Ali Shahriyari
CTO and co-founder of Reality Defender. UCLA alum with 25+ years in software development; previously Director of Product at The AI Foundation and held roles at Originate, and earlier co-founded women's fashion company Thrive (2006).
Shahriyari holds a BS and Master's in Computer Science from UCLA and spent over 20 years building software systems before co-founding Reality Defender in 2021 alongside Ben Colman and Gaurav Bharaj. From 2019-2021 he was Director of Product at The AI Foundation, building 'the first AI-Native Human Platform' and the Digital Deepak app - work that Reality Defender credits as the origin of his focus on fighting deepfakes and misinformation. Earlier, he spent roughly a decade at Originate in engineering/executive roles. He served as Reality Defender's CTO from its 2021 founding until 2025, when Alex Lisle joined as CTO; Shahriyari now sits on Reality Defender's Advisory Council as Co-Founder and Advisor.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder & Advisor, Reality Defender
- Based in
- New York, NY, USA
- Prior experience
- The AI Foundation (Director of Product), Originate, Thrive (co-founder)
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Ali Shahriyari?
- Shahriyari holds a BS and Master's in Computer Science from UCLA and spent over 20 years building software systems before co-founding Reality Defender in 2021 alongside Ben Colman and Gaurav Bharaj. From 2019-2021 he was Director of Product at The AI Foundation, building 'the first AI-Native Human Platform' and the Digital Deepak app - work that Reality Defender credits as the origin of his focus on fighting deepfakes and misinformation. Earlier, he spent roughly a decade at Originate in engineering/executive roles. He served as Reality Defender's CTO from its 2021 founding until 2025, when Alex Lisle joined as CTO; Shahriyari now sits on Reality Defender's Advisory Council as Co-Founder and Advisor.
- What is Ali Shahriyari's role?
- Ali Shahriyari is Co-Founder & Advisor, Reality Defender, based in New York, NY, USA.
- Where did Ali Shahriyari work before?
- Ali Shahriyari's prior roles include The AI Foundation (Director of Product), Originate, Thrive (co-founder).
Sources & citations4
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Reality Defender welcomes Alex Lisle as its new Chief Technology Officer
Reality Defender: Welcoming Alex Lisle as Reality Defender's CTOVerified2025-01-01 - 2
Reality Defender names Alex Lisle Chief Technology Officer to scale deepfake detection globally
PR Newswire: Reality Defender Names Alex Lisle as Chief Technology Officer to Scale Deepfake Detection GloballyVerified2025-01-01 - 3
Ali Shahriyari listed as Co-Founder and Advisor on Reality Defender's Advisory Council; UCLA education and The AI Foundation background
Reality Defender: Ali ShahriyariVerified2026-08-09 - 4
Historical CTO title and Originate/AI Foundation career timeline for Ali Shahriyari at Reality Defender
The Org: Ali Shahriyari - Reality DefenderVerified2026-08-09