Enterprise AI is moving beyond experimentation to large-scale deployment, bringing new challenges around security, governance and operational resilience. At the same time, rising ransomware threats, tighter regulations and increasingly complex hybrid IT environments are forcing organisations to rethink how they protect, recover and govern critical data. In this interview, Sandeep Bhambure, managing director & vice-president, India & SAARC, Veeam Software, speaks to Sudhir Chowdhary about the shifting priorities in enterprise data management and why cyber resilience is becoming a boardroom issue. Excerpts:
How are rising ransomware threats and data risks reshaping enterprise data protection priorities in India?
The conversation has shifted from whether organisations will face ransomware to when. Nearly 75% have experienced at least one attack in the past year, and paying a ransom still offers no guarantee of recovery. As AI-powered cyber threats become more sophisticated, enterprises are strengthening cyber resilience with immutable backups, clean-room recovery and the 3-2-1-1-0 strategy, which combines multiple data copies, offline or immutable storage, and regular testing to ensure reliable recovery.
Which segments are driving the strongest demand for data resilience solutions?
BFSI and healthcare continue to lead demand because they manage highly sensitive data and operate under stringent regulatory requirements. However, interest is expanding rapidly across industries such as aviation, manufacturing and the public sector as AI adoption accelerates. Across industries, AI initiatives are only as effective as the quality and resilience of the underlying data.
How is Veeam adapting its strategy to meet India’s evolving enterprise data resilience needs?
Enterprise IT has evolved from virtualisation to hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and data protection has had to evolve alongside it. Veeam today protects workloads across physical, virtual, cloud, Kubernetes and SaaS environments while enabling cross-cloud recovery and workload portability. In India, we continue to follow a 100% channel-led strategy, making enterprise-grade cyber resilience more accessible through cloud-based backup and disaster recovery services. We also continue to invest in our partner ecosystem and the Bharat Cyber Suraksha initiative to address the country’s cybersecurity skills gap while helping customers scale AI and meet evolving regulatory requirements.
How is AI changing backup, recovery, and overall data management strategies?
AI has fundamentally changed cyber resilience because organisations are now defending against AI agents capable of operating at machine speed. Traditional backup strategies are no longer enough. Enterprises need clean, contextual and well-governed data for AI to deliver reliable outcomes. Through the Data & AI Command Platform, Veeam helps customers improve data visibility, classification, governance and observability. Without a trusted data foundation, organisations risk AI hallucinations, data poisoning and poor business decisions. The priority is no longer just protecting data but ensuring AI is built on accurate, resilient and reliable data.
How is India’s data protection and localisation landscape influencing enterprise decisions?
The DPDP Act is encouraging organisations to strengthen governance and privacy but many are approaching compliance in a fragmented way by deploying separate tools for consent management and privacy. Compliance should instead be viewed holistically. Organisations need a common foundation that combines governance, security, resilience and privacy rather than creating new technology silos. A trusted data foundation will support both DPDP compliance and enterprise AI.
Looking ahead, what key trends do you believe will shape the future of data resilience?
The next phase of data resilience will be driven by AI trust, cyber resilience and regulatory readiness. As organisations accelerate AI adoption, success will depend on building a trusted data foundation that delivers clean, contextual and resilient data. For Veeam, the biggest growth opportunities lie in helping enterprises strengthen cyber resilience, prepare for DPDP compliance and securely scale AI initiatives. Trusted data will become the foundation for every successful AI strategy.