Director and General Manager of Data Protection Solutions,
Dell Technologies India
In a recent conversation with CIO&Leader, Ripu Bajwa, Director and General Manager of Data Protection Solutions at Dell Technologies India, shared insights on key technology trends for 2024, the cybersecurity challenges businesses face in the AI era, and how Dell’s security approach stands apart from pure-play vendors.
As a member of the India Business Leadership Team at Dell Technologies, Bajwa is focused on helping customers protect and manage their data against emerging threats, ensuring security across all environments, and enabling innovation without compromise. Edited excerpts below:
CIO&Leader: What do you see as the most impactful technology trends shaping 2024, particularly in sectors like finance, manufacturing, and retail?
Ripu Bajwa: First up is Zero Trust Security. More organizations are embracing this “never trust, always verify” mindset to protect data and systems. In finance, where the stakes are high, identity and access management controls are becoming essential. The convergence of AI and high-performance computing has led to advancements across various domains. For sectors such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, energy, and scientific computing, these changes could drive innovation and growth. In finance, institutions are adopting new technologies for high-frequency trading, risk analysis, fraud detection, and customer behavior modeling, where speed and precision are key.
There is also a focus on supply chain security. As businesses digitize their supply chains, the risk of cyber attacks rises. It’s crucial for companies to ensure their third-party vendors follow security protocols to help mitigate vulnerabilities.
AI-powered tools are improving customer experience through personalized shopping, demand forecasting, and inventory management. With data analytics, retailers can better understand consumer behavior, optimize pricing strategies, and predict market trends, leading to more efficient supply chain operations. AI and security alignment is emerging as a key issue. As AI technologies evolve, they not only enhance security but also introduce new threats. Companies need proactive strategies to safeguard AI systems from attacks and maintain data integrity.
CIO&Leader: What are the key cybersecurity challenges currently facing enterprises in India, and how are they evolving?
Ripu Bajwa: Enterprises in India are facing significant cybersecurity challenges, particularly driven by advancements in Generative AI. Malicious actors now use this technology to create realistic content, making it easier to mislead users through phishing attacks. Emails and communications can mimic real individuals, increasing the risk of users divulging credentials or taking harmful actions. Deepfakes can replicate voices and even video, pushing individuals to transfer funds or share confidential information. The AI models themselves are also vulnerable to risks like prompt injection and result manipulation, requiring protection strategies based on zero-trust principles.
The rise of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) has lowered the entry barrier for cybercriminals, allowing even those with limited technical skills to execute sophisticated attacks. To combat these threats, organizations must reduce their attack surface through hardware-assisted security, maintain regular software updates, and implement incident recovery plans. Investing in data protection and fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness through ongoing employee training is essential, as individuals remain the final line of defense.
As cyber threats evolve, businesses must adopt a prevention-first approach, modernizing and automating their recovery and business continuity strategies.
CIO&Leader: Dell isn’t a traditional cybersecurity company, but it offers various managed security services. How does Dell differentiate itself from pure-play security vendors in areas like incident response, zero-trust strategy development, and vulnerability management?
Ripu Bajwa: Dell Technologies India differentiates itself from pure-play security vendors through an integrated approach that embeds security into every aspect of IT infrastructure and operations. Our security framework encompasses hardware, software, and services, ensuring security is part of the entire technology ecosystem.
In incident response, we use automation and machine learning to streamline detection and response, minimizing the impact of breaches. Our Zero-Trust strategy focuses on identity verification and continuous monitoring, treating every access request as potentially untrusted, regardless of location. Additionally, our vulnerability management services are enhanced by partnerships with cybersecurity firms, allowing us to provide assessments and proactive mitigation strategies across the technology stack.
Unlike pure-play vendors, we offer end-to-end solutions that combine hardware innovations with software-defined security, enabling a secure environment across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures. Finally, we focus on aligning security solutions with business outcomes, recognizing that security is not just about technology but enabling organizations to operate securely and efficiently.
CIO&Leader: How are massive AI workloads reshaping IT security, and how do you help organizations address challenges like cybersecurity threats, system integration, and data management inefficiencies?
Ripu Bajwa: Massive AI workloads, or “elephant workloads,” create new security challenges by generating large volumes of data and introducing risks like data poisoning, privacy breaches, and ransomware attacks. The scale and complexity of AI applications require businesses to rethink their cybersecurity and data protection strategies.
We address these challenges with our PowerProtect portfolio, which provides data protection and system integration across edge, core, and cloud environments. Features like immutability, orchestrated recovery, and cyber recovery vaults protect AI training data, models, and configurations from evolving threats, including AI-driven cyberattacks. Machine learning-powered anomaly detection aids in identifying threats and recovering from incidents like ransomware.
Our solutions also tackle system integration and data management inefficiencies. AI-driven security improves real-time threat detection, while modular architecture enables seamless integration. Data management tools enhance governance and decision-making.
CIO&Leader: With Dell’s focus on integrations and unified management, how do you ensure seamless collaboration with security providers like Zscaler, Okta, and CrowdStrike?
Ripu Bajwa: We ensure seamless collaboration with security providers like Zscaler, Okta, and CrowdStrike by integrating through APIs, unified management consoles, and joint security frameworks. This approach centralizes monitoring and policy enforcement, aligns with Zero Trust and identity-centric security models, and enables faster threat detection and response.
Strategic partnerships further enhance compatibility across Dell’s hardware, cloud platforms, and security solutions, ensuring a cohesive, secure environment.
CIO&Leader: How does the Dell AI Factory help companies define their AI journeys, and what key benefits have been observed?
Ripu Bajwa: As AI transforms industries, organizations need a clear adoption path. The Dell AI Factory, developed with NVIDIA, offers a turnkey solution to simplify AI integration and accelerate deployment. It provides pre-validated, full-stack solutions for desktops, servers, and edge environments.
The Dell AI Factory helps companies define their AI strategy through assessment, prototyping, and implementation. By evaluating a company’s needs and data landscape, it creates tailored AI strategies and enables rapid prototyping in a collaborative environment.
Companies also gain access to tools, guidance, and training to manage AI initiatives effectively. Key benefits include faster innovation, improved decision-making through data analytics, cost optimization, and scalable AI solutions. The Dell AI Factory enables organizations to leverage AI to enhance customer experiences and streamline operations.
CIO&Leader: With AI now central to Dell’s strategy, how are Dell’s professional services helping organizations with AI model creation, data preparation, and infrastructure design?
Ripu Bajwa: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) are transforming business at an unprecedented pace, offering advantages that can give your business a competitive edge. AI can unlock insights from your data and enhance productivity, customer experience, and innovation. Our professional services assist organizations with AI model creation, data preparation, and infrastructure design by simplifying the AI journey through solutions like the Dell AI Factory and Helix Project.
We offer validated design blueprints combining our hardware and storage with NVIDIA’s AI performance, facilitating quick AI implementation. Their services cover the entire AI lifecycle—from selecting use cases to deploying and scaling AI solutions—addressing data readiness and skill gaps. Our approach ensures AI infrastructure is secure, scalable, and cost-effective, tailored to business needs.