Tech sovereignty goes beyond just data, says IBM India head Sandip Patel

IBM's Sandip Patel says sovereignty today means controlling not just data but also AI models, inference and technology operations, as enterprises and governments seek resilient, sovereign-ready system

Sandip Patel, managing director (MD), IBM India and South Asia Region, believes that sovereignty today goes beyond just data sovereignty. It encompasses who operates and controls the technology environment, and where do artificial intelligence (AI) models and where do inferences happen.

 

“These are not just Indian concerns. We have heard them in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Enterprises are looking to build sovereignty into the platform itself,” he told Business Standard in an interview in Mumbai as he headed for attending one of the largest global events on AI, the AI Impact Summit, being held in New Delhi.

 

IBM recently announced a new offering called IBM Sovereign Core, an AI-ready sovereign-enabled software for enterprises, governments, and service providers to build, deploy and manage AI-ready sovereign environments. The offering will be available globally by mid-year.

 

Organisations across the world are facing a growing need for controlling their technology infrastructure. This is largely due to the global macro uncertainty, changing regulatory requirements, and rising wave of AI.

 

Patel agrees that AI is a big reason for the push towards controlling the technology stack at companies and government. “Data by itself has limited value. Its value today comes from AI-driven insights and outcomes. That makes control over inference and processing far more important,” he said.

 

This is especially relevant for large enterprises in regulated industries — finance, health care, telecom, defence, and government. “Geopolitics also plays a role. Clients are asking: If something disrupts public cloud services due to geopolitical reasons, what control do I have over my core operations? That is the context in which Sovereign Core becomes relevant,” he added.

 

Patel also said that the offering may be new but IBM has always propagated this principle, adding: “If you step back and look at our recent announcements, they all contribute to an open architecture that gives clients choice and control.”

 

IBM’s recent acquisition of Confluent is also a step towards this strategy. “Take our Confluent acquisition — it enhances data streaming capabilities, enabling movement of data without replication. In an AI world, that is critical. Many large banks and even NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) use such technologies as part of their fabric,” he said.

 

IBM is acquiring Confluent in an $11 billion deal.

 

Asked about his expectation from the AI Impact Summit, Patel said the event definitely positions India as a nation that is serious about AI. “More importantly, it will hopefully demonstrate what multiple studies and reports have been indicating — that enterprises in India are actually much farther ahead in experimenting with AI and applying it to real-life use cases,” he added.

 

Patel further said: “I expect this to be a strong platform, particularly for startups and smaller firms working in AI. It can create a meaningful forum for them to connect with global companies. This is India’s opportunity to showcase what we have been doing with AI in a very meaningful way.”