Meet the Team

  • CEO Mike May portrait—architecting real-time AI security that blocks threats before token eight.

    Mike May

    Founder, CEO

    CEO, CIO, CISO, 25+yrs, Enterprise Security
    Built IT, security for Sprinklr, $4B IPO
    Led 35 post-acquisition tech/cyber integrations
    B.S. Cybersecurity, Information Assurance

    LinkedIn

  • Co-founder Shaun Cuttill portrait—leads authentication and AI defense engineering at Mountain Theory.

    Shaun Cuttill

    Founder, CTO

    Entrepreneur, Inventor, and Investor
    Inventor of 2-Factor Authentication
    Patented MFA, Identity Management solutions
    Founded 2FA-$10M, sold-$27MM (Jamf $215MM)
    Government security projects
    Schlumberger and Raytheon

    Patents

    LinkedIn

  • Ross Morrell

    Advisor

    Technology and cybersecurity executive
    Led innovation initiatives/digital disruption.
    Negotiator, business & technology
    Design+launch, complex technical solutions.

    Critical operations, projects, Dept of Defense (DoD)
    Former CTO & Innovation Officer, NORAD,
    US Northern Command.
    Former Chief, Cyber Operations Division & Director,
    JCC, NORAD & USNORTHCOM
    Grew $3MM fund to $200MM accelerator
    Masters, Royal Military College of Canada

    LinkedIn

  • Chuck Hasek

    Advisor

    Deep technical insight and strategic vision.
    Leader, rapid innovation, high-performance culture & collaboration of business, tech
    and creative teams.
    Launches+scales platforms transforming how we consume content across devices.

    70+ granted patents
    Tech executive, 20+yrs, media & entertainment
    Spearheaded industry firsts, including T-Mobile Video Technology
    and Time Warner Cable IP video streaming.

    Former VP at T-Mobile
    Co-founded Layer3 TV, acquired by T-Mobile $325MM
    Former Principal Architect, Time Warner Cable
    OTT/IP streaming, cloud DVR, next-gen video solutions

    Patents

    LinkedIn

  • Jan Zlotnick

    Jan Zlotnick

    Advisor

    Category-Brand Strategist/Creative Director
    US-EMEA, B2B-B2C > H2H
    Global strategy for culture, sales, revenue, valuation
    GlobeOp, acquired, SS&C $1B
    Grapeshot, acquired, Oracle $400MM
    Sprinklr, IPO $4B valuation
    Forrester, Mastering Customer Experience, Certified

The Genesis
of Next-Gen
AI Security.

Mountain Theory. If you look it up, it’s an understanding
of tectonic shifts in the earth.
To form and reform the landscape.

Sunset over Colorado peaks—our home base driving the climb toward safer autonomous systems.

Mike and Shaun saw the digital landscape shifting.
The AI world rising. And a deadly threat buckling under the surface no one was paying attention to.
So, they dug in and worked this out in person, on screens, whatever the hour. Over beers, good and bad coffee, hot meals gone cold.

Black coffee fueling late-night red-team tests of Mountain Theory’s token-eight defense.

Why the urgency? They had witnessed firsthand the vulnerability of AI systems integral to industries, from healthcare to finance to national security. They couldn’t unsee what they were seeing:

1. An AI dynamic of evolving attacks, firewalls failing, and breaches killing business and livelihoods

2. The economic and human toll of these self-feeding breaches

And they couldn’t stop hearing the voice in their head, “Everybody’s trying to think outside the box...think INSIDE it.”

Mike, a seasoned leader in mergers and acquisitions with a deep background in cybersecurity, could see how artificial intelligence was transforming businesses and entire economies — but also posing unprecedented security risks. The more sophisticated the AI system, the more targeted by malicious actors — threatening data and the integrity of the systems themselves.

Shaun, inventor of multi-factor authentication for industry and confidential government work,
also saw the critical need for securing the future of AI.
He experienced the consequences of compromised identity systems.
He knew something more advanced, adaptive and autonomous was necessary
to protect the rapidly expanding digital landscape.

Together, they whiteboarded a breakthrough way for AI
to defend itself. From the inside-out, dynamically.

Resilient cactus visualizes the low-latency protection “spikes” built into our trust layer.

AI-Integrated Defense
with patent-pending Autonomous AI-Integrated Core

Autonomous>Lives Inside> AI-Integrated>Learns, Reasons, Blocks in Real Time >Before attack can happen

Designed for today’s attacks and built to adapt to tomorrow’s.
So as AI becomes more aware, capable and integrated into our lives, it has a secure, ethical and under-control foundation.

~ ~ ~

Mountain Theory’s mission is clear. Make companies safe.
So their smartest people and technologies can continue
to take risks to innovate — safely.

Rock climber echoes Mountain Theory mantra: secure every step as enterprises scale AI.