 2025 news release quotes Sestito welcoming Chelsea Strong as chief revenue officer to lead global sales strategy, customer success, and go-to-market execution amid surging demand for AI/ML security solutions.
Sestito stated Strong brings startup precision and enterprise scale, having built high-performing teams at innovative cybersecurity companies and infrastructure for long-term growth. His quote signals Sestito’s focus on commercial scale while maintaining research-first identity.
HiddenLayer’s leadership bench includes chief scientist Burns, CIO Ballard, CTO Jacob Rideout, chief security and trust officer Malcolm Harkins, and CRO Strong — a structure balancing research, product, and enterprise sales under Sestito’s chairman-CEO role.
Background
HiddenLayer’s About page emphasizes research origins — discovery of first AI-specific malware — rather than listing Sestito’s prior employers or education on the excerpt reviewed. His public identity is tied to security research leadership and AI threat intelligence, vulnerability discovery, and CVE publication driving product development.
Company values include Research First, Integrity in Innovation, Collaboration with Purpose, and Relentless Curiosity — framing Sestito’s leadership culture around deep technical research before productization.
The supporting press release identifies Sestito as CEO and Co-Founder of HiddenLayer in Austin, TX, corroborating operating location and title without additional personal biography.
Career
Sestito’s documented career narrative on cited HiddenLayer pages centers on co-founding a research-driven AI security company and scaling it to serve enterprises and governments. HiddenLayer aims to protect enterprise AI from inference, bypass, extraction attacks, and model theft per press materials.
Investors listed in the CRO announcement include M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Moore Strategic Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, and Capital One Ventures — strategic backers aligning with Sestito’s enterprise and government buyer focus.
Gartner recognized HiddenLayer as a Cool Vendor for AI Security per the same release — analyst validation Sestito leverages in regulated-industry sales cycles.
Company Journey
HiddenLayer’s journey began with security research discovering AI-specific malware — a founding story distinguishing the company from generic application security vendors retrofitting AI features. Research drives products, services, and community contribution including AI threat intelligence and vulnerability frameworks per About page.
Appointment of Chelsea Strong as CRO in July 2025 marks commercial acceleration under Sestito — adding 25+ years enterprise cybersecurity sales leadership from CrowdStrike, FireEye, HUMAN Security, Blue Lava, and Obsidian Security backgrounds per the news release.
HiddenLayer continues attracting executive talent reinforcing mission to protect valuable machine learning assets as organizations deploy agentic and generative AI.
Leadership
Sestito’s leadership combines chairman governance, CEO operating authority, and co-founder research credibility. Quoted praise for Strong’s team-building reflects Sestito’s emphasis on go-to-market infrastructure matching research innovation pace.
Research-first values mean Sestito’s organization publishes CVEs and methodologies strengthening broader AI defensive capabilities — a leadership posture that builds community trust beyond direct revenue.
About page and news release consistently identify Sestito as CEO and Co-Founder across materials reviewed July 11, 2026.
Public Milestones
July 16, 2025: HiddenLayer appointed Chelsea Strong as CRO; Sestito quoted as CEO and Co-Founder in Austin, TX per hiddenlayer.com news release. Gartner Cool Vendor for AI Security recognition cited in same release.
About page documents leadership team including co-founders Burns and Ballard, research SVP Tom Bonner, and expanded executive bench. First-ever AI-specific malware discovery cited as founding research milestone.
Funding amounts not stated on cited About or news pages are excluded from this profile.
Why This Founder Matters
Christopher Sestito matters because AI governance without security controls leaves models exposed to adversarial attacks, extraction, and prompt injection — risks HiddenLayer addresses at the model layer. Sestito’s research-origin company credibly serves CISOs separating AI security from general cloud security.
Austin headquarters and strategic investors (M12, IBM Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures) position HiddenLayer in enterprise and government AI security procurement conversations alongside governance platform vendors.
For Brel Digital readers, Sestito represents AI security founders — the defensive perimeter complementing policy-centric AI Governance platforms.
Sources
Primary sourcing: HiddenLayer About Us page and Chelsea Strong CRO appointment news release, reviewed July 11, 2026.
- HiddenLayer — About us (hiddenlayer.com)
- HiddenLayer — Chelsea Strong CRO appointment (hiddenlayer.com)
Founding research claims, co-founder names, Austin TX location, and Gartner recognition from cited pages only. Name field uses Christopher Sestito per editorial brief.
Last Reviewed
This profile was last reviewed on July 11, 2026.
Correction Request
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