Vasanth Sarathy
Principal Research Scientist | Leidos Innovations Center
I build and evaluate AI reasoning you can inspect, contest, and trust. My work spans adversarial evaluation of reasoning and agentic systems, computational argumentation, uncertainty quantification, and machine theory of mind. At Leidos, I lead a research team building secure agentic AI — verification systems that decompose model outputs into claims, evidence, assumptions, and uncertainty, so reasoning failures get caught before they reach high-stakes decisions.
Before AI, I spent nearly a decade as an intellectual property attorney at Ropes & Gray. Law is adversarial reasoning as a profession — evidence, argument, cross-examination, bad-faith persuasion — and I bring that toolkit to stress-testing AI systems that act. More on the questions I'm working on: Research.
Selected work
- Does the model reason correctly about norms? Where Norms and References Collide: Evaluating LLMs on Normative Reasoning AAAI 2026 · oral
- Can a model's reasoning be challenged and defended? IntelliProof: An Argumentation Network-based Conversational Helper for Organized Reflection AAAI 2026
- Does its reasoning survive deliberate manipulation? CogSLLaM: Cognitive Security for Large Language Models AAAI-SS 2026 · oral
- Does it know when it doesn't know? Tools in the Loop: Quantifying Uncertainty of LLM Question Answering Systems That Use Tools AAMAS 2025
- Does it reason correctly about people? Large Language Models Know What To Say But Not When To Speak EMNLP 2024
Selected publications → · Full record on Google Scholar →
Background
Previously, I was a Research Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Tufts University, where I led $2M+ in DARPA-funded research on LLM over-trust and reasoning, and a Senior Research Scientist at Smart Information Flow Technologies (SIFT), where I authored and won $3M+ in competitive DARPA funding as PI and led AI efforts for U.S. defense and intelligence programs.
I hold a dual Ph.D. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science from Tufts University, where I was advised by Matthias Scheutz and Dan Dennett. I also earned an M.S. from MIT, a B.S. from the University of Arkansas, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
This 2023 BU Law article summarizes my journey.
Beyond research
Outside of work, I spend time with my wife, three kids, and other family and friends. When I have some spare time, I draw pen-and-ink work and single-panel cartoons, practice shaolin-kempo-karate style martial arts, play chess, and build research software and creative tools.
I also co-host Code and Cure, a podcast on decoding health in the age of AI, with an emergency medicine–trained physician.
Contact
I'm always glad to talk about evaluation of reasoning and agentic systems, cognitive security, or AI and law. Email me at vasanth@alum.mit.edu, or find me on Google Scholar, GitHub, and LinkedIn.
