Michael Withrow is a Principal Solutions Engineer and Cybersecurity Global Black Belt at Microsoft, specializing in securing cloud-native AI platforms and applications. With a career rooted in advanced threat detection, secure architecture, and AI governance, Michael leads strategic engagements across industries to help organizations build and deploy generative AI securely. He is a driving force behind Microsoft’s Secure AI initiatives, including Defender for AI, Purview DSPM, and the Secure AI Gateway. Michael has played a pivotal role in shaping enterprise security strategies for AI workloads, guiding customers through risk mitigation, prompt injection defenses, and responsible AI deployment. His work spans technical enablement, architecture reviews, and policy enforcement across Azure AI Foundry and OpenAI integrations.