Podcast
Top Security Seller to CEO: How SplxAI Grew 127% QoQ
From top security seller to CEO, Kristian Kamber shares how SplxAI scaled 127% QoQ by pioneering AI red teaming and becoming a product-led security startup.
Oliver Legg
Kristian Kamber
DATE
May 14, 2025
TIME & LENGTH
27 min
STATUS
Available on demand
LANGUAGE
English
In this special edition of the CyberBytes Podcast, recorded during RSA Conference 2025, host Oliver Legg sat down with Kristian Kamber, CEO and Co-Founder of SplxAI, to unpack the fast-paced rise of one of the most innovative startups in the AI security space. From manual red teaming to automating multimodal adversarial testing, SplxAI has grown 127% quarter-over-quarter and transitioned from a service-based model to a scalable, product-first approach – becoming a standout player in a rapidly evolving market.
This episode dives into what it takes to build and scale an AI security platform in a highly competitive landscape. Kristian shares lessons from navigating VC funding, hiring top AI talent in Croatia, and balancing the pressures of being a first-time CEO with a background in enterprise sales. For founders, engineers, and security leaders, this conversation delivers hard-won insights about go-to-market strategies, shifting customer mindsets, and the challenges of securing generative AI systems at scale.
Whether you're leading a startup or securing LLM-powered applications, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at how SplxAI is shaping the offensive AI security space – one adversarial simulation at a time.
Lessons of Building a Deep-Tech AI Security Company from the Ground Up
How SplxAI Transitioned from Services to Scalable Product Growth:
Explore SplxAI’s early journey, where the limitations and constraints of manual red teaming drove a strategic shift toward automation and a fully product-focused business model – enabling faster growth and broader customer impact.
The Role of AI-First Talent in Outpacing Competitors:
Discover why SplxAI hired exclusively AI talent, avoided traditional security hires, and built their R&D team in Croatia – and how this unconventional approach gave them an edge in developing the most advanced AI red teaming platform.
What It Really Takes to Fund and Scale an AI Security Startup:
Hear Kristian's candid take on the challenges of raising capital, picking the right investors, focusing on the US market, and leading as a first-time founder with a sales background in a deeply technical, trust-driven industry.
