By Riley Kaminer
How do you put guardrails on the fastest-growing technology the world has ever seen?
That’s the question that led Brad Levine, a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building and selling compliance-focused software companies, to found Synergist Technology in April 2024. The company specializes in AI and cybersecurity governance, helping large organizations and government agencies stay ahead of an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.
Levine had officially retired after selling his last company, but watching the rapid rise of AI pulled him back in.
“I started looking at it and thinking, ‘How are you going to put the guardrails around AI? How are you going to manage AI making decisions at scale for institutions?’” he told Refresh Miami.
Levine wasn’t interested in consumer applications like resume-writing chatbots or university plagiarism detection. He was thinking bigger: financial services, energy, and the Department of Defense – sectors where AI adoption is surging, and the stakes are high.
If AI’s rise is unprecedented, the flood of proposed regulations surrounding it is just as staggering.
“There are well over 700 bills currently being proposed just around AI, and that’s just this year alone,” Levine said. And those are just the laws – not counting mandates from private institutions or evolving frameworks. Synergist Technology sits at the intersection of this regulatory complexity, fast-paced AI adoption, and the need for clear oversight.
At the heart of Synergist’s approach is AFFIRM, its AI and cybersecurity governance platform. AFFIRM helps organizations track AI performance, detect drift, and monitor compliance against a shifting patchwork of regulations.
“You can ask intelligent questions: How do I measure fairness? How do I measure performance? What are my tolerances for AI decision-making without human oversight?” Levine explained. “Until you start measuring this, you don’t really know what your AI is doing.”
Cybersecurity is also a growing part of the equation. “Bad actors are starting to look for ways to infiltrate AI to do bad things, whether that’s injecting bad code into language models or spreading misinformation,” Levine said. Synergist’s software actively monitors for these vulnerabilities, offering a level of protection that goes beyond traditional compliance tools.
Right now, Synergist is focusing primarily on state and federal agencies, where compliance isn’t optional. Levine hopes that this foothold in government will set the stage for broader enterprise adoption, particularly in regulated industries like healthcare, utilities, and financial services.
Despite launching just last year, Synergist has already secured $5 million in funding, with another $3.5 million round currently underway. A larger Series A is planned for early 2026.
Levine is confident about the company’s trajectory. “This will be the single largest company I’ve ever built,” he said.
Levine has deep ties to the region. A native Floridian, he has built multiple companies in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, creating hundreds of jobs and helping to shape the local tech ecosystem. He is also a member of FAU’s Board of Trusteees.
“It’s a vibrant community,” he said. “From Miami to Martin County, I love being part of it.”
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I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.