DarkLight Appoints Dan Wachtler as Chief Executive Officer

Also announces headquarters relocation to Seattle, Washington

Dan Wachtler, DarkLight CEO (Photo: Business Wire)

SEATTLE--()--DarkLight, Inc., formerly Champion Technology Company, Inc., and maker of the first of its kind cybersecurity solution using an Artificial Intelligence Expert System, today announced the appointment of Dan Wachtler as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wachtler joins DarkLight having extensive experience in both financial crimes compliance and cybersecurity – both of which are verticals the DarkLight platform is expected to serve.

Mr. Wachtler joins DarkLight just as the team and Co-Founders Ryan Hohimer and John Shearer – with extensive support from DarkLight CISO and cybersecurity science expert Shawn Riley – launch the latest version of DarkLight Cyber. The DarkLight Cyber solution is a knowledge engineering based active defense product which takes over where Machine Learning AI leaves off.

Dan Wachtler notes: “I am pleased to join DarkLight at this exciting time. They have assembled an impressive team and are working with incredible technology. During my search I began to tire trying to differentiate between AI platforms – almost all of which are Machine Learning or Deep Learning based. DarkLight was the only platform that jumps out as a true difference maker and in my mind is the next generation AI for cybersecurity. The value proposition to our current and future clients is easy to explain – DarkLight Cyber is a best in breed AI detection system in its own right but also allows you to identify gaps or redundancies within your current security posture and dramatically reduces analyst time working repetitive or false positive alerts.”

Ryan Hohimer notes, “John Shearer’s search and recommendation to the board for the right CEO for DarkLight resulted in a precision fit. It is like Dan is a custom part built to the exact specifications and needs of our enterprise. He brings the cybersecurity leadership and experience that balances with our cybersecurity science, domain knowledge, and AI acumen.”

John Shearer adds, “I am thrilled to have Dan join the team. Adding his skill set and expertise will allow us to fully exploit Ryan’s patented AI Expert system platform, not only in the cybersecurity domain, but other critical problem spaces as well.”

“It is terrific timing for Dan to join DarkLight because we’re different from 99.9% of the A.I. in the cybersecurity market. Machine Learning and Deep Learning focus on ‘predictions’ about the patterns in the data and it’s difficult to explain how those solutions arrived at the prediction. Knowledge Engineering based Expert Systems like DarkLight focus on verifying analytic claims and predictions with Cognitive Playbooks while producing 100% transparent explanations,” said Shawn Riley, CDO & CISO. “Additionally, DarkLight’s Cyber Effects Matrix helps organizations understand what cyber resiliency effects their security controls, playbooks, courses of action, and other mitigations have across nearly 400 commonly known adversary behaviors.”

Formerly President of a NASDAQ listed cybersecurity and financial crime investigative company, Mr. Wachtler has led numerous capital raises and managed large corporate realignment efforts to include international expansion efforts. He is passionate about working with companies and teams who prioritize making a difference in their chosen line of work.

In conjunction with the name change and the appointment of Mr. Wachtler, the Company has moved its headquarters from Santa Monica, California to Seattle, Washington. The recent efforts are to position the company for anticipated growth and need for talent.

About DarkLight

DarkLight™ Cyber is an Active Defense cybersecurity solution and a force-multiplier with sharable ‘Cognitive Playbooks’ addressing the greatest challenge facing the industry today – the lack of skilled cyber analysts and investigators. It is a first of its kind, knowledge engineering based expert system for scientific inquiry and scientific knowledge management of an organization’s integrated cyber defense and resiliency knowledge. The underlying Artificial Intelligence engine was created at one of the nation's most advanced research laboratories – the Pacific Northwest National Lab. The Company recently emerged from stealth, bringing its patented technology to the commercial market for use by enterprises of all sizes. DarkLight’s AI vastly improves cyber security operations and automates the cognitive processes of their most highly-prized resource: the logic and experience of human analysts and investigators. To learn more, please visit www.darklight.ai.

Contacts

DarkLight, Inc.
Julie Malone
julie@darklight.ai

Release Summary

DarkLight, a cybersecurity solution using an Artificial Intelligence Expert System, appoints Dan Wachtler as Chief Executive Officer.

Contacts

DarkLight, Inc.
Julie Malone
julie@darklight.ai