Vectra AI Announces Winners of Inaugural AI Scholars Program

Three Rising Innovators Recognized for Groundbreaking Work at the Intersection of AI and Cybersecurity

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vectra AI, Inc., the cybersecurity AI company that protects modern networks from modern attacks, today proudly announced the winners of its inaugural AI Scholars Program. Launched January 2025, the program aims to support and elevate the next generation of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) innovators.

After receiving 74 applications from students across five countries, Vectra AI has selected three outstanding scholars whose visionary proposals demonstrated a powerful blend of technical innovation, real-world impact, and ethical foresight. Each scholar has been paired with a Vectra AI mentor to refine their projects and gain hands-on experience at the forefront of AI-driven cybersecurity.

"We were inspired by the vision, creativity, and technical excellence of the applicants," said Hitesh Sheth, CEO and founder of Vectra AI. "These scholars represent the future of cybersecurity—one that is ethical, proactive, and powered by AI."

First Place: Anagha Ananth, Master's Student, University of California, Berkeley

Proposal: SentinelMesh: Enabling Secure Multi-Agent AI for the Modern Security Operations Center (SOC)

Anagha's proposal tackles the increasing complexity of AI agent collaboration in SOCs. Her project introduces "SentinelMesh," a secure multi-agent architecture that combines GAN-based (Generative Adversarial Network) behavior monitoring and federated learning to detect threats across organizations—without compromising privacy. Anagha, currently a Security Engineer Intern at Google, is passionate about building socially impactful technologies that enhance digital safety across communities.

"AI agents are revolutionizing security operations, but they also introduce new risks," said Anagha. "Through SentinelMesh, I aim to design intelligent systems that are scalable, secure, and trustworthy."

Second Place: Abdullateef Almohamad, PhD Candidate, Texas A&M University

Proposal: Developing an AI-Driven Deception Framework for Proactive Cyber Threat Mitigation

Abdullateef's work explores deception-based defenses using AI to dynamically mislead attackers and collect threat intelligence. By integrating anomaly detection, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning, his project proactively counters adversaries through adaptable, deceptive honeypots. With a strong foundation in wireless communications and signal processing, Abdullateef is able to extend his expertise to adversarial AI and next-generation cyber defense strategies.

"The future of cybersecurity is about staying one step ahead," said Abdullateef. "I believe intelligent deception is a critical piece of that puzzle."

Third Place: Waasif Faruquee, Undergraduate Student (Junior), Michigan State University

Proposal: AI-Powered Anomaly Detection Using Graph Neural Networks

Waasif's proposal, TraceFence, uses Graph Neural Networks to model relationships between users, devices, and processes for detecting complex threats like insider attacks and lateral movement. With a focus on explainability and self-supervised learning, his system aims to support analysts in identifying novel attacks with minimal labeled data. Waasif is committed to building adaptive, ethical, and intelligent systems for digital defense.

"This program helped me connect my research with real-world applications," said Waasif. "I'm excited to be part of a community advancing AI for good."

Launched earlier this year, the Vectra AI Scholars Program was created to empower students who are tackling critical challenges in cybersecurity using AI. Selected winners receive a scholarship, 1:1 mentorship with Vectra AI experts, and the opportunity to showcase their work.

To learn more about the program, visit our AI Scholars page.

Stay up to date on how Vectra AI protects modern networks from modern attacks by visiting our blog and following along on LinkedIn and X.    

About Vectra AI, Inc.   
Vectra AI, Inc. is the cybersecurity AI company that protects modern networks from modern attacks. The Vectra AI Platform delivers AI-driven Network Detection and Response (NDR) to surface and stop threats across the data center, campus, remote work, identity, cloud, and OT environments. In the first-ever Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Network Detection and Response, Vectra AI was named a Leader and positioned highest for Ability to Execute and furthest for Completeness of Vision. With 35 patents in AI security and the most vendor references in MITRE D3FEND, organizations worldwide rely on Vectra AI to see and stop attacks their other tools can't. For more information, visit www.vectra.ai.        

Vectra AI Media Contact:   
vectra-ai@inkhouse.com    

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SOURCE Vectra AI