Apostol Vassilev

Apostol Vassilev

Expert in Trustworthy and Responsible AI and Cybersecurity NIST
Apostol Vassilev

Apostol Vassilev is a leading expert in Trustworthy and Responsible AI and Cybersecurity at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE). His research focuses on Adversarial Machine Learning (AML) and Robust Physical AI for Autonomous Vehicles. Through collaborations with industry, government agencies, and academia, Apostol drives the development and adoption of standards in AI and cybersecurity, contributing to national and international standards initiatives. Apostol is actively engaged with the AI security community, serving on the Distinguished Expert Review Board of the OWASP GenAI Security Project and as a founding member of the OWASP AI Vulnerability Scoring System project. With a Ph.D. in mathematics from Texas A&M University, he has authored over 60 scientific papers and holds five U.S. patents. His work has garnered recognition for demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, professionalism in standards development, and excellence in public service. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a medal from the U.S. Commerce Department and has been featured in prominent publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Politico, and Forbes. As a frequent conference speaker and guest editor for scientific journals, Apostol is a respected authority in his field.

Responsible AI Summit North America: Day 2 - Wednesday, June 24, 2026

3:00 PM Presentation – Securing Agentic AI Systems: When Guardrails Stop Working

Unlike traditional software, agentic AI systems do not just execute instructions: they reason, act, and adapt through persistent interaction with tools and APIs. In this session, the speaker examines how this shift fundamentally breaks long-standing cybersecurity assumptions, particularly the reliance on prompt-based guardrails to control LLMs against attacks. They explore why guardrails are structurally insufficient against adaptive adversaries, and what it realistically means to defend systems where autonomy itself expands the attack surface.

• How agent infrastructure expands the cybersecurity attack surface.

• Why finite guardrails fail against adaptive prompt injection.

• Reframing AI security in the age of agentic.


Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Apostol.

Download The Latest Agenda