How perception itself became an attack surface

In this episode of The Deep View: Conversations, I talked with Wasim Khaled, CEO of Blackbird AI, to explore a provocative idea: What happens when reality itself becomes hackable?

Long before generative AI went mainstream, Wasim and his cofounder launched Blackbird to tackle disinformation and narrative manipulation. Their thesis was bold: that part of modern cybersecurity conflict had shifted from infrastructure to information, from networks to narratives.

It turned out to be prescient.

As AI supercharges the speed, scale, and realism of malicious content — from deepfakes to coordinated influence campaigns — Blackbird has emerged as the leader in combating narrative attacks. In fact, Gartner recently named Blackbird the company to beat in disinformation narrative intelligence in its report on the AI Vendor Race.

In our conversation, we explore:

• What “narrative attacks” really are and why they’re so hard to deflect

• How AI has fundamentally changed the disinformation battlefield

• Reactive vs. proactive defense strategies in cybersecurity

• How Blackbird evolved from a lab experiment into a national security player

• Why leaders relying on chatbots instead of AI agents are already falling behind

Wasim also shares how he optimizes his time for maximum leverage, and offers his advice for founders navigating fast-moving technology shifts.

If you care about cybersecurity, AI, information warfare, or the future of leadership in the age of intelligent agents, this is a conversation you'll want to hear.

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