Doppel Partners With San Francisco 49ers to Bring AI Into Sports

Doppel's AI-native platform is designed to protect against threats. Credit: Getty

The San Francisco 49ers name Doppel their official Social Engineering Defense Partner, deploying frontier AI to combat deepfakes, phishing and cyber risk

The San Francisco 49ers and Doppel, an AI-native platform designed for social engineering defence and digital risk protection, have announced a multi-year partnership naming Doppel the official Social Engineering Defense Partner of the American football team.

Social engineering defence is the combination of security policies, employee training, and technical controls used to protect against psychological manipulation and human error.

Costa Kladianos, 49ers EVP and Head of Technology, told AI Magazine: “Although our partnership with Doppel has just recently launched publicly, the 49ers have actually had a relationship with them for quite some time.

Costa Kladianos, 49ers EVP and Head of Technology. Credit: The 49ers

"As a customer previous to the official agreement, we were able to experience first-hand Doppel's technology and service.

"As one of the most recognisable sports brands in the world that take security extremely seriously, we challenged Doppel to enhance our already robust security standing. Without a doubt, Doppel has made us a safer organisation.

"Being in Silicon Valley, we're very close to the AI boom and understand the potential that comes with it. However, with every new technology comes new risks. We're not only thinking about how AI can make us better across the team, but also how it can make us more secure."

The agreement marks Doppel’s first collaboration with an NFL franchise | Credit: Doppel

The AI collaboration

The multi-year deal is focused on defending the NFL franchise against social engineering attacks including phishing, impersonation, deepfakes and fraud. Throughout the partnership, Doppel will be featured at 49ers home games through digital and physical in-stadium signage.

Additional collaborations will be anchored by Doppel’s “Defend the Bay” campaign, a creative initiative connecting AI and technology with the brands’ shared commitment to protecting staff, partners and fans.

Kevin Tian, CEO and Co-Founder of Doppel, told AI Magazine: “The 49ers are one of the most iconic brands in sports and an organisation that we genuinely enjoy working with. We’re both Bay Area organisations with a shared commitment to defence, so this partnership was a natural fit.

Kevin Tian, CEO and Co-Founder of Doppel | Credit: Doppel

"For Doppel, it also represents an important milestone in our growth. The partnership reflects the caliber of organisations choosing to work with us and gives us an opportunity to introduce Social Engineering Defense to millions of fans."

"The 49ers have seen our technology in action and trust us to help make them safer. By connecting signals across digital channels, Doppel gives their team a more complete view of social engineering campaigns and helps them act before threats become reality."

Frontier AI platform

Doppel says its “frontier AI platform” protects organisations from social engineering attacks, such as phishing, impersonation, deepfakes, and fraud. The firm highlights it unifies digital risk protection, email security and human risk management on one “Superintelligence Layer”, enabling threats detected in one channel to inform defences across the business.

By detecting and connecting signals across channels, Doppel gives the 49ers organisation a more complete view of social engineering campaigns and aids intervention before threats become reality.

The agreement marks Doppel's first collaboration with an NFL franchise and will showcase the company across gameday promotions, in-stadium signage, social media content and custom events.

Why does the 49ers and Doppel partnership matter?

For the 49ers, the partnership brings a dedicated focus on protecting an organisation with a large public profile, extensive digital presence and global fanbase.

The threat landscape has also become more complicated as generative AI makes impersonation and fraudulent content easier to produce.

“We built Doppel to give security teams complete visibility into how attacks develop across every medium,” said Rahul Madduluri, CTO and Co-Founder of Doppel.

Rahul Madduluri, CTO and Co-Founder of Doppel | Credit: Doppel

“AI has made impersonation cheaper, faster and more convincing to produce. Defending against it requires technology that dismantles malicious infrastructure and responds at machine speed.

“The 49ers have built their identity around that same disciplined approach to defence, which makes this relationship such a natural fit.”

Doppel will feature across 49ers home games through digital and physical in-stadium signage | Credit: Doppel

Who are Doppel’s key partners?

• Palo Alto Networks: Doppel lists the company as an international technology partner. The relationship connects Doppel’s Social Engineering Defense capabilities with Palo Alto Networks’ wider enterprise security platform, helping organisations address threats including phishing, impersonation and credential theft.
• Google Marketplace: Doppel lists Google Marketplace as a technology partner. The relationship gives organisations a route to discover, purchase and deploy Doppel’s security platform through Google Cloud Marketplace.
• Reality Defender: Reality Defender is listed as a national technology partner. The company specialises in detecting deepfakes and other forms of synthetic media, complementing Doppel’s focus on AI-powered impersonation and social engineering defence.
• Microsoft Sentinel: Microsoft Sentinel is a key Doppel integration rather than a technology partner listed in the same category. Doppel can send external threat intelligence into Sentinel, allowing security teams to investigate and respond to signals from Doppel within an existing security operations workflow.