Sai Kiran Uppu

SaiKiran Uppu

Senior Security Researcher, Adobe

About Me

I am a security engineer and technical leader at Adobe specializing in AI security, agentic systems, and large-scale security platforms. Over the past seven years, I have designed and built production systems that turn complex security telemetry into prioritized investigations, automated controls, and faster response.

At Adobe, I architected Project Enola, a patent-pending agentic security platform that correlated 3.94 billion SIEM events and delivered more than 5,800 investigations across 18 teams. My work also includes multi-agent security automation, enterprise monitoring for LLM and RAG systems, vulnerability-prioritization pipelines, and data-protection controls operating across high-volume telemetry. I set technical direction, mentor senior team members, and work across security, engineering, and leadership teams to turn emerging risks into deployable controls.

My focus is the intersection of AI security, distributed security platforms, application security, and threat intelligence. I work on securing LLM and agentic systems against prompt injection, jailbreaks, data leakage, poisoned context, and unsafe automation. I translate those defenses into practical guardrails for enterprise engineering teams.

I also share this work through technical writing and speaking, including the Databricks Data + AI Summit, IEEE Silicon Valley Cybersecurity Conference, Application Security Weekly, The Diana Initiative, and university security programs.

Timeline

2021 - Present

Sr Cyber Threat Researcher at Adobe

Leading threat research initiatives and developing advanced security solutions in San Jose, California.

2019 - 2020

Masters in Information Security at Johns Hopkins University

Specialized in advanced information security concepts and practices in Baltimore.

2017 - 2019

Software Engineer at Netskope Threat Research Labs

Developed security solutions and conducted threat research in Bengaluru.

2013 - 2017

B.Tech in Computer Science at VIT

Completed undergraduate studies in Computer Science at VIT, Vellore, India.

Recent Conference Talks

I regularly speak at security conferences and universities on topics including AI-driven threat intelligence, cloud security, and cybersecurity careers:

Connect to Industry AI + Spotlight - Panelist (October 1, 2026)

AI x Future of Cyber Defense panel hosted by the Johns Hopkins Master's Life Design Hub and Women in Cybersecurity JHU. The virtual panel will cover AI in cyber defense, emerging cybersecurity technologies, and career pathways in AI, cybersecurity, and digital risk management.

Connect to Industry AI + Spotlight: AI x Future of Cyber Defense panel flyer featuring Sai Kiran Uppu

Application Security Weekly #396 - Guest (August 18, 2026)

Augmenting Threat Intel Analysis with Agents - Interview on Security Weekly with host Mike Shema. We discuss agentic systems that analyze external threat intelligence, examine internal systems, and present triage decisions at petabyte scale, along with proactive application-security defenses, developer engagement, and hardening services against common attacks.
Episode & Show Notes → Watch on YouTube → Listen on Apple Podcasts → LinkedIn Post →

Application Security Weekly episode 396: Threat Intel Analysis with Sai Kiran Uppu

PRGC

P R Government College (A) - International Seminar Key Speaker (August 17, 2026)

AI & Cybersecurity: Skills for Tomorrow's Careers - International seminar for P R Government College (A), Kakinada, India, on emerging technologies, real-world applications, and the skills needed for careers in AI and cybersecurity.
Watch Seminar →

P R Government College AI and Cybersecurity international seminar poster

Databricks Data + AI Summit - Speaker (June 18, 2026)

Architecting Agentic Security: Scaling Threat Detection with LLM and Lakehouse Architecture - 40-minute breakout in the Cybersecurity track, San Francisco (June 18, 2026).
Watch Session → Speaker Profile →

Presenting at Databricks Data + AI Summit 2026

Speaker badge at Databricks Data + AI Summit 2026

Databricks Data + AI Summit 2026 session poster

SVCC - Industry Talk - Speaker (June 12, 2026)

Building Agentic Security: Scaling Threat Detection with LLM and Fleet Sweep Orchestration - Industry talk at the 7th Silicon Valley Cybersecurity Conference (IEEE Computer Society), San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
Accepted Talks → Conference Site →

Panel Discussion: The Future of Work - AI, Cybersecurity, and Career Growth (June 12, 2026)

Invited panelist alongside leaders from Intuit, ThoughtSpot, Straiker, and Adobe. Moderated by Sujata Ramamoorthy (Verizon, retired; SJSU).

JHU Security Metamorphosis - Invited Panelist (April 10, 2026)

Security Metamorphosis: A Cybersecurity Student's Roadmap to Careers - Invited as a mid-career panelist at Johns Hopkins University's Imagine Center, Baltimore, MD. Organized by the Master's Life Design Hub for MSSI and engineering master's students.

JHU Security Metamorphosis 2026 panel in session at the Imagine Center

ToroHack 10.0 (CSUDH) - Keynote Speaker (April 11, 2026)

AI vs AI: How Machines Are Hacking Machines - Invited keynote at the California State University, Dominguez Hills Cybersecurity and Hacking Expo (event site). Adobe is a platinum sponsor; virtual delivery.
View Keynote Slides →

ToroHack 10.0 speaker spotlight on torohack.rexctf.com

The Diana Initiative (TDI 2025) - Speaker (August 4, 2025)

Supercharging Threat Intelligence with AI: Automating IOC Extraction and Enrichment - Las Vegas, Nevada

SVCC-SVCSI Industry Talk - Speaker (June 24, 2025)

Supercharging Threat Intelligence with AI: Automating IOC Extraction and Enrichment - Fremont, California

Panel Discussion: Responsible Cybersecurity for AI and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)

Responsible Cybersecurity for AI and PQC Panel

BSides SLC - Speaker (November 2024)

Designing effective data security schema - Salt Lake City, Utah

Guest Lectures

Invited to deliver guest lectures at universities on AI-driven threat intelligence and cybersecurity:

UMBC Cyber Defense Lab - Invited Talk (March 27, 2026)

Agentic Threat Intel: From Unstructured Reports to Coordinated Hunts - Invited by Dr. Alan T. Sherman to speak at the UMBC Cyber Defense Lab seminar series, supported by the National Science Foundation.

Penn State IST - Guest Lecture (October 2025)

Supercharging Threat Intelligence with AI: Automating IOC Extraction and Enrichment - Invited by Dr. Yuchen Yang, Assistant Professor at Penn State IST, for cybersecurity master's students in her threat hunting course.

Certifications

I hold several industry-recognized certifications that validate my expertise in cybersecurity and cloud security:

CISSP

GIAC GCTI

AWS Security Specialty

Technical Publications

I regularly publish technical articles on enterprise security architecture and cloud security best practices:

Building an agentic AI-powered threat intelligence platform - Adobe Security Blog on unifying threat intelligence on a lakehouse, using LLMs to extract IOCs from unstructured sources, and orchestrating automated hunts across enterprise telemetry at scale.
Designing Effective Data Security Schemas - A comprehensive guide to implementing robust data classification frameworks that balance security requirements with operational efficiency in enterprise environments.
Practicing Proper DMZ and Firewall Hygiene - An in-depth analysis of network segmentation strategies and firewall configuration best practices to protect critical infrastructure from emerging threats.

Academic Publications

My research has been published in academic journals focusing on security vulnerabilities and cloud threat analysis:

Proactive Approach for SQL Injection Attack
Journal of Computer Technology, 2016

Malware and Threat Analysis and Remediation of Cloud SaaS Traffic
Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, 2019

Hackathons & CTF Competitions

Qloo Hackathon - Curio, Multi-Modal cultural intelligence platform

2025

Participated in the Qloo Hackathon. Developed Curio is an Multi-Modal cultural intelligence platform that connects your tastes across music, film, dining, and fashion using Qloo's TasteAI, with interactive human voice, text, and video interfaces. View project on Devpost

Airbnb CTF - 10th Place Overall & 2nd Within Adobe

2025

Achieved 10th place overall and secured 2nd place among Adobe teams in the Airbnb CTF competition featuring 600+ participants.

Bolt World Hackathon - Huggy: Just a Call Away

2025

Participated in the world's largest hackathon, Bolt World. Developed Huggy, a compassionate care platform that emphasizes human connection and emotional support through innovative technology solutions. View project on Devpost

Perplexity Hackathon - Trade Lense

2025

Developed Trade Lense, an AI-driven insights platform for smarter stock investing. Leveraged Perplexity AI's advanced models including Sonar and Deep Research to create an intelligent co-pilot for navigating the stock market. View project on Devpost

MCP and A2A Hackathon - AWS Edition - Finalist

2025

Selected as a finalist in the MCP and A2A Hackathon - AWS Edition on May 2nd, 2025. Developed the Nexus Agent project. View project on Devpost

Recorded Future RSA CTF

2025

Secured 1st place in the Recorded Future Capture The Flag competition at RSA Conference 2025.

Airbnb CTF - 4th Place Overall & 1st Within Adobe

2024

Achieved 4th place overall and secured 1st place among Adobe teams in the Airbnb Capture The Flag competition, showcasing expertise in cybersecurity challenges.