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ReliaQuest invests $1.5 million in AI cybersecurity education at USF

ReliaQuest invests $1.5M in USF to create an endowed AI cybersecurity professorship and a software engineering track. Over 300 students have completed the program.

2 min read
Education

ReliaQuest, an AI-driven cybersecurity firm, is investing $1.5 million in the University of South Florida to expand AI cybersecurity research and education. The gift creates the college's first endowed professorship and a new software engineering track, preparing students for a job market where AI is reshaping both threats and defenses.

An endowed professorship to attract top faculty

The investment establishes the ReliaQuest AI and Cybersecurity Professorship, USF's College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing's first endowed faculty position. The role aims to help the university recruit and retain leading researchers in AI security at a time when competition for such expertise is intense.

USF serves roughly 50,000 students and in 2025 reported an all-time high of $750 million in research funding. The new professorship reinforces its effort to build strength in a field that federal and industry funders are prioritizing.

ReliaQuest Labs adds AI-enabled software engineering

Since 2018, ReliaQuest Labs has given USF students hands-on experience solving real-world cybersecurity challenges. Over 300 students have completed the program, with many hired by ReliaQuest or other security firms. The new funding adds a second track focused on prompt engineering and AI-enabled software engineering, alongside the existing cybersecurity operations focus.

Brian Murphy, Founder and CEO of ReliaQuest, said, "Cybersecurity is the greatest technical challenge of our generation, and with AI reshaping the threat landscape, it's only getting more complex. That just creates even more opportunity for talented individuals to enter this industry."

Murphy added that the partnership aims to ensure students "graduate ready to seize that opportunity." The new track responds to industry demand for engineers who can build and secure AI-driven systems, a skill set that includes prompt engineering - the practice of crafting inputs to get reliable outputs from large language models.

Why this matters for education professionals

For university administrators and program directors, this investment shows how industry partnerships can directly shape curriculum. The ReliaQuest Labs model - where students work on real security problems and can move into jobs - is a blueprint for closing the gap between academic learning and workforce needs in fast-moving fields. As AI becomes central to both attack and defense, programs that blend AI for education and real-world practice will likely see higher student placement rates and stronger industry ties.

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