Varun Gupta, SVP, Product Management, Solutions & Marketing, Iron Mountain, delves into the use cases of AI.
CIO&Leader: How is AI reshaping the way Indian businesses manage and make sense of their data?
Varun Gupta: AI is fundamentally transforming how Indian enterprises manage and derive value from their data. Businesses are moving from simple data storage to intelligent information management, using AI to automate classification, enhance data discovery, and extract actionable insights. At Iron Mountain, we are seeing organisations increasingly rely on AI for analytics, compliance, and decision-making, ensuring data is not just managed but meaningfully used. As India accelerates its digital transformation, AI is enabling smarter governance, risk management, and operational efficiency, helping enterprises turn information into a strategic advantage.
CIO&Leader: How can companies balance both physical and digital records while keeping their data secure and easy to access?
Varun Gupta: Balancing physical and digital records requires a unified, well-governed information management strategy. Many Indian enterprises are still in transition, holding vast archives of physical data while rapidly digitising operations. We are helping organisations bridge this gap by integrating secure physical storage with digital repositories, supported by automation and AI-driven indexing. This ensures records are easily searchable, compliant, and protected throughout their lifecycle. The goal is not just digitisation but a single, secure source of truth where information, whether physical or digital, can be accessed seamlessly, driving efficiency and informed decision-making.
CIO&Leader: What steps should organisations take to stay compliant and protect customer privacy while using AI?
Varun Gupta: We conducted a study with FT Longitude in several countries and found that cybersecurity and compliance risks are the leading concerns for Indian organisations when it comes to AI adoption. As AI adoption accelerates, it’s crucial for organisations to embed strong governance and privacy frameworks into their data strategies. This means knowing exactly where information resides, how it’s used, and who has access to it. Building strong frameworks for consent, data minimisation, and audit trails help to ensure transparency and accountability. Regular compliance checks and alignment with evolving regulations like the DPDP (Digital Personal Data Protection) Act are essential. It’s equally important to use tools that automatically detect and mask personally identifiable information (PII). A proactive, well-governed approach ensures AI innovation moves forward responsibly while safeguarding customer trust.
CIO&Leader: How do you think the government’s IndiaAI Mission will impact enterprise data strategies and digital growth in India?
Varun Gupta: The IndiaAI Mission represents a turning point for India’s data-driven future – one that encourages innovation through an enabling framework, as we’ve seen with the India AI Governance Guidelines, rather than heavy regulation. By investing in national computer infrastructure and building accessible, high-quality datasets, the government is laying the foundation for responsible, scalable AI. For enterprises, this means evolving their data strategies to prioritise quality, governance, interoperability, and trust. Leaders must embed ethics, accountability, and data integrity at the core of decision-making. As “Safe and Trusted AI” becomes central to India’s vision, organisations that act now will be best positioned to drive digital acceleration while ensuring resilience and long-term impact.
CIO&Leader: What challenges do large organisations face when trying to modernise old data systems, and how can they make the shift smoother?
Varun Gupta: Modernising legacy data systems is a major challenge for large organisations, especially in sectors like BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance), Public Sector (Central and State Governments) and Healthcare that manage decades of sensitive records. These systems are often fragmented, making secure migration and insight generation complex. The key is a phased, well-governed approach, which prioritises the digitisation of critical legacy data while building frameworks for interoperability and security. At Iron Mountain, we’ve seen enterprises achieve smoother transitions by using AI-driven automation for metadata tagging, retention, and access controls. This ensures compliance and continuity and helps organisations modernise responsibly while preserving trust, security, and the long-term value of their information.
CIO&Leader: Which industries in India are leading the way in using AI for data management, and why?
Varun Gupta: In India, BFSI and healthcare are at the forefront of using AI to modernise how data is managed and leveraged. Both sectors are deeply data-driven and heavily regulated, meaning precision, compliance, and security are non-negotiable. In BFSI, we’re seeing a strong push towards automation. In fact, our study with HFS Research found that 57% of organisations in India expect AI agents to handle over 75% of back-office tasks, reflecting the pace of digitisation in a traditionally paper-heavy space. We’re helping these industries modernise with platforms like InSight DXP, which strengthens compliance through proactive, smart governance. It integrates with our Policy Center to automate retention schedules and legal holds, while new PII-redaction features automatically detect and mask sensitive data. For healthcare and other regulated sectors, our solutions enable secure data exchange across ERP, CRM, and other systems, breaking silos while maintaining full control.
CIO&Leader: How can companies ensure their data and the AI systems built on it are accurate, unbiased, and secure?
Varun Gupta: Data integrity, fairness, and security are mandates for every organisation adopting AI. It begins with strong data foundations, making sure the information feeding these systems is accurate, consistent, and traceable. From there, companies need clear governance frameworks to regularly audit algorithms, identify bias, and validate outcomes against real-world use cases. Just as important is embedding robust security practices, from encryption to strict access controls, to safeguarding sensitive data. At Iron Mountain, we support organisations with secure information lifecycle management and governance. When organisations combine trusted data, transparent governance, and ongoing monitoring, they build AI systems that are not only accurate and unbiased but also ethical and dependable.
CIO&Leader: What skills or mindsets are most important for leaders managing data in an AI-driven environment?
Varun Gupta: In an AI-driven world, effective leaders combine technical understanding with human insight. Data and AI literacy are now essential; they help leaders make smarter decisions and drive meaningful innovation. But success goes beyond technology. Strategic vision, adaptability, and ethical judgement are critical to steering AI transformation responsibly. Equally important is collaboration between technical and business teams to align on goals. Finally, nurturing continuous learning and investing in an AI-ready workforce will distinguish those who lead from those who simply react.
CIO&Leader: How are Indian enterprises planning for scalable, reliable data infrastructure to support AI?
Varun Gupta: Indian enterprises are realising that scalable, reliable data infrastructure is the foundation for meaningful AI adoption. Many are rethinking how and where their data lives, modernising legacy systems, embracing hybrid architectures, and turning to colocation and edge data centers to meet performance, compliance, and data residency needs. Iron Mountain’s colocation facilities in India are enabling this shift by offering secure, energy-efficient environments designed for high-density AI workloads. As data volumes grow, leaders are also prioritising governance and security to preserve data integrity. The goal is to create an infrastructure where AI can truly deliver measurable business outcomes.
CIO&Leader: In your view, what will separate data-driven leaders from laggards in the next few years?
Varun Gupta: In the coming years, we’ll see data governance evolve from manual oversight to self-learning systems that can automatically detect risks, bias, and compliance gaps in real time; enabling leaders to act faster with confidence. The real differentiator will be how leaders use data to drive decisions with speed, accountability, and foresight. Data-driven leaders will focus on building a culture where data integrity, transparency, and governance are non-negotiable. They’ll invest in modern infrastructure and AI tools that make insights accessible across the organisation, not just within IT. At Iron Mountain, we see that organisations ahead of the curve are the ones turning data from a compliance need into a strategic asset, balancing trust with innovation.