Atlanta, Georgia, USA: TIME magazine has included a deepfake detection system developed by Atlanta-headquartered cybersecurity company Pindrop Security in its list of Best Inventions of 2025.
The technology, known as Pindrop Pulse for Meetings, was developed under the leadership of Indian American CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan. It ensures in real time that the person on a call—whether audio or video—is authentic, stopping impersonation fraud within seconds.
In an interview with TIME, Balasubramaniyan emphasised, “Identity, consent, and accountability form society’s core agreements. Deepfakes threaten all three.”
TIME also highlighted Pindrop’s research showing that deepfake scams are increasingly infiltrating professional settings such as job interviews. One incident involving a fake chief financial officer impersonation reportedly resulted in $25 million in fraudulent transfers last year.
Acknowledging the honour in a LinkedIn post, Balasubramaniyan described the recognition as “both humbling and motivating.” He added, “At Pindrop, we continuously advance voice and deepfake detection technologies to ensure organisations can extract genuine trust and insights from every conversation.”
Founded in 2011, Pindrop delivers enterprise-level solutions for voice authentication and fraud prevention, serving major clients in the finance, insurance, and telecommunications sectors.
The company’s innovations are rooted in Balasubramaniyan’s doctoral research at Georgia Institute of Technology, which focused on identifying acoustic patterns to differentiate legitimate users from impostors.
Pindrop Pulse for Meetings, based on this research, is already being used by prominent enterprise clients.
Originally from Bengaluru, India, Balasubramaniyan earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from RV College of Engineering before completing his PhD at Georgia Tech.
Under his leadership, Pindrop has secured over $200 million in venture capital funding and positioned itself as a frontrunner in AI-powered voice security.
