WIITF reiterates the role of emerging technologies in a data driven world

(From L to R): Bhaskar Rao, CISO, Bharat Co-operative Bank; Puneet Bunet, CISO, Intersources Software; Bijay Sahoo, Group President-Strategic HR, Chairman's Office, Reliance Industries Limited; Dr. Deepak Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA; Dr. Biswajeet Mohapatra, Head of customer Solutions, AWS; Aren Naidoo Country Manager, Engenius Technologies; Mohit Puri, Director Sales APJ -Datasafeguard.AI, Umesh Kalyankar, CISO & VP Technology- Bank of China

The 14th edition of the Western India Information Technology Fair (WIITF) concluded on a high note on 15th of March in Mumbai. Hosted by VARINDIA, the event brought together industry leaders, CIOs, heads of IT associations, VARs, and technology enthusiasts for a day of insightful discussions, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities. The 14th WIITF reaffirmed its status as a premier platform for knowledge exchange, innovation, and networking in the Western India IT ecosystem. As the tech industry continues to evolve rapidly, events like WIITF play a crucial role in driving growth, fostering partnerships, and shaping the future of technology in the region.

The evening started with a warm welcome to guests and attendees, while highlighting the importance of collaboration and partnership within the tech industry. With the theme "Navigating the Frontiers of Emerging Technologies," the summit aimed to provide a platform for exploring the latest trends and innovations in the IT landscape.

Dr. Deepak Sahu, Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA, delivered the welcome address, setting the tone for the event's proceedings. The traditional lamp lighting ceremony followed, symbolizing the auspicious beginning of the summit. Distinguished dignitaries from leading corporations and IT associations like Bijay Sahoo, Group President-Strategic HR, Chairman's Office, Reliance Industries Limited; Aren Naidoo, General Manager, Engenius Technologies; Mohit Puri, Director Sales APJ, Datasafeguard.ai; Puneet Bunet, CISO, InterSources Software; Bishwajit Mohapatra, Head of Customer Solutions, CIO Advisory, India and South Asia, AWS graced the occasion, underscoring the significance of the event in the industry.

Eminent speakers, including Bijay Sahoo, Group President-Strategic HR, Chairman's Office, Reliance Industries Limited; Bharat Panchal, Chief Industry Relations & Regulatory Officer, Discovery Global Network; Aren Naidoo, General Manager, Engenius Technologies; Mohit Puri, Director Sales APJ, Datasafeguard.ai and Puneet Bunet, CISO, InterSources Software, shared their insights and expertise on various aspects of cybersecurity, data protection, and emerging technologies. The event also featured engaging sessions such as a fireside chat with Amit Agrawal, Chief Business Officer, Web Werks Data Center and Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA.

A panel discussion comprising industry experts and leaders, delved into the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies in today's digital landscape. The panel was moderated by Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu- VARINDIA and panelists were Ritesh Bhatia, Founder- V4 WEB Security; Dr. Ravi Sharma, Head-IT & Security- Wanbury Ltd; Bhaskar Rao, CISO- Bharat Co-operative Bank; Pankaj Mittal, CEO- Digizen Consulting; Anurag Sahoo, Co-Founder- Neophyte Ambient Intelligence and Bishwajit Mohapatra, Head of Customer Solutions, CIO Advisory, India and South Asia, AWS.

The summit concluded with a vote of thanks from Dr. Deepak Sahu, Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA expressing gratitude to all participants, sponsors, and attendees for their valuable contributions. 

I deal with technologies to understand from the perspective of talent and the economy

Bijay Sahoo, Group President-Strategic HR, Chairman's Office, Reliance Industries Limited

“Throughout my career, I have worked for different technology companies; I started with a banking company - IDBI Bank, which in those days boasted of being online completely, and then I worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a multinational consulting company that deal with technologies, before joining Wipro. Then I started working with Reliance Retail, which itself was founded on the foundation of technologies, and then moved to Jio Infocomm that initially started with 4G, before going into multiple businesses like 5G and eCommerce.
So, I deal with technologies to understand from the perspective of the talent and the economy. During my days in Wipro, I recall it was the dot com era and all the IT services companies of this country used to have the highest market cap and value creation. From 2000 to 2005, Wipro was the highest market cap company in this country and Azim Premji in 2000 June was the second richest billionaire in the world. So, while the net worth of Bill Gates was $48 billion, Premji’s was $37.8 billion. Larry Ellison’s was something like $37 billion and Warren Buffett’s happened to be much lower. 

Also, most of the IT companies, except for IBM that was founded in 1960s, were started around the same time. Companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and Apple started between 1970s and 1980s. Similarly, in India, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, all of them started in that same time frame, during the 1980’s (though Wipro was started in 1945, it shifted its focus to IT and computing in the 1980s). During that time, the application layer of technologies was the emerging technology and whosoever was doing products like Microsoft, were actually productizing applications and then selling it and getting huge value out of that. In 2000, the market cap of Microsoft was very high, somewhere around $600 Billion. Today, just like Nvidia with $2 trillion is growing the fastest in terms of market cap, similarly in those days Microsoft used to grow the fastest.

Microsoft did struggle, if you remember, when Steve Ballmer was the CEO, and the market cap slashed to $300 or $400 billion. And then when Satya Nadella took over the reins and started adopting and looking at new frontiers of technologies (like he started Azure - the cloud computing platform, he acquired LinkedIn), Microsoft went back to nearly $2 - $3 trillion market cap. 

Apple has always been the most innovative in terms of the products, as they had the combination of hardware and software. And they remained the leader for quite some time because of their product quality and the demand they are able to create all over the world with the novelty of the product they come up with.

In India, Wipro was the fastest growing IT services company. Infosys was younger to Wipro but was almost coming at par. TCS was not listed, but it was also growing. These companies saw the growth as a result of the IT boom.

In 2012-14, McKinsey came with one research paper where they talked about 12 emerging technologies like AI/ Machine Learning, IoT, 3D printing, advanced robotics, cloud computing, and they said it will create $30 trillion value when the global GDP was $70 trillion. The world's GDP today is over $100 trillion.

While in Wipro, we used to identify emerging technologies based on Gartner and Forrester reports and we started creating Centre of Excellence (COEs). When Y2K was getting over, Application development and maintenance was actually our biggest business. But had we done only application development maintenance, it would have been a very small company, probably $200 to $300 million company. But then in 2000, we started five COEs – Package Implementation (which now looks trivial and getting redundant) in the SAP system, Oracle PeopleSoft applications for meeting business requirements, i2 for supply chain, Siebel for CRM (which eventually got merged to another company). Wipro became a multibillion dollar company because of adopting those five technologies.

The advent of Facebook in 2008-2009 marked the starting of a new era. It was the era of SMACS - Social Media, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud computing and Security. So, whosoever entered into any of these five areas, those businesses actually grew the fastest in the next four-five years. Facebook, if you remember, gave us a slogan -  Mobile First. Even Flipkart adopted the mobile first approach. But unfortunately, mobile connectivity was not as strong as it is today. And thanks to Jio, it made mobile the strongest in terms of usages because of broadband.
So, in every seven - eight years, new emerging technologies keep coming in. In 2014, when McKinsey talked about the top emerging 12 technologies, the companies that have been most benefited are the companies who adopted these technologies. Today, the success lies in how fast a business is able to adopt or invest in new technologies.”

Collaboration among industry stakeholders required to make India safer 

Bharat Panchal, Chief Industry Relations & Regulatory Officer - India, Discovery Global Network

The whole objective today about the emerging technology is how we can manage this. But along with this there are a lot of newer challenges, especially the digital world, which includes cyber threat. We have seen a radical transformation in recent years triggered by the pandemic, the like-minded people at policy making process and demonetization helped us to move on to digital. The revolution has considerably changed the way we have seen the financial services delivered in the country and also other activities like supply chain. But at the same time we faced several cyber security challenges.

The inherent IT risk comes with a lot of dependence on multiple foreign companies or foreign technology. We need to think about how we can eliminate the dependency. This has widened the attack surface for cyber criminals. So, we need to address this by developing or deploying home-grown solutions which are tailored to unique requirements and to build such solution a collaborative effort between the government, the industry stakeholders, the academia, and the policy makers is needed. If we are growing at leaps and bounds today on complete reliance on digital and if the foundation of the entire digital journey is not in control, there could be a big risk going forward.

Next is the mindset of our people or society. We always tend to the western world where great innovations happen but at the same time when it comes to problems, we always try to compare our issues with them. While we know the problem, we do not find a solution because we always look to the east or west for finding the solution. So, when it comes to cyber security issues, it is important to recognize that India’s situation is distinct from many other countries around the world as we have a unique socio economic landscape, technology infrastructure, government policy. While the global trend and best practices can offer valuable insights on how to address cyber security concerns, it is very important to remember that solutioning that work may not be as effective or practical in India. This is because our cyber security challenges often require context specific solutions like what is happening in Jamtara or the kind of social engineering problem here in India may not be the case in the rest of the world.

Also, many people in India may not have the same level of digital literacy. India also has its own regulatory framework and policy around cyber-security that can impact how organizations and individuals approach security. The regulators – RBI, SEBI, TRAI etc. are coming up with a very convergent cyber security regulation across the board. It is crucial to develop context specific solution that can effectively address India's cyber security and IT challenges and this may involve working with the local stakeholders, leveraging the growing tech industry, the Startup India or Make in India and other initiatives that the government has started.

Third is the outsourcing risk. Unfortunately, there is a mindset built across people that once we have outsourced to an MSP or technology service provider, we are immune. That is a wrong concept built over a period of time. We generally outsource various IT functions that can help to reduce cost and improve operational efficiency, but it also exposes them to additional risk due to difference in security position. To mitigate the outsourcing risk effectively, it is essential to ensure a convergent security approach where all stakeholders adhere to standardize cyber security protocol. This approach will help in establishing such a framework which would ensure that the service provider uses similar tools and technology to secure their IT system and data for reducing the risk of security breaches.

Fourth is the kind of quality of compliance, and that is where a lot of debate may happen in the coming future. If you have observed in the last couple of years regulators have become tough. So, how to manage the quality of compliance? The problem is the banking sector is the primary target for any cyber attack, where 70% of attacks happen worldwide. How to ensure compliance with cyber security standards and regulation has become paramount for the board, the regulator, the management and the entire organization. So, this requires a multifaceted approach that includes an effective overset mechanism. But while regulatory bodies play a crucial role in setting the guideline and monitoring of the compliance, it is important to have a collaborative approach which involves industry association, independent auditor and cyber security expert.

To conclude, Cyber Risk insurance is considered as an expense so far and we need to change the mindset. We need to think about one particular fact that if we are not prepped then we are going to be breached. Now the data privacy law is in effect and we have to adhere to the law and for that prevention is better than cure. We need to think about putting Cyber Risk insurance in place.

Engenius eyes to build a secure cloud eco-system for its partners and customers

Aren Naidoo  
Country Manager, Engenius Technologies

“In India, we have recently established a branch office and are steadily increasing our workforce. Despite industry layoffs, we are actively hiring, starting with 80 R&D engineers in Hyderabad, with plans to expand to over 100. We have secured partnerships with major players like Tata Communications, Reliance, and BSNL, and are considering establishing India's first network infrastructure factory, aligning with the government's initiatives to promote manufacturing in the country. From a manufacturing standpoint, our strengths lie in staying abreast of the latest trends and ensuring our products are Made in India. We have partnered with leading chipset manufacturers like Qualcomm, Broadcom, Marvel, and Mediatek, positioning ourselves at the forefront of innovation. Our track record speaks for itself, with numerous awards recognizing our innovative contributions. We pioneered Wi-Fi 6, moved our entire platform to the cloud in 2019, and introduced Wi-Fi 6 EAP in 2022. This year, we launched Wi-Fi 7 in France, with plans to bring it to India soon. Our evolution in the business has been remarkable, transitioning from point-to-point radios to enterprise Wi-Fi and now offering an end-to-end solution on the cloud. Looking ahead, we are focused on building a secure ecosystem and bringing state-of-the-art technology to our partners and customers. We aim to establish our own cloud in India to prioritize data privacy.” 

Data privacy is the primary line of defence
 
Mohit Puri  
Director Sales APJ -Datasafeguard.ai

“While cybersecurity has been prominent for the past two decades, the protection of PII and PHI is gaining significance. Synthetic frauds are on the rise, necessitating proactive measures to safeguard sensitive data. DataSafeguard was established three years ago during the COVID-19 period. Our dedication to data privacy was acknowledged by Microsoft, naming us the most innovative company in the US in terms of data privacy. As the focus shifts from cybersecurity to data privacy, significant investments are anticipated. Over the next three years, expenditures on data privacy are projected to reach $150 billion, with synthetic frauds accounting for $175 billion. Consequently, stringent measures are essential to combat evolving threats. Synthetic fraud involves the creation of Frankenstein identities, combining various personal details to fabricate false identities for illicit purposes. The proliferation of PII elements underscores the urgency of protecting data. While 219 PII elements were associated with a single individual in 2019, this figure is expected to soar to 1,800 by 2025. With each breach costing millions, the financial ramifications of synthetic frauds are substantial. Compliance regulations are becoming increasingly stringent worldwide, with fines ranging from 5 to 250 crores under the DPDPA in India. To mitigate risks, DataSafeguard has developed seven tenets of data privacy, anchored by our patented product, ID Redact.” 

Kasm Workplace offering browser-based access to a safe and personalised work environment

Puneet Bunet  
CISO, InterSources Software

“I have been involved in this industry for quite some time now. We have been operating across four different lines of business: data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud services, and Professional Services including staff augmentation and staffing. Additionally, we have been heavily engaged in the government and public sectors, primarily in the United States. We are now expanding into the Indian market and industries. The product I am discussing today is called Kasm Workspaces. With the increasing concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity threats, emerging technologies present both opportunities and challenges. AI, in particular, is a significant driver of innovation, but it also poses risks as threat actors exploit its capabilities. Kasm Workspaces is a container streaming platform that establishes an air-gapped environment between internal and external networks. This innovative solution effectively safeguards an organization's intellectual property, regardless of its field of expertise. Intellectual property is a critical asset, and any compromise can have severe consequences for an organization. Your most valuable asset in a manufacturing company would be your designs, especially in an industry that produces routers, switches, firewalls, and information management systems. These designs, along with the signatures created for your firewalls, constitute your intellectual property. The theft of any such property could have severe consequences. This solution essentially acts as an intermediary between the user and the server. It containerizes the workload that needs execution.”

Fire Side chat Session

AI Integration Trends to continue

 
In the light of increasing trend of cloud representation could you share insights of best practices for safeguarding data Integrity during the migration process?
Value-added resellers (VARs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must each play a crucial role in adapting to current trends. Today's discussion revolves around identifying these trends and preparing to address them. Over the past two to three weeks, I have conducted sessions with multiple Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and one recurring theme is the exploration of various options for optimizing cloud usage. Whether termed as cloud optimization, cloud repatriation, or a return to basics, enterprises are actively seeking ways to reduce costs. This presents an opportune moment for our community, as service providers and value-added resellers, to engage with enterprise customers and demonstrate the benefits of optimizing or implementing a hybrid cloud strategy. It is evident that cloud repatriation and the escalating costs of cloud services are common concerns. There is a notable shift in the perception of cloud adoption costs; what was once seen as a cost-saving measure is now viewed differently. Those who embraced cloud services without taking their application stack into account are currently facing higher costs. There is a rare chance to make money at this point. Profit-making is usually only possible in two situations: periods of extreme optimism and periods of intense dread.

How do you envision the integration of GenAI and ML reshaping the landscape of Enterprises and what key impacts do you anticipate?
Generative AI has become a reality, as correctly pointed out. There are essentially three categories of people regarding technology adoption: those who embrace it, those who harbor fear and are cautious, and those who outright deny the existence or potential impact of emerging technologies. Presently, the society remains divided along these lines. However, numerous practical applications are emerging. Technology is disrupting traditional processes, such as the declining significance of consultants. Previously, consultants charged fees for advice, but now, with AI tools, such guidance is readily available for free. It is obvious that both generative AI and AI in general are here to stay. Artificial intelligence (AI) is already widely used in repetitive tasks like programming and support roles, but it will become more and more integrated into organizational processes. We need to be ready for related risks as this integration takes shape, such the rise of deep fakes, which are instances of people or things being misrepresented in the media. AI has advantages and disadvantages that should be carefully considered before design and deployment. By 2024, automation and artificial intelligence will probably be commonplace in many organizational roles, with a significant increase in their implementation.

What is your impression on the adoption of cloud computing by enterprises and what the future holds?
A data center serves as a comprehensive platform, functioning as a repository for all IT tools that can be leveraged by enterprise customers. Additionally, data centers can facilitate cloud services utilization from service providers and offer various managed services for tasks beyond the customer's expertise. In essence, a data center is not merely a collection of bounded services; rather, it serves as a dynamic resource for organizations and value-added resellers. However, a challenge lies in substantiating claims made to customers. It is impractical to set up every solution for a customer due to the substantial capital investment required. Similarly, enterprises may hesitate to invest in new technologies without assurance of their efficacy. Hence, a platform is needed to validate solutions and ideas. A data center provides an ideal environment for validation, offering a tangible model for testing, usage, or demonstration to customers. Leveraging this platform enables the exploration of new innovations and better serves the evolving needs of customers.

What is the future for the hyperscalers and data center like WebWorks in the country?
Both hyperscalers and data center will survive in any country. India, with its vast potential for IT adoption, has only scratched the surface of what is possible. For the past 20 years, I have been repeating this viewpoint and highlighting how the technology we have seen so far merely scratches the surface of what is possible. This has always been the case, considering the significant advancements in technology enablement that have been observed in organisations. Every field is on the brink of a significant transformation, and it's imperative that we prepare for it. Collaborative partnerships will be instrumental in navigating these changes successfully. As for the original question, both things will thrive, each catering to a distinct set of needs and use cases. 

PANEL DISCUSSION 
Navigating the frontiers of emerging technologies

Left to Right - Dr. Deepak Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA, Dr. Biswajeet Mohapatra, Head of customer Solutions, AWS, Ritesh Bhatia, Founder, V4 WEB Security, Dr.  Ravi Sharma, Head-IT & Security, Wanbury, Bhaskar Rao, CISO, Bharat Co-operative Bank, Pankaj Mittal, CEO, Digizen Consulting, Anurag Sahoo, Co-Founder, Neophyte Ambient Intelligence

Dr. Deepak Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA opened the discussion by talking about how emerging technologies in recent times have produced disruptive changes all over the world fostering innovation in industries challenging business models as well as the way we communicate. “There is a considerable consensus that the sudden reality of the pandemic has become a driver in accelerating digital transformation,” he said.

Bhaskar Rao, CISO, Bharat Co-operative Bank opined that protection of data in the banking sector is very difficult but the role of a CISO is not only to protect the infrastructure of the bank but also to protect the transactions executed by the customers. “One of the largest attacks in the Indian financial institution happened at a cooperative bank, which involved Rs 94 crore. We have learned from that. Also, when you talk about the private sector it is altogether different because they have power, people, money and they can manage it. But when it is at a cooperative level it is very difficult as we do not have people to manage.”

Dr. Biswajeet Mohapatra, Head of customer Solutions, AWS asserted that today, the world is more intelligent, interconnected and instrumented because of technology. “Besides, there is an evolution of a new business paradigm that is happening across three dimensions. First is the new business model, every industry is trying to reinvent the business model and reshape the industry. Second is the new way of doing things which means more focus on actionable insights. Third is how to build new expertise and make your developers 10 times more productive by leveraging those technologies.”

Ritesh Bhatia, Founder, V4 WEB Security said, “Let us look at the BFSI sector as far as the AI is concerned. 15 days back, in Hong Kong four people on a virtual call consisting of the CFO, the Director, one senior executive of the finance department and the accountant of the company were discussing to transfer $25 million to a particular place and after getting the approval from the CFO and other members, the amount was transferred. Out of the four people present in the virtual call, only the accountant was the real person and the other three were deepfakes. So, when it comes to the cyber space, trust and privacy, both these things are a myth. Hence, it is important how we are going to respond to these emerging technologies and the preparedness for it, which is something that we really need to think about.”    

Dr.  Ravi Sharma, Head-IT & Security, Wanbury contended that there is the need to create more awareness among the people as every individual will be affected by cyber threats. “Unless we create awareness, it is very difficult to control. Even if we ask people not to click on the link which they are not sure of, people will still do that because the titles are given in such an attractive way that people get tempted and cannot stop from clicking on them. The emerging technology has given more helping hand to the hackers rather than the defenders.”

According to Anurag Sahoo, Co-Founder, Neophyte Ambient Intelligence, rather than replacing labour with emerging tech, there is a potential for collaborative robotics. “For emerging technologies like ChatGPT, Sam Altman gave a clear solution that either you cut down your workforce or embrace ChatGPT or you empower that workforce and make them produce ten folds. So, I think it is the right time for this kind of tech in labor intensive markets like India or even sectors like warehouses or where blue-collared workers are involved. When we do a very clear ROI analysis on every dollar spent on legacy technologies versus some of the new age AI technologies, you will find the AI Technologies are five times better in terms of ROI compared to the first.”

Pankaj Mittal, CEO, Digizen Consulting said that any new technology takes time to mature. “When Blockchain came, we said this is a solution but we were already looking at a problem; when Gen AI came, we knew we are looking at a double edged sword. I think we are on the track and seeing tech adoption both in SMEs, large organizations, whether that be banking sector, telcos etc. On the skill side we need to equip the new people with new skills or we know Gen AI is going to cut down everything. We need to make these people understand what is AI, Gen AI, Machine Learning all about. Again, the old antidote that we have been talking about fits here - data is the new oil but for oil we need refineries which means you need intelligent analysis of what raw data you have in place.”