ReliaQuest invests $1.5M in AI and Cybersecurity at USF

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ReliaQuest is investing $1.5 million in the University of South Florida to expand artificial intelligence and cybersecurity research while enlarging a workforce development program that has supplied the Tampa cybersecurity company with talent since 2018.

The investment will establish the first endowed professorship in USF’s College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing and add an artificial intelligence-supported software engineering track to ReliaQuest Labs, the experiential learning program the company and university launched in 2018.

The professorship will support research in AI cybersecurity, while the new track will train students in software engineering, prompt engineering and other technologies that are becoming more common across the cybersecurity industry.

More than 300 students have completed ReliaQuest Labs since it launched, according to the company, with most accepting jobs at ReliaQuest or other cybersecurity employers. The software engineering track will operate alongside the program’s existing cybersecurity operations curriculum.

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“Cybersecurity is the greatest technical challenge of our generation, and with AI reshaping the threat landscape, it’s only getting more complex,” ReliaQuest founder and CEO Brian Murphy said. “Our partnership with USF has always been about making sure students graduate ready to seize that opportunity, and this investment helps do that on a broader scale.”

The investment also comes as USF continues building its College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.

Sudeep Sarkar, the college’s launch dean, said the endowed professorship will help attract faculty while the expanded ReliaQuest Labs program will give students more opportunities to apply classroom instruction to real-world cybersecurity challenges.

The USF investment is the second $1.5 million university partnership ReliaQuest has announced this year.

Earlier this year, the company committed the same amount to Florida State University to support research in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, extending its university partnerships as demand for AI expertise grows across the cybersecurity industry.