AI & Cybersecurity Research Leader with 15+ years across academia and industry, including service as an Associate Fellow (Associate Professor) at the National University of Malaysia (UKM). I advance human-centric and trustworthy AI, explainability, fairness, calibrated uncertainty, privacy-preserving federated learning, and the robustness of AI in safety-critical domains such as healthcare and digital finance.
National University of Malaysia (UKM), 2012–2015. Adviser: Prof. Dr. Zarina Shukur.
Symbiosis International University, India, 2004–2006.
Azad University, 1997–2001.
Leading AI & cybersecurity research integration and serving as Principal Investigator of the MATCH multi-agent healthcare-AI project. Mentoring MSc and PhD students in AI-driven cybersecurity and trustworthy-AI projects.
Led the AI–Cybersecurity research cluster; secured and managed national and international grants; published in high-impact Q1 journals; and supervised 5 PhD and 10+ MSc students to completion.
Taught advanced courses in networking and security, laying the groundwork for a robust cybersecurity program.
Founded a spin-off consultancy bridging academic research and applied security, and continue to mentor PhD/MSc alumni across academia and industry.
Explainability, fairness, calibrated uncertainty and human-AI collaboration.
Differential privacy, secure aggregation and distributed estimation.
Privacy-preserving diagnostics and robustness under distribution shift.
Evaluation protocols, assurance cases, auditing and policy frameworks.
"AI on Trial: Trust, Safety & Reality in Healthcare AI."
Trustworthy-AI frameworks informing healthcare-AI discussions with regulators in Malaysia and Taiwan.
Nominated MIEE for 2025/2026.
Holder of the Taiwan Employment Gold Card for global talent.
Secured competitive national and international research funding.
Supervised 5 PhD and 10+ MSc students to completion.
Certified Deep Learning Professional (CDLP) · Rocheston Certified Cybersecurity Engineer (RCCE) · CISSP preparation training · ISO 27001 & HIPAA Compliance · AI Risk & Explainability in Healthcare (Google AI Ethics).
Member, IEEE (AI & Cybersecurity) · Member, Spriteplus (UK) · Affiliate, UKMTECH Innovation Center · Contributor, AI Governance & Digital Health Regulations Working Group.
"He is one of the most ambitious and strategic security advisors I have ever come across, dedicated, quick to learn, and able to comprehend, analyze and deliver more than expected. Ask for 5 and be ready to receive 10 to 15 great outcomes. I highly recommend Dr. Safavi without any reservations."
I'm passionate about mentoring the next generation of AI and security professionals and fostering a culture of responsible innovation. My goal is to establish a research group on trustworthy AI and AI regulatory science, and to keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible, ensuring that AI systems people rely on are safe, fair and explainable.
Let's connect. Whether you're interested in collaboration, research opportunities, or discussing the latest advancements in trustworthy AI and cybersecurity, I invite you to reach out.
