# Vrajesh Bhavsar

> Vrajesh Bhavsar is the co-founder and CEO of Operant AI, a San Francisco company building runtime security for cloud applications and AI agents. An engineer with a USC computer science master’s degree, he previously worked at Apple, Qualcomm, Arm and Scaled Inference. His public writing connects a competitive karate background in India with his approach to leadership and explains why AI protection must operate while software is running.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Operant AI
- **Organizations:** Operant AI, Scaled Inference, Arm, Qualcomm, Apple, Mindspeed Technologies
- **Education:** Master’s in Computer Science, University of Southern California
- **Known for:** Built core iOS and macOS technologies including Dynamic Tracing, Data Protection and Secure Enclave at Apple., Helped build the ML/AI business unit at Arm., Holds eight patents in distributed systems, data and security, according to his official biography.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2007** — Systems Engineer at Mindspeed Technologies.
- **2007-2011** — Embedded Kernel Engineer at Apple; his biography identifies work on Dynamic Tracing, Data Protection and Secure Enclave.
- **2012-2014** — Research and product management at Qualcomm; collaborated with Priyanka Tembey on AI/ML-based Android security.
- **2014-2018** — Worked on the machine learning ecosystem and partnerships at Arm; helped build its ML/AI business unit.
- **2018-2019** — Product and business development at Scaled Inference.
- **2021** — Came together with Priyanka Tembey and Ashley Roof as Operant AI’s founding team.
- **2023-04** — Operant emerged from stealth with a $3 million seed round led by Felicis.
- **2024-09** — Operant announced a $10 million Series A led by SineWave Ventures and Felicis.
- **2025-03** — Announced Operant AI’s entry into India.
- **2026-05** — Operant launched Endpoint Protector for enterprise AI tools and agents.
- **2026-08** — Operant introduced Semantic Firewall for real-time agent controls.

## Achievements

- Built core iOS and macOS technologies including Dynamic Tracing, Data Protection and Secure Enclave at Apple.
- Helped build the ML/AI business unit at Arm.
- Holds eight patents in distributed systems, data and security, according to his official biography.
- Co-founded Operant AI, which announced $13.5 million in total funding following its September 2024 Series A.
- Reported state and national-level karate championship wins while growing up in India.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Operant introduced Semantic Firewall; Bhavsar described the need to understand and enforce agent intent in real time.
- **2026-06** — Appeared on Massive Signals to discuss design partners, entering cybersecurity, Kubernetes and enterprise demand.
- **2026-05** — Operant launched Endpoint Protector, extending AI security controls to employee devices.
- **2026-01** — Appeared on The Artificial Intelligence Podcast to discuss production AI threats and MCP security.

## Links

- Website: https://vrajesh.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrajeshio/
- GitHub: https://github.com/vrajeshbhavsar

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vrajesh-bhavsar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25