Protect AI vs Cisco (Robust Intelligence)
Updated March 10, 2026
Overview
Protect AI provides end-to-end AI/ML security covering the entire model lifecycle. Its platform includes model scanning for vulnerabilities, supply-chain security for ML artifacts, runtime threat detection, and policy enforcement. Protect AI helps enterprises secure AI pipelines from development through production deployment.
Robust Intelligence, acquired by Cisco in late 2024, provides AI validation and protection. Now integrated into Cisco's security portfolio, the platform offers automated red-teaming, continuous model validation, and runtime firewall protection for LLM applications. It detects adversarial attacks, data poisoning, hallucinations, and prompt injections across the AI lifecycle.
Key features
Core capabilities each platform advertises.
- AI firewall and guardrails
- Model validation and testing
- Continuous monitoring
- Compliance reporting
- Enterprise security policies
Strengths and tradeoffs
What each tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.
Pros
- Comprehensive security coverage across the entire AI/ML lifecycle
- Specialized focus on AI-specific threats and vulnerabilities
- Enterprise-grade features including supply-chain security and policy enforcement
- Strong runtime threat detection capabilities
Cons
- No public pricing makes budget planning difficult
- Enterprise-only model may not be accessible for smaller teams
- Requires consultation with sales team for quotes, adding friction to evaluation
- Custom pricing based on deployment scale can lead to unpredictable costs as AI usage grows
Pros
- Pioneered AI security category with first AI Firewall
- USD 400M Cisco acquisition validates technology
- Comprehensive protection against AI-specific threats
- Trusted by major enterprises
Cons
- Now part of Cisco—product direction may change
- Technology relatively young and unproven at massive scale
- Cisco has mixed track record with acquisitions
- Requires continuous monitoring infrastructure
Protect AI or Cisco (Robust — which should you choose?
Choose Protect AI if you wantChoose if you want
Choose Cisco (Robust if you wantChoose if you want
- Enterprise AI governance
- Model risk management
- Regulatory compliance for AI systems
- Automated AI security testing
- Production AI monitoring
Compare Protect AI and Cisco (Robust Intelligence) on your own traffic
Respan lets you trace LLM and agent calls across any model or framework, A/B test prompts on production traffic, and route requests across 500+ models through one gateway.