Preeti Ravindra illuminates the future of AI security in Grace Series Talk
Preeti Ravindra, a senior AI security researcher and leading voice in the emerging field of AI system defense, delivered a thought-provoking and dynamic presentation as part of the spring 2025 Grace Series in the Department of Computer Science.
Her talk “Through the Looking Glass of AI and Security” was equal parts technical insight and career guidance. With insights taken from a career spanning cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge research, Ravindra offered students a glimpse into the future of secure, scalable AI systems.
With a master’s degree in security from Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ravindra started out in traditional threat research roles before pivoting into data engineering, product development and eventually, AI security. In her career, she’s held roles in both Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups.
“I typically do jobs before they become job roles,” she said, describing how she often steps into cutting-edge positions before titles even exist for them. She is currently concentrating on creating secure and reliable AI systems, a dynamic area that lacks established standards and is experiencing continuous innovation.
In her talk, Ravindra outlined four primary intersections between AI and cybersecurity: using AI to attack systems, probing AI systems for vulnerabilities, building trustworthy AI and using AI defensively. Her talk focused on the latter two: securing AI systems and using AI to defend broader digital environments.
She explained how AI detects and prioritizes threats in overloaded security operations centers, where human analysts often face millions of alerts daily. Through case studies and practical examples, she showed how simple models such as logistic regression can be more effective and scalable than complex tools when applied appropriately.
“The latest isn’t always the greatest,” she said. “What sets you apart isn’t knowing every tool, it’s knowing which one to use and when.”
One of Ravindra’s key lessons was about moving beyond making individual contributions. As systems scale, engineers must learn to scale themselves by designing processes, frameworks and tools that empower others.
She also broke down the anatomy of modern AI systems like ChatGPT, which involves much more than the model itself. She described how components like memory caching, fine-tuning layers, guardrails, retrieval-augmented generation and UI frameworks all work together to create robust, secure AI applications. Understanding the full stack, she said, is critical for anyone aiming to work in AI, whether on the engineering, research or security side of the field.
During her talk, Ravindra offered advice for students aspiring to work at different types of organizations. Those targeting cutting-edge research labs like OpenAI or DeepMind should focus on reinforcement learning, large-scale realistic testing and experimental frameworks. Students interested in companies such as Amazon or Microsoft should prioritize strong software engineering, applied machine learning and scalable systems development. For those looking toward a future in security, she encouraged developing skills in detection, large-scale data handling and AI infrastructure hardening.
“Don’t obsess over tools. Instead, obsess over problems,” she said. “The tools will change, but the problems will keep evolving.”
As she wrapped up her talk, Ravindra left students with an empowering message about resilience and perspective.
“If someone else gets the role you wanted, that doesn’t mean your story is over,” she said. “Sometimes a plotline closes because another one is opening. Stay curious and keep going.”
She encouraged students to keep learning, remain adaptable and stay grounded in foundational knowledge, from data structures to probability and statistics. Ravindra’s message aligned with the Grace Series’ mission: to inspire, educate and empower UT Dallas students to lead with knowledge, confidence and heart in a fast-changing world.
The Grace Series celebrates the contributions and real-world impact of women and men in science, technology and math (STEM), aiming to inspire and empower more people to pursue careers in STEM. Since the Department of Computer Science launched the lecture series in spring 2015, more than 50 speakers have shared their unique journeys, challenges and triumphs to encourage the next generation of innovators and leaders. Find words of inspiration and innovation by reviewing past lectures in the Grace Series.