THALES IN THE UK
The third area addresses AI-specific security threats that traditional cybersecurity tools miss.“ You have traditional cybersecurity, but then your AI models are still prone to model poisoning, model extraction and these kinds of attack parameters,” Ajay says. Thales operates a Friendly Hacking unit that subjects AI-based solutions to cyber crash-tests, testing resilience against attacks. The company provides hardware and software layers for encrypting data at rest and in transit, covering both machine learning models and large language models.
The Maritime Mine Countermeasures programme, shared between France and the UK, uses AI-powered systems that enable 10 times faster area coverage and four times faster detection and classification of mines compared to crewed systems. The Maritime Sensor Enhancement contract enhances data-driven analytics to increase system availability and operational effectiveness at sea.
Internal transformation forms the fourth strategic area. Thales is deploying enterprise-grade agentic solutions and co-pilots across the organisation to increase staff productivity. The goal extends beyond customer-facing applications to embed AI-first thinking throughout the company’ s operations.
The fifth area looks further ahead to quantum AI research. This includes quantum encryption and understanding how quantum computers operate at scale in different environments.“ Q-Day,
CORTAIX BY NUMBERS
800 + AI and data specialists globally within Thales Group’ s cortAIx initiative
200 AI and data specialist roles sustained by cortAIx in the UK by end of 2025
200 + patents filed, making Thales Europe’ s top patent applicant in AI for critical applications
£ 4 billion annual R & D investment by Thales Group, with focus on AI development
68 countries where Thales operates
as they call it, is approaching fast,” Ajay says, referring to the point when quantum computers could break current encryption methods.
Quantum computers excel at exploring large possibility spaces rather than traditional calculations, making them suited for AI learning algorithms working with massive datasets across multiple dimensions. Ajay sees applications extending beyond encryption to simulation of complex phenomena, from microplastics dissolution to protein folding for medical research.
Balancing speed and assurance The tension between rapid development and assurance requirements shapes every project at Thales. In consumer AI, companies can iterate quickly and fix
58 February 2026