Shaktivel K : Powering India's Digital Rise Through Innovation & Infrastructure
Shaktivel K
Co-Founder & CEO
Among them, Shaktivel K, Co-Founder & CEO of Henox, is setting new benchmarks in digital infrastructure. With a career spanning nearly three decades, Shaktivel’s journey is a compelling blend of discipline, innovation and strategic foresight. His legacy shaped by a Naval background and refined in global board rooms began in 1999 at HCL, where he focused on technology and office automation before transitioning into network operations and managed services during the early rise of cloud computing.
From foundational roles at the Bombay Stock Exchange and JM Morgan Stanley to two transformative decades at Etisalat in Dubai, where he conceptualized and built the globally acclaimed SmartHub data centers, Shaktivel has consistently operated at the intersection of finance, technology and infrastructure.
SmartHub, now a digital cornerstone for the UAE, received global recognition in 2011 from Omdia(formerly Ovum Consulting), for its innovation in telecom and edge ecosystems.
Today, as the driving force behind Henox, he channels this experience into building next generation infrastructure for a digital India. His story is more than a chronicle of professional milestones. It is a reflection of how vision, courage, and purpose can redefine what is possible on the global stage.
Let’s dive into this one-on-one interaction to hear more from Shaktivel K.
What challenges did you face in the early days of building Henox, and how did your combined strengths help position the company as a reliable technology partner for governments and enterprises?
India’s data center capacity is expected to grow from 1.3 GW to over 5 GW by 2030. Sunil and I, with nearly five decades of global experience, saw the need for infrastructure partners who could move quickly and think long-term. The trust we had, built over years of collaboration, became the foundation of Henox.
The digital landscape needed a shift from monopolies and rigid systems to something more agile, transparent and future-ready. Our vision was to build a scalable digital ecosystem that aligns with India’s goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
We faced policy bottlenecks and fragmented infrastructure, but we stayed focused on our mission. Those early choices helped us reach key milestones we’re proud of today.
Henox has joined hands with GIFT City, India’s pioneering IFSC Smart City. Could you share insights into the strategic significance of this partnership?
We’re connecting 40 percent of the global population in under 40 ms through the infrastructure we’re deploying at GIFT City, and that captures the scale of this partnership. As the official technology partner, Henox is enabling low-latency, high-resilience connectivity west to the Middle East and east to Singapore, while providing geographic redundancy for Mumbai.
GIFT City, supported by the Prime Minister’s Office and built to global standards is central to India’s digital and financial transformation. We believe digitally intelligent cities will drive the next wave of growth. Henox’s presence aligns with national goals as India moves toward a $35 trillion economy, and we’re already expanding to other coastal regions to strengthen the country’s digital backbone.
How is Henox addressing India’s growing demand for intelligent, secure, and sustainable digital infra- structure, particularly through innovations like edge ecosystems, satellite gateways, and CLS deploy-ments?
India’s data center market, growing at ~25 percent CAGR, is expected to exceed 5 GW by 2030. Meeting this demand requires infrastructure that is secure, scalable, AI-ready, and energy-efficient, which is exactly what Henox is building.
We’re adapting the edge ecosystem model pioneered in the UAE to fit India’s needs. The country lacks a unified edge platform, and our ecosystem bridges that gap by integrating edge DCs, hyperscale and AI data centers, satellite gateways, cable landing stations, GRX/SMS, and IX/IPX points.
By converging submarine cables, edge networks, and hyperscale data centers into one ecosystem, we’re creating a scalable digital backbone. This positions India as a resilient, low-latency hub for hyper scalers, OTTs, and global carriers in FinTech, gaming, IoT, and smart cities.
Could you elaborate on your subsea and terrestrial route initiatives to Gujarat and how they contribute to easing congestion in Mumbai while supporting global connectivity and operations?
India currently relies primarily on two international gateways, Mumbai and Chennai. With data traffic projected to grow from 180 TB to 800 TB, these routes are under growing strain. Mumbai is congested and often affected by disruptions from ship anchorages. Since India lacks its own cable repair vessel, outages take longer and cost more to fix.
To address this, we’re building new cable landing stations in Gujarat. These locations offer lower latency to the Middle East than Mumbai and connect directly to Singapore and Europe, making them ideal for latency-sensitive sectors like financial trading.
This move improves network resilience, significantly reduces latency from around 25 milliseconds, and creates new corridors for hyperscalers and global operators seeking faster, more reliable access to Indian markets.
Henox has achieved rapid expansion across multiple states in a short span. What key strategic decisions fueled this growth, and how are you maintaining the momentum?
India’s digital data consumption is growing at over 40 percent year-on-year, driven by AI, cloud adoption, and real-time applications. Meeting this demand requires not just more data centers, but infrastructure that is smarter and better distributed. We saw early on that growth wouldn’t be confined to metro cities.
Henox began in 2025 with strategic registrations in Gujarat and Chennai, and international gateways in Dubai and London. From the start, our goal was to address key challenges like policy rigidity, network congestion, and weak regional infrastructure.
We positioned Henox as a full-stack infra structure partner,
At Henox, our mission is to make India more accessible to the world by building fast, secure, and low-latency digital infrastructure, not just connecting networks and building data centers, but connecting eco-nomies and empowering futures
How is Henox addressing India’s growing demand for intelligent, secure, and sustainable digital infra- structure, particularly through innovations like edge ecosystems, satellite gateways, and CLS deploy-ments?
India’s data center market, growing at ~25 percent CAGR, is expected to exceed 5 GW by 2030. Meeting this demand requires infrastructure that is secure, scalable, AI-ready, and energy-efficient, which is exactly what Henox is building.
We’re adapting the edge ecosystem model pioneered in the UAE to fit India’s needs. The country lacks a unified edge platform, and our ecosystem bridges that gap by integrating edge DCs, hyperscale and AI data centers, satellite gateways, cable landing stations, GRX/SMS, and IX/IPX points.
By converging submarine cables, edge networks, and hyperscale data centers into one ecosystem, we’re creating a scalable digital backbone. This positions India as a resilient, low-latency hub for hyper scalers, OTTs, and global carriers in FinTech, gaming, IoT, and smart cities.
Could you elaborate on your subsea and terrestrial route initiatives to Gujarat and how they contribute to easing congestion in Mumbai while supporting global connectivity and operations?
India currently relies primarily on two international gateways, Mumbai and Chennai. With data traffic projected to grow from 180 TB to 800 TB, these routes are under growing strain. Mumbai is congested and often affected by disruptions from ship anchorages. Since India lacks its own cable repair vessel, outages take longer and cost more to fix.
To address this, we’re building new cable landing stations in Gujarat. These locations offer lower latency to the Middle East than Mumbai and connect directly to Singapore and Europe, making them ideal for latency-sensitive sectors like financial trading.
This move improves network resilience, significantly reduces latency from around 25 milliseconds, and creates new corridors for hyperscalers and global operators seeking faster, more reliable access to Indian markets.
Henox has achieved rapid expansion across multiple states in a short span. What key strategic decisions fueled this growth, and how are you maintaining the momentum?
India’s digital data consumption is growing at over 40 percent year-on-year, driven by AI, cloud adoption, and real-time applications. Meeting this demand requires not just more data centers, but infrastructure that is smarter and better distributed. We saw early on that growth wouldn’t be confined to metro cities.
Henox began in 2025 with strategic registrations in Gujarat and Chennai, and international gateways in Dubai and London. From the start, our goal was to address key challenges like policy rigidity, network congestion, and weak regional infrastructure.
We positioned Henox as a full-stack infra structure partner,
integrating telecom, cloud and IT systems through a hub-and-corridor model. This starts from GIFT City and extends across southern coastal states, with inland routes connecting underserved regions to enable nation wide digital access.
How do you cultivate a culture of innovation and accountability within your teams, and what core leadership principles guide your organization’s direc- tion?
Henox was founded on friendship and a shared vision for India, and that spirit continues to guide our culture. We maintain a flat structure where ideas move freely across all levels.
Our team members take on cross-functional roles, are supported in upskilling, and are encouraged to lead their ideas with confidence. Innovation isn’t driven from the top, it’s a shared responsibility that everyone contributes to.
How is Henox contributing to the country’s leadership in connectivity, cloud, and digital finance, while also promoting diversity, inclusion, and regional equity through its infrastructure initiatives?
India’s data center market is valued at over $10 billion and is growing at nearly 25 percent CAGR, making it the second-fastest in the APAC region. At Henox, our goal is to make India more globally accessible by building fast, secure, and low-latency infrastructure.
Through our edge ecosystem and subsea gateways, we’re positioning India not just as a user of global networks, but as a trusted provider. Our platforms are built to support the nation’s $35 trillion economic vision under the Viksit Bharat 2047 roadmap.
Edge ecosystems decentralize operations, allowing cities to run smarter services. Just as important is inclusion and data sovereignty. We work closely with regional governments to expand access beyond tier-1 cities, ensuring digital progress reaches every region and community.
As Henox prepares to launch a carbon neutral 200MW hyperscale data center, how are you aligning with global sustainability goals while advancing your roadmap for expansion, innovation, and leadership in the digital infrastructure space?
At Henox, we believe sustainability and innovation must go hand in hand. Our upcoming 200MW carbon-neutral hyperscale data center reflects that commitment by leveraging green energy through public-private partnerships and using advanced liquid and immersion cooling to significantly reduce power consumption.
Eco-conscious design is built into every layer of the infrastructure. Since this is a capital intensive project, we’re also engaging with investors who share our long-term vision.
At the same time, we’re scaling our hyper scale and edge presence across India and expanding into the Middle East and Southeast Asia. New subsea gateways and consortium cables will reduce congestion and improve backhaul efficiency, supported by partnerships with leading PSUs.
On the innovation side, we’re building intelligent platforms for bandwidth-on-demand, satellite gateways, cloud connectivity, and Ethernet cores. Our goal is simple to build responsibly, scale sustainably, and lead with foresight.
Shaktivel K, Co-Founder & CEO, Henox
With nearly three decades of global experience in IT, strategy, telecom, and infrastructure, Shaktivel K is the Co-Founder & CEO of Henox. He is known for pioneering edge ecosystems and championing sustainable digital transformation across India, the Middle East and beyond.
How do you cultivate a culture of innovation and accountability within your teams, and what core leadership principles guide your organization’s direc- tion?
Henox was founded on friendship and a shared vision for India, and that spirit continues to guide our culture. We maintain a flat structure where ideas move freely across all levels.
Our team members take on cross-functional roles, are supported in upskilling, and are encouraged to lead their ideas with confidence. Innovation isn’t driven from the top, it’s a shared responsibility that everyone contributes to.
How is Henox contributing to the country’s leadership in connectivity, cloud, and digital finance, while also promoting diversity, inclusion, and regional equity through its infrastructure initiatives?
India’s data center market is valued at over $10 billion and is growing at nearly 25 percent CAGR, making it the second-fastest in the APAC region. At Henox, our goal is to make India more globally accessible by building fast, secure, and low-latency infrastructure.
Through our edge ecosystem and subsea gateways, we’re positioning India not just as a user of global networks, but as a trusted provider. Our platforms are built to support the nation’s $35 trillion economic vision under the Viksit Bharat 2047 roadmap.
Edge ecosystems decentralize operations, allowing cities to run smarter services. Just as important is inclusion and data sovereignty. We work closely with regional governments to expand access beyond tier-1 cities, ensuring digital progress reaches every region and community.
As Henox prepares to launch a carbon neutral 200MW hyperscale data center, how are you aligning with global sustainability goals while advancing your roadmap for expansion, innovation, and leadership in the digital infrastructure space?
At Henox, we believe sustainability and innovation must go hand in hand. Our upcoming 200MW carbon-neutral hyperscale data center reflects that commitment by leveraging green energy through public-private partnerships and using advanced liquid and immersion cooling to significantly reduce power consumption.
Eco-conscious design is built into every layer of the infrastructure. Since this is a capital intensive project, we’re also engaging with investors who share our long-term vision.
At the same time, we’re scaling our hyper scale and edge presence across India and expanding into the Middle East and Southeast Asia. New subsea gateways and consortium cables will reduce congestion and improve backhaul efficiency, supported by partnerships with leading PSUs.
On the innovation side, we’re building intelligent platforms for bandwidth-on-demand, satellite gateways, cloud connectivity, and Ethernet cores. Our goal is simple to build responsibly, scale sustainably, and lead with foresight.
Shaktivel K, Co-Founder & CEO, Henox
With nearly three decades of global experience in IT, strategy, telecom, and infrastructure, Shaktivel K is the Co-Founder & CEO of Henox. He is known for pioneering edge ecosystems and championing sustainable digital transformation across India, the Middle East and beyond.