Digital.ai unveils AI tool to harden mobile app builds

Digital.ai has launched an updated version of its mobile application hardening tool, positioning it as a way for teams to apply post-build protections for Android and iOS within standard CI/CD pipelines.

The product, Quick Protect AI, is an LLM-enhanced release of the Digital.ai Quick Protect Agent v2. It targets organisations shipping mobile apps more frequently as AI-assisted development increases release volumes. The update also reflects a broader security concern: mobile apps create client-side exposure that perimeter security does not address.

Mobile release cycles have shortened across many sectors, while the number of applications in use has grown. As a result, security teams must review more builds, and attackers have more versions to target. Digital.ai argues that the challenge has shifted from securing a small number of flagship apps to securing frequent Android and iOS releases without slowing delivery.

Post-build focus

Quick Protect AI runs after the build process and applies app hardening without requiring source code changes, the company said. It is aimed at teams that rely on automated pipelines and want security steps to run alongside existing build and release activities.

Post-build hardening typically aims to make application packages harder to analyse or modify after distribution. Digital.ai said the tool addresses threats such as reverse engineering, tampering, and runtime attacks. It also linked the release to a threat landscape in which attackers use AI for malware creation, app cloning, and faster reverse engineering.

According to Digital.ai, Quick Protect AI analyses application code to identify sensitive components and apply obfuscation selectively. The company said this reduces performance impact compared with obfuscating an entire application. It described the approach as "targeted code-aware protection across mobile apps".

Pipeline integration

A central feature of the update is tighter integration with Digital.ai Testing. Digital.ai said this enables automated validation of protected applications for performance, functionality, and accessibility within existing CI/CD workflows.

Mobile engineering teams often use automated test suites to confirm that releases behave as expected. Adding security processing can require changes to test plans or introduce instability that is only discovered late in a release cycle. Digital.ai is positioning the integration as a way to confirm that hardened applications still pass existing checks without adding separate manual stages.

Digital.ai also framed the release as a response to a widening gap between development speed and security assurance. It criticised what it called "checkbox compliance approaches" to mobile security, arguing that they do not match today's release volumes or the pace of attacks.

"As we enter the age of agentic software development and delivery, delivery pipelines and attacks are both moving faster and at greater scale," said Derek Holt, CEO, Digital.ai.

Skills and scale

Digital.ai's announcement emphasises the growing need for automation as release volumes rise. Mobile hardening has often required specialist knowledge and manual configuration, particularly for organisations supporting multiple apps and platform variants.

Digital.ai said Quick Protect AI reduces the need for specialised skills and "lets teams secure Android and iOS apps in minutes". It framed this as a way to scale protection across more applications without disrupting delivery.

"Quick Protect AI leverages the power of AI along with more than a decade of application security experience to close the gap by letting teams secure Android and iOS apps in minutes," Holt said. "With this release, we are making security accessible to all organizations by reducing the need for specialized skills and ensuring that every app that should be protected, can be protected."

The launch comes as organisations reassess how they secure client-side software. Mobile applications can store logic and data on devices, interact with APIs, and run in environments the enterprise does not fully control. That makes them attractive targets for adversaries seeking to extract intellectual property, modify app behaviour, or use compromised apps as a path into backend services.

Digital.ai said the updated agent provides a single automated workflow for hardening and testing. The company expects teams to use it to maintain delivery speed while improving protection for Android and iOS releases as mobile attack volumes rise.