Mia Labs secures generative AI innovations with Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Per the usual startup paradox, Mia Labs, Inc., had a big idea and a small budget. It needed sophisticated technology to produce and protect its conversational AI virtual assistant, Mia, and cutting-edge threat protection for its Azure infrastructure.

The company built Mia on its preferred cloud, Microsoft Azure. Mia Labs safeguards a fast-growing and complex environment and generative AI innovations with Defender for Cloud.

Mia Labs enjoys a benefits matrix: fast support from investors who trust Microsoft AI and security solutions, along with the sophisticated security posture and threat protection capabilities for AI workloads in Defender for Cloud.

Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership enriched Azure AI technologies. The security standards, stability of the platform, and plug-and-play ease made Azure the only choice to bring our vision to life.

Kelvin Pho, Chief Technology Officer, Mia Labs, Inc

Spotting opportunity

Every interaction at a car dealership is key to winning and keeping customers. Mia Labs, Inc., wants to bring more of those wins to the automotive sales and service industry with its innovative conversational AI agent, Mia. Its vision sets a new standard for robust AI security in the automotive sector, using Microsoft technologies for infrastructure and Azure OpenAI language models for Mia. Mia Labs, Inc., was created to elevate the customer phone experience with cutting-edge conversational AI. But big ideas don’t come to fruition overnight. Or do they?

We’ve successfully resisted multiple jailbreak attempts. Defender for Cloud shows us how to design our processes with optimal security and monitor where jailbreak attempts may have originated.

Marwan Kodeih, Chief Product Officer, Mia Labs, Inc

Powering auto dealerships with conversational AI

Kelvin Pho, Chief Technology Officer at Mia Labs, and partner Marwan Kodeih, the company’s Chief Product Officer, envisioned Mia as a sophisticated conversational AI assistant that could provide car dealership customers with detailed information about features and inventories or make service appointments in a natural, conversational way.

The team built Mia on Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service. “Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership enriched Azure AI technologies,” declares Pho. “The security standards, stability of the platform, and plug-and-play ease made Azure the only choice to bring our vision to life.” Adds Kodeih, “We’ve tried other clouds and other services, but Azure offers the most advanced AI technology.”

The technical challenges of creating Mia paled in the face of startup obstacles: the hunt for funding and talent, and creating a persuasive prototype on a shoestring budget. Mia Labs discovered free access to the latest generative AI models and Azure credits through the Microsoft for Startups program. It had its first customer contract within five months of incorporation.

Defender for Cloud provides so much threat intelligence that we’re spared the expense of costly IT audits, which would be prohibitive for a new company.

Kelvin Pho, Chief Technology Officer, Mia Labs, Inc

Making Mia smart and security-first

Azure provides multiple layers of protection for sensitive information in the 500-plus calls a day Mia answers for car dealerships. But generative AI solutions also need advanced protection like that offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud. The platform provides contextual AI security posture management through its cloud security posture management (CSPM) capability and protects AI workloads with runtime security alerts, exposing active threats to generative AI systems.

Jailbreak attacks are the number one issue confronting generative AI systems. They’re used by malicious actors to circumvent system guardrails, like an incident at a California dealership where a $76,000 car was sold for $1. “We don’t have to worry about building content filters or prompt injection attack prevention,” explains Pho. “Thanks to the jailbreak detection Azure provides, we can move quickly but confidently.” Adds Kodeih, “We’ve successfully resisted multiple jailbreak attempts. Defender for Cloud shows us how to design our processes with optimal security and monitor where jailbreak attempts may have originated.” He appreciates his startup tech team’s quick mastery of Defender for Cloud, helping protect the Mia solution based on technology so new that few have expertise with it. “Defender for Cloud actually educates us on security, and it’s something our team learns very readily,” he adds.

Defender for Cloud actually educates us on security, and it’s something our team learns very readily.

Marwan Kodeih, Chief Product Officer, Mia Labs, Inc

Bolstered by the Microsoft reputation for security

Seasoned startup entrepreneurs, Pho and Kodeih are used to facing hard questions from potential investors. “I love it when potential investors ask us what we’re doing for security, because that’s usually the easiest answer for us,” muses Kodeih. “And customers—owners of 2,000 dealerships or more with very savvy IT teams—are impressed by the security we provide with Defender for Cloud.” CTO Pho points to the value. “Defender for Cloud provides so much threat intelligence that we’re spared the expense of costly IT audits, which would be prohibitive for a new company.” He and Kodeih are future-focused. “We’re looking forward to launching Mia on text, chat, email,” Pho concludes. “All the forms of digital communication between dealership and customer can be optimized with AI.”

Discover more about Mia Labs, Inc., on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and YouTube.

I love it when potential investors ask us what we’re doing for security, because that’s usually the easiest answer for us. And customers—owners of 2,000 dealerships or more with very savvy IT teams—are impressed by the security we provide with Defender for Cloud.

Marwan Kodeih, Chief Product Officer, Mia Labs, Inc