2026 Outlook with Richard Hegberg of Caspia Technologies

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your company

I’m Rick Hegberg and I’ve been CEO of Caspia Technologies since 2024. I have a deep semiconductor background, including CEO roles at three semiconductor start-ups and executive roles at SanDisk/WD, Qualcomm, Atheros, Numonyx/Micron, ATI/AMD, and VLSI Technology.

Throughout my career I’ve worked with the global semiconductor supply chain to solve many challenges, both technical and otherwise. Thanks to the growing use of AI, the recent rise in hardware-focused cyberattacks caught my attention.

Something needed to be done to protect the security of the hardware root of trust and I felt this could only be accomplished with a ground-up approach to chip design that incorporated rigorous hardware security verification and validation. This is the mission of Caspia Technologies. I felt the company was developing a truly holistic and effective approach to ensure superior security for future chip designs and so I joined them to help take the vision to the next level.

What was the most exciting high point of 2025 for your company? 

We had many breakthrough events over the course of the year. Part of that was discovering real security flaws in popular open-source designs. There is a lot of work ahead for the entire industry to tighten hardware security.

I would say the most memorable event for me was the introduction of our first product, CODAx, which performs static security analysis on early RTL designs. The idea is to find and fix weak security practices early, before they lead to potential catastrophic security breaches in the field. Think of CODAx as a static “linting” tool that is specifically focused on secure design practices. This is the tool we used to find the weaknesses in the open-source designs I mentioned.

What was the biggest challenge your company faced in 2025?

In a word, education. We have found a wide range of awareness of the risks and pervasiveness of hardware attacks across the semiconductor supply chain. Some companies are at the forefront of addressing these problems, but many have yet to see the breadth of the problem and prioritize an approach to address it.

Related to this is a discussion we’ve had regarding the difference between security IP and secure IP. While using a commercially available hardware root of trust is a good idea, this by itself does not assure your design will be secure. The attacks that are developing are very sophisticated and protecting against them requires a larger perspective of the problem.

You can check out a recent blog post from Caspia on this topic.

How is your company’s work addressing this challenge?  

Caspia simplifies the adoption of robust security for the enterprise. This includes tools that easily fit into existing EDA flows, well-developed physical assurance methodologies, and training and curriculum development for hardware security.

Regarding tools, Caspia is currently working on a platform that contains three products:

CODAx is the static security checker I mentioned. It contains over 150 security rules that are constantly updated with trained security large language models (LLMs).

SVx tunes formal verification to look for security robustness with AI-generated security-focused assertions.

PFx facilitates dynamic security validation of completed designs using AI to harness existing co-simulation and emulation technologies.

What do you think the biggest growth area for 2026 will be, and why?

The semiconductor industry is undergoing a major shift to enhance the security hardness of chip designs. Caspia will play a key role in that shift with our security platform, methodologies, and training.

All three of the products I mentioned will move to mainstream deployment in 2026 and this will fuel significant growth for the company.

How is your company’s work addressing this growth?

I’ve already described the product pipeline we have and the expected impact that will have on our growth. Beyond that, we are working with several large players in the industry to facilitate easier adoption of our robust security technology.

Expect more information about this work in the months ahead.

Are you incorporating AI into your products? / Is AI affecting the way you develop your products?

The answer is Yes to both. Cyberattacks are continually enhanced with new AI approaches. That demands security enhancements that are also AI-driven, and Caspia has made extensive use of AI technologies to meet this challenge.

We have access to the world’s largest security threat databases. Caspia has helped to build some of them. We use the previously mentioned LLMs to continually analyze these threats to enhance our tools. Caspia is also developing a growing array of AI agents to identify threats and design weaknesses and take corrective action.  

Agentic security verification/hardening is clearly the way forward. One of our founders, Dr. Mark Tehranipoor recently did a podcast with the DAC folks that provides some good perspectives on these topics. You can listen to it here.

How do customers normally engage with your company?

We will be attending a growing number of events in 2026. For example, we are a Corporate Sponsor at the IEEE International Symposium on Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST), and we will likely be presenting at conferences such as GOMAC and DAC. You can find us at these events, and you can also reach out to us at our website here. We’d be happy to explore how we can help.

Additional comments? 

Security hardening for chip design is no longer an option; it is a requirement for continued success and growth in the market.  Caspia is ready to show you the way forward with well-developed methodologies, training and easy-to-adopt tools. Let us help you secure the future of your next design.

WEBINAR: Why AI-Assisted Security Verification For Chip Design is So Important

Also Read:

A Six-Minute Journey to Secure Chip Design with Caspia

Caspia Focuses Security Requirements at DAC

CEO Interview with Richard Hegberg of Caspia Technologies