About

I'm Co-Founder and Founding Engineer at Playful, building AI that brings ideas out to play, knows what's trending, and generates tasteful designs. I like building socio-technical systems that marry deep CS problems with clear user wins. Lately that's consumer AI for design, with roots in confidential computing, microarchitectural side-channel attacks, and human-AI collaboration. I enjoy making hard tech feel friendly—privacy-preserving crypto for Web3, simple interfaces for AI agents—and explaining it in plain English to whoever's in the room.

Security

Computer Security & Privacy

  • Microarchitectural Side-Channel Attacks
  • Confidential Computing for Web3
  • Security and Privacy of Generative AI Chatbots
AI

Artificial Intelligence

  • Why Johnny Can't Use Agents
  • Consumer AI for Design
Software Engineering

Software Engineering

  • Messenger Growth
  • Meta Privacy Control Infrastructure
  • Test Plan Generation Automation
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Publications & Talks

Publications

Peer-Reviewed

  1. Poster: “Learning Too Much About Me”: On the Security and Privacy Concerns of Generative AI Chatbots

    Pradyumna Shome, and Miuyin Marie Yong Wong. Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS). August 2024.

  2. GoFetch: Breaking Constant-Time Cryptographic Implementations Using Data Memory-Dependent Prefetchers

    Boru Chen, Yingchen Wang, Pradyumna Shome, Christopher W. Fletcher, David Kohlbrenner, Riccardo Paccagnella, and Daniel Genkin. USENIX Security Symposium. August 2024.

    • 🏆 Real World Cryptography 2024 Talk
    • 🏆 2024 Pwnie Award for Best Cryptographic Attack
  3. Opening Pandora's Box: A Systematic Study of New Ways Microarchitecture Can Leak Private Data

    Jose Rodrigo Sanchez Vicarte, Pradyumna Shome, Nandeeka Nayak, Caroline Trippel, Adam Morrison, David Kohlbrenner, and Christopher W. Fletcher. International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA). June 2021.

    • 🏆 Intel Hardware Security Academic Award Honorable Mention

Other

  1. Why Johnny Can't Use Agents: Industry Aspirations vs. User Realities with AI Agent Software

    Pradyumna Shome, Sashreek Krishnan, and Sauvik Das. arXiv. September 2025.

  2. SoK: Rowhammer in the Post-TRR Era

    Pradyumna Shome. December 2022.

Talks

  1. Why Johnny Can't Use Agents: Industry Aspirations vs. User Realities with AI Agent Software
    • Ploutos World, October 2025
  2. From Speculative Execution to Speculative Privacy: Bridging Technological and Human Challenges
    • Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, March 2025
  3. Small World with High Risks: A Study of Security Threats in the npm Ecosystem
    • Security Seminar, School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, Georgia Institute of Technology, September 2022
  4. Prime+Probe 1, JavaScript 0: Overcoming Browser-based Side-Channel Defenses
    • Clean Slate Processor Design Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2021
  5. PRISM: Protections Impeding Side-channel Attacks in Microarchitecture
    • Illinois Computer Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), August 2020
  6. Broadway: Scaling Programming Education Through a Distributed Autograding Framework
    • Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 2020

Awards

Academic

  1. Pwnie Award for Best Cryptographic Attack (2024)
  2. Intel Hardware Security Academic Award Honorable Mention (2022)
  3. Shadow Program Committee Member, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (2021)
  4. Malwarebytes Cybersecurity Scholarship, Malwarebytes (2020)
  5. Illinois Engineering Achievement Scholarship, UIUC Grainger College of Engineering (2020)
  6. Outstanding Course Assistant Award, UIUC Department of Computer Science (2020)
  7. Kleiner Perkins Engineering Fellowship Finalist, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (2019)
  8. 8VC Fellowship Finalist, 8VC (2019)
  9. Illinois Engineering Achievement Scholarship, UIUC Grainger College of Engineering (2019)
  10. Forbes Under 30 Scholar, Forbes (2019)
  11. Illinois Engineering Achievement Scholarship, UIUC Grainger College of Engineering (2018)
  12. Edmund J. James Scholar Program, UIUC Grainger College of Engineering (2017)
  13. AP Scholar with Distinction, College Board (2017)
  14. Regional Finalist, TCS IT Wiz (2016)
  15. Zonal Excellence Award, National Cyber Olympiad, Science Olympiad Foundation (2015)
  16. National Finalist at CBSE Science Fair, Central Board of Secondary Education India (2014)

Community

  1. Community Engagement Award, School of Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology (2023)
  2. Judge, Sustainathon (Sustainability-themed hackathon), Cybernautica (Cyber Festival), National Public School, HSR Layout (2022)
  3. Panel Member, Q&A Session With CS Upperclassmen, Women in Computer Science, UIUC (2020)
  4. Event Co-Lead, Mindzoeked Treasure Hunt, Odyssey Festival, National Public School, HSR Layout (2016)
  5. VIP Entourage at March-Past Ceremony, Sports Day, National Public School, HSR Layout (2015)

Writings & Interests

Technical Writings

🤖
Why Johnny Can't Use Agents
SPUD Lab at CMU HCII and CyLab
💭
The Emotional Labor in Exploratory Work
Medium
📝
Closing the Intel TDX Page Fault Side Channel
Flashbots Collective
🔒
Intel TDX Security and Side Channels
Flashbots Collective
💭
Crypto Crossroads: IC3 Summer Camp Reflections
Flashbots Collective
🎓
Undergraduate Research in Computer Science
Medium
🤖
Adversarial Machine Learning: An Overview
Medium

Personal Interests

Language Learning & Culture

French

German

Online Tourism

Travel

Music

Techno

Neue Deutsche Welle

Chanson

Trance

Tropical House

Big Room House

Music Production

Humanities

Philosophy

Psychology

Neuroscience

Economics (Behavioral, Developmental)

Education (Pedagogy, Andragogy, and Heutagogy)

Arts & Entertainment

Impressionism

Fauvism

Pop Art

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Mystery

Science Fiction

Documentaries

Non-Fiction

Games

Social Deduction

Party Games

Cooperative Games

Strategy Games

Trivia

Food & Drink

Bubble Tea

Cooking (photos)

Espresso

Fine Dining

Sports

Running (3 Half-Marathons and Counting!)

Table Tennis

Tennis

Pickleball

Mental & Emotional Wellness

Nervous System Regulation

Somatic Work

Attention Training

Perception Training

Metacognition

Meditation and Mindfulness

Other

Finance

How the World Works

Romantic Relationships

Music

I've been playing the piano for many years, have tried my hand at music production, and am always discovering new music to listen to. Currently, I'm listening to Charlotte de Witte (techno), Nena (Neue Deutsche Welle), Nightwish (symphonic metal), Céline Dion (Adult Contemporary), Ludovico Einaudi (Neo-Classical Piano), and Bon Entendeur (French Electro). Enjoy listening to some of my early efforts at digital music composition and feel free to follow me on Spotify.

© Pradyumna Shome 2017-Present. Based on HTML5 UP.