Today, we’re launching imper.ai and are proud to finally share the work we have been building. For Anatoly, Rom, and me, this moment was shaped by our experience in offensive cyber. Attackers now find it easier to exploit trust than to discover a zero-day. It’s simpler to manipulate a conversation than to deploy malware. Modern attackers know that people are the easiest target. A help desk request that feels routine. A message that uses a familiar name. An interaction that slips past every control because nothing about it looks dangerous on the surface.
We didn’t realize how common this problem was until we spent months talking with CISOs and security teams in different industries. We expected a range of concerns, but we kept hearing the same stories. Help desks tricked by convincing requests from attackers. Text messages that seemed like normal executive outreach until it was too late. Groups like Scattered Spider running campaigns that bypassed identity checks because nothing seemed risky. Security leaders in finance, healthcare, and tech all described the same thing: strong system visibility, but little insight into the human interactions where breaches now start.
These conversations shaped imper.ai more than any technical insight. They confirmed that defenders are being forced to make high-stakes trust decisions with almost no real context. Identity tells you who someone claims to be. Content tells you what they say. But neither tells you if the environment behind the interaction matches the real person. That is the gap attackers exploit because nothing in the current stack closes it.
imper.ai exists to close that gap. We built a platform that examines the signals attackers can’t easily fake, like device behavior, network characteristics, and patterns tied to real identities. These indicators reveal whether an interaction is genuine before it starts. They give defenders clarity at the exact moment trust is granted.
As we continued validating this approach with CISOs, the message stayed consistent. Security teams have hardened systems and infrastructure, but they lack visibility during the interactions that attackers now use as their first move. The perimeter has shifted to the first contact. Defenders need a way to shift with it.
Today, we launch with the support of Redpoint Ventures, Battery Ventures, Maple VC, Vesey Ventures, and Cerca Partners. They recognized early that impersonation has become the starting point of modern intrusions and one of the most urgent gaps in enterprise security.
To our early customers: you did more than just try an early product. You pressure tested the concept, exposed weaknesses, forced clarity, and proved where this approach creates real value. You shaped the direction of imper.ai in ways outsiders will never see. We would not be launching today without you.
The purpose of imper.ai is straightforward. Make trust visible at the moment it is most vulnerable. If you are responsible for defending your organization, this is the time to rethink how you protect the interactions your teams rely on. Attackers have learned to exploit trust. Defenders need a way to verify it.
If this is the challenge you are facing, we built imper.ai for you.
