Belfius and Aikido launch AI-powered cyber defence

By Milan Rojan

Belfius has partnered with Belgian cybersecurity company Aikido Security to develop an artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity system designed to continuously test and identify vulnerabilities within banking infrastructure.

The collaboration has centred on Aikido Machine, a dedicated AI server equipped with Nvidia GPUs that will be deployed within Belfius’ own data centre. The system has been designed to deploy more than 200 AI agents to conduct continuous security testing across the bank’s systems.

Roeland Delrue, co-founder of Aikido, has said cyber attackers have increasingly operated at machine speed, requiring organisations to strengthen their ability to respond continuously.

Aikido and Belfius have said the initiative was developed in response to increasingly automated cyber threats, with attackers using AI models to identify and exploit software vulnerabilities at greater speed and scale.

The AI agents will assess Belfius’ systems around the clock, allowing potential vulnerabilities to be identified and addressed more quickly.

The two Belgian companies have also said they will jointly refine the technology to meet the security, regulatory and operational requirements of a large financial institution. Belfius has contributed its experience of operating a systemically important financial institution, while Aikido has provided the underlying AI-driven cybersecurity technology.

Aikido Machine has been built using a model-agnostic architecture, allowing multiple large language models to be deployed for different security tasks. The architecture has also enabled Belfius to use models from different technology partners without becoming dependent on a single AI provider.

Bram Somers, Chief Technology and Operations Officer at Belfius, has said the partnership has aimed to use AI to strengthen digital resilience and customer trust.

The companies have positioned the initiative as a potential cybersecurity model for financial institutions and other highly regulated industries, while supporting the development of European cybersecurity technology.