Polyguard was born from a shared conviction: that the accelerating wave of AI-driven deception threatens the very fabric of digital trust. Founded in 2024 by Joshua McKenty and Khadem Badiyan, the company unites two visionary technologists whose paths—spanning cloud infrastructure, cryptography, and artificial intelligence—converged to meet this urgent challenge.

McKenty, a pioneer of cloud computing, led NASA’s first cloud platform, co-founded OpenStack, and helped shape the modern DevOps movement at Pivotal. Badiyan, a mathematician and AI entrepreneur, dropped out of Howard University after securing investment for his first venture, Aicon. He conducted Ph.D. research in p-adic analysis and cryptography and pioneered semantic analysis of social media images.

Together, they foresaw a world where deepfakes, voice cloning, and AI-generated scams would outpace traditional defenses. Polyguard is their answer: a real-time defense platform that blocks AI-powered fraud before it reaches you. With tamper-evident identity verification, encrypted communications, and proactive caller ID protection, Polyguard empowers individuals and institutions to reclaim control over their digital interactions.

Polyguard is headquartered in New York.


  • CEO

    Founder of OpenStack and Piston. Founding Chief Architect of NASA Nebula, and leader of the development team for the Netscape 8 web browser.


  • CTO

    Founder of AI startup Aicon and co-author of the "Intermarking" patent. PhD research in p-adic analysis and cryptography.

Richard Reichgut Headshot

  • Business Development

    At Pivotal Software, Richard served as Director of Financial Services. Prior to that, he held strategic roles at Ameriprise Financial, focusing on strategic alliances. His expertise lies in forging strong partnerships and driving growth in complex, regulated markets.

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