Entreprise adoption of Large Language Models (LLMs) and tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Glean to create ChatGPT-like systems specifically trained on their own institutional knowledge is accelerating. While the benefits are significant, the business risks of exposing content outside of an employee’s need-to-know can’t be ignored.
This is why we are excited to back Knostic, the world’s first provider of need-to-know access controls for Generative AI. Founded in late 2023 by cybersecurity veterans Gadi Evron (serial entrepreneur, previously from Citibank and PwC) and Sounil Yu (former Chief Security Scientist at Bank of America), Knostic’s knowledge-centric capabilities enable organizations to accelerate the adoption of LLMs and drive AI-powered innovation without compromising value, security, or safety.
With Knostic, employees can access everything they need, with answers specifically curated to what they need to know to do their job per the organizational policy.
Sounil Yu, co-founder and CTO of Knostic highlights:
“Microsoft Copilot, Glean, and other LLMs are akin to a race car engine. Data is the fuel. But who would want to drive fast without brakes? We are the brakes, giving enterprises the confidence to accelerate their adoption of LLMs, while ensuring the safety of their most valuable assets.”
Knostic’s offering also helps organizations with the early adoption stage, understanding their exposure to need-to-know violations and the path towards safe implementation of LLM-based tools.
Gadi Evron, co-founder and CEO of Knostic, adds:
“From a misfiled payroll spreadsheet and a sensitive presenter comment left in a template, or even secrets inferred from legitimately accessible content, LLMs accelerate the discovery of harmful, and potentially dangerous information to anyone who asks. Knostic goes beyond legacy permission models and shapes access based on actual user need-to-know.”
On why we invested, our Managing Partner Carlos Espinal comments:
“AI has transformed the classic view of access rights across information in an organization. In a new world where organizations are powered by leveraging LLMs for internal and external use, new cybersecurity systems are required to better manage data access. Knostic empowers companies to not only deploy LLM systems with confidence but also have a control & management plane that is fit for purpose for this next generation of organizational tooling.”
We are excited to participate in Knostic’s $3.3M pre-seed financing round alongside Shield Capital, Pitango First, DNX Ventures, and angel investors Kevin Mahaffey (Lookout), David Cross (Rain Capital), Bryson Bort (SCYTHE), Travis McPeak (Resourcely), Matthew Honea (Forward Networks), and others.
For more details, visit knostic.ai.
