Singulr AI Launches Unified Governance Platform to Control Enterprise Shadow AI

AI Governance Enters a New Phase of Urgency

This week, Palo Alto-based startup Singulr AI launched a unified AI control platform designed to address one of the most urgent challenges in enterprise technology: the uncontrolled spread of artificial intelligence tools across corporate environments. With 75% of employees reportedly using unsanctioned AI applications, often tied to personal accounts, businesses are struggling to align innovation with security, compliance, and risk management. Singulr AI promises to change that, offering a system that brings clarity, control, and confidence to AI adoption at scale.

Founded by Shiv Agarwal and Abhijit Sharma, the team behind Arkin Net (acquired by VMware), Singulr AI is developing a new category of enterprise software focused entirely on secure and efficient AI operations. The company has raised $10 million in seed funding led by Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital. Its flagship platform unifies AI discovery, onboarding, and governance into a single automated system that integrates with existing enterprise workflows. The goal is to turn AI from a growing liability into a strategic advantage.

The Rising Cost of Shadow AI

The extent of the problem is significant. In live customer environments, Singulr AI has detected over 500 unique AI tools and models in use, many of them duplicative or risky. The majority are used without formal approval, creating what is known as "shadow AI." These tools can expose sensitive data, increase compliance gaps, and make it difficult for companies to manage operational risk.

"There's a balancing act between AI deployment and security risks," said CTO Abhijit Sharma. "Our platform provides seamless discovery and full visibility across all AI activity, allowing companies to govern AI usage without slowing innovation."

The challenge is growing more complex as agentic AI systems become more capable and autonomous. Enterprises need more than basic policies. They need automated tools that continuously monitor, assess, and protect AI operations in real time.

For a deeper dive into the real-world risks of shadow AI, Singulr AI’s Chief Security Officer Richard Bird recently addressed the topic at the FutureCon CyberSecurity Conference. In the talk, Bird explained how enterprises are unknowingly exposed through unsanctioned AI tools and outlined why reactive security strategies are no longer sufficient.

How Singulr AI Works

The Singulr AI platform is built on three core modules, each addressing a key layer of governance:

• Singulr Pulse is a continuously updated AI risk intelligence engine that tracks millions of models, agents, and services. It scores risk, classifies systems, and recommends safer alternatives to support automated onboarding and regulatory compliance.
• Application-Aware AI Red Teaming simulates real-world attack and misuse scenarios. It tests AI systems both before and after deployment to help organizations identify security vulnerabilities, policy risks, and ethical concerns.
• Dynamic Runtime Protection defends against prompt injection attacks, personal data leaks, and content violations. These safeguards operate in production environments, ensuring that enterprise AI usage remains secure and policy-aligned.

Together, these modules create a unified control plane that replaces fragmented tools with a single system designed to work across departments. The platform reduces review backlogs, eliminates the need for manual vetting, and supports continuous alignment between IT, security, and compliance teams.

"Enterprise teams no longer have to choose between speed and security," said CEO Shiv Agarwal. "Our platform delivers the real-time visibility and control needed to move quickly and responsibly."

Investor Backing and Market Outlook

Investors see Singulr AI as an essential infrastructure play for the AI era. Jishnu Bhattacharjee, managing director at Nexus Venture Partners, said the rise of AI has forced companies to rethink how they approach security and governance. He called Singulr a proven solution from a team that understands enterprise-scale challenges.

“AI is transforming business with a new technology stack, evolving usage patterns, and unprecedented risks—forcing companies to rethink how they manage security and governance. The Singulr team has a proven track record of solving complex, enterprise-scale problems, and are launching a proven solution that enables businesses to efficiently and safely harness AI’s potential. I’m excited to partner with Shiv and the team once again as they establish Singulr as the category leader,” said Jishnu Bhattacharjee.

Dell Technologies Capital also sees the shift happening now.

"This is the year the enterprise moves from experimenting with AI to applying it to real business challenges," said managing director Raman Khanna. "That leap introduces complex operational and security risks that require a system-wide approach."

With a 22-person team operating across North America and India, Singulr has already deployed its platform in technology, finance, and healthcare companies. Its early launch with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance underscores its understanding of enterprise requirements.

As more organizations face the pressure to innovate responsibly, Singulr AI’s unified control platform offers a blueprint for managing AI at scale. The bigger question is no longer whether enterprises will need AI governance, but how soon they will act to put it in place.

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