Hyderabad, 12 May 2026: International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H), one of India’s premier autonomous deemed universities and Athenian Tech Private Limited, a leading digital risk management company specialising in AI and ML-powered cybersecurity solutions have joined hands to advance research in the realm of cybersecurity, education, and industry collaboration, with joint areas of cooperation spanning domains such as AI/ML, and digital identity protection thereby fostering innovation, strengthening cyber resilience, and creating opportunities for skill development, research, and real-world industry engagement. The two organisations have formalised their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding, bringing world-class academic expertise and cutting-edge industry capabilities under one shared framework. The MoU was signed recently by Prof. U Deva Priyakumar, Dean Research & Development, IIIT Hyderabad and Dr Kanishk Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, Athenian Tech Private Limited.
Under the partnership, both sides will work together to enable capacity development through government-industry tie-ups. It will create a connected ecosystem, promote awareness and capacity-building programmes by synergising stakeholders, identify training needs and organise interactions and workshops for the mutual benefit of all concerned. The partnership is built around the co-launch of courses that will unlock the potential of AI and ML in cybersecurity – an area both organisations see as one of the most critical frontiers of our time.
Reflecting on this MoU, Prof. U Deva Priyakumar, Dean Research & Development, IIIT Hyderabad, says, “India is at a defining moment in its technology journey - a country that has built impressive digital infrastructure but must now invest with equal seriousness in securing it. At IIIT Hyderabad, we have always believed that the most meaningful research is research that solves problems in real life. Cybersecurity, powered by AI and ML, is that kind of challenge - urgent, complex and deeply consequential. Athenian Tech brings real-world expertise in digital risk, identity protection and threat intelligence that very few organisations can match. This partnership allows us to bridge the gap between what we find out in our labs and what the world needs on the ground. We hope to build knowledge, develop talent and generate solutions together that make India’s digital ecosystem more secure, more resilient and more self-reliant.”
Commenting on the importance of this MoU, Dr Kanishk Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, Athenian Tech Private Limited, says, “The pace at which cyber threats are evolving today is indeed alarming. The attack surface is widening at a rate which most organisations will find it difficult to manage. This will include threats like identity theft and financial fraud to ransomware attacks, cryptojacking, and APTs. At Athenian Tech, we use AI and ML on a daily basis to stay ahead of these threats and shield businesses from the fallout of digital risk. But technology alone will not be enough. What India needs is a generation of researchers, engineers and practitioners who understand these threats at a deeper level – not just in theory, but in practice. IIIT Hyderabad is the perfect partner for that mission. Their research culture, academic rigour and track record of producing some of India’s finest technology talent make this one of the most natural collaborations we could have entered into. I hope the joint courses, research and intellectual property we will create, going forward, will become a true benchmark for how academia and industry can work together to make India truly secure and self-reliant in cyberspace.”
The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is an autonomous research university founded in 1998 that focuses on the core areas of Information Technology, such as Computer Science, Electronics and Communications, and their applications in other domains through inter-disciplinary research that has a greater social impact. Some of its research domains include Technology Innovation, Intelligent Systems, Signal Processing and Communications, Data Sciences, Language Technologies, Robotics, Security, Algorithms, Software Engineering, Visual Information Technology, VLSI and Embedded Systems Technology , Computer Systems, Machine Learning, Quantum Science and Technology, Computational Social Science, Cognitive Science, Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Earthquake Engineering, Human Sciences, Spatial Informatics, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Smart Cities, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Technologies in Healthcare and Biomedical Research.
Website: www.iiit.ac.in
Athenian Tech is a Digital Risk Management company providing AI and ML powered technology solutions against advanced digital and cyber threats. Athenian Tech focuses on protecting businesses and business leaders from identity theft, social engineering, APTs, ransomware and emerging threat vectors from the Dark, Deep and Surface Web — offering 360° protection through AI-powered platforms. Athenian Tech does this through three of its products Athena, Thunderbolt and Prime. Athena is an AI powered Digital Risk Monitoring Platform that offers organizations a 360-degree posture view defending, the business, against advanced cyber adversaries, AI generated attacks. Thunderbolt is an AI-powered Executive Protection Monitoring platform that safeguards key executives, of an organisation, from deepfakes, impersonation, social engineering to misinformation and fake news. Prime is a unified AI-driven Threat Intelligence platform that empowers an organisation’s security operations with real-time Threat Intelligence, helping detect and neutralize sophisticated attacks including deepfakes and disinformation.