As we reflect on AI Appreciation Day in 2025, it is quite solid proof that this technology is not merely futuristic but has been ingrained in our daily lives, influencing professions, industries, and even artistic expression. The discussions around AI, from generative AI to ethical frameworks from various industry leaders are more important than ever. These insights, which bring together a variety of viewpoints from top AI developers, experts, and thought leaders who are influencing the direction of responsible AI, serve as a reminder that although robots may interpret data, human intent is what really drives technology.

Laka Sriram, VP, Product, Independents, GoDaddy

“AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s here today, making an extraordinary difference in how small businesses operate, compete, and grow”. 

AI agents act as dedicated workers, handling specific tasks and preparing the work for business owners to review, refine, and approve thereby saving time, streamlining decision-making, and helping businesses move faster with confidence.

From instantly generating beautiful websites and product descriptions to helping business owners understand customer trends and optimize marketing campaigns, AI simplifies complexity and saves precious time.

“This AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate not just the technology itself, but the creativity, resilience, and ambition it helps unlock in people everywhere”.

 

Naresh B. Wadhwa, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Videonetics

"As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, it is essential to recognize that the true potential of AI lies not just in automating tasks, but in empowering intelligent, real-time decision-making across critical environments.

“From enhancing urban safety to streamlining traffic systems and securing vital infrastructure, our mission is to enable organisations to look deeper into video data and derive actionable insights that drive impact”. 

“AI is not just the future; it is the foundation of smarter, safer societies, and it must be built responsibly, for people and with purpose”.

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Dr. Badri Gomatam, Group Chief Technology Officer, Sterlite Technologies Limited

“In today’s AI-powered world, the ability to turn massive amounts of data into real-time, actionable insights is what sets successful organisations apart. As AI workloads demand ever-greater speed and scale, the role of data centres has shifted from simply storing information to enabling intelligence at every level. With India’s data centre capacity poised to double in the next five years, and AI applications requiring exponentially more compute power, the need for robust, sustainable, and low-latency connectivity has never been greater.

Venkat Sitaram Senior Director & Country Head ISG (Infrastructure Solutions Group), Dell Technologies India

“As organizations increasingly generate and rely on vast volumes of data, the demand for intelligent, real-time infrastructure has never been greater. We are witnessing a definitive shift from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide implementation, particularly in critical sectors such as manufacturing, BFSI, and healthcare”.

“However, successful AI adoption requires more than deploying algorithms—it depends on scalable, secure, and sustainable infrastructure seamlessly integrated across edge, core, and cloud ecosystems”. 

“As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, it is clear that the future belongs to those who responsibly scale their AI initiatives, foster innovation with confidence, and transform data into a formidable competitive advantage”.

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Anant Deshpande, DigiCert Regional Vice President, India and ASEAN

“This AI Appreciation Day, we’re not just celebrating the power of artificial intelligence—we’re championing its responsible evolution”. 

“At DigiCert, we believe that as AI becomes more integral to business, security must scale alongside innovation. Generative AI, autonomous systems, and machine learning models are transforming how we work, communicate, and build. But with these advancements come growing risks - deepfakes, misinformation, model drift, and quantum-era vulnerabilities that threaten the very trust AI depends on”.

“Because when you anchor innovation in verifiability, authenticity, and transparency, AI doesn't just solve problems faster - it earns the confidence to lead us into the future”.

Naveen Bolalingappa, CEO, STL Digital

“As we mark AI Appreciation Day in India, it’s important to acknowledge both the promise and the pressing challenges that define the country’s AI journey. While India is rapidly becoming a global digital powerhouse, reports indicate that over 60 percent of enterprises still fail to operationalize AI at scale without future-ready enterprise solutions. The root cause lies in the fragmented adoption approach—where AI is often treated as a one-off initiative rather than a long-term, organization-wide capability. Without a foundational AI strategy, Indian enterprises risk falling behind in a world where AI maturity will define competitive advantage. 

With the changing landscape of AI across sectors, what is also needed for equitable AI success is regulation at the industry, individual and national level.

“On this AI Appreciation Day, we urge Indian businesses to not just adopt AI, but to embed it into the core of their operations. Because appreciation should lead to action—and that’s how we collectively shape a smarter, more resilient digital future for India.”

David Allott, Field CISO – APJ, Veeam

“AI is enabling security leaders across APJ, including India, to shift from reactive defence to proactive resilience. It is not just about knowing where it is stored, but understanding what it contains, who has access, and whether it is subject to compliance issues or exfiltration risk.

As Indian companies adopt hybrid-cloud models and operate across legacy and modern infrastructure, this visibility becomes harder to achieve. AI cuts through the complexity by identifying anomalies faster, knowing misconfigurations before they become vulnerabilities, and introducing backup strategies with actual data value.

“While AI is not a silver bullet for security, it is a tool that delivers clarity and context on how to become more resilient”.

Ben Young, Field CTO APJ, Veeam

On AI Appreciation Day, it is worth reflecting on not only what AI can do, but also the challenges it demands from us. AI is fundamentally reshaping enterprise data architecture, introducing new and often distributed compute environments, training datasets and workflows that did not exist just two years ago. But in the rush to innovate, many businesses are skipping over critical questions: 

• Are the storage environments secure?
• Is any of this backed up? 
• Are the backups protected and secure? 

At Veeam, we regularly see organisations deploying AI training workloads in the public cloud, sometimes for the first time and without mature data resilience strategies in place. There is a common assumption that as-a-service infrastructure is inherently secure. Protecting AI means safeguarding model inputs and outputs, defending against data poisoning and ensuring rapid restore capabilities in the face of compromise.

“AI may be intelligent, but resilience still requires human foresight and organisational-wide discipline. Innovation without protection is a risk no enterprise can afford to take”.