AI Security for Mission Trust & Acceleration

Federal agencies are rapidly deploying AI to accelerate their missions - often without securing the AI itself. The result is a growing trust gap: leadership can’t confidently rely on AI-driven Federal agencies are rapidly deploying AI to accelerate their missions - often without securing the AI itself. The result is a growing trust gap: leadership can’t confidently rely on AI-driven decisions if models can be manipulated, backdoored or compromised. AI security is what makes AI trustworthy enough to accelerate the mission.

In this session, HiddenLayer’s Principal AI Security Architect and Federal AI Leader, Adam Bluhm, clarified the critical distinction between AI safety and AI security and why that distinction matters for mission-critical systems. Drawing on HiddenLayer original research, including ShadowLogic model backdoors and real-world AI supply chain compromises, he explained why traditional cybersecurity tools and safety AI frameworks alone are not enough to protect the models your agency depends on.

Attendees learned:

The AI-specific threats most relevant to federal environments, from supply chain risks to model backdoors
Why securing AI enables faster, more confident deployment
A practical framework for protecting AI across the model lifecycle, aligned to OMB M-25-21/22 mandates and NIST AI RMF