CEO Anand Eswaran explains how the acquisition of Securiti AI unifies data resilience, security, governance, and AI trust to help enterprises move AI from experimentation to production with confidence.
Enterprises accelerating AI adoption are discovering that the biggest barrier to success is no longer models or infrastructure, but whether data can be trusted, governed, secured, and recovered at machine speed.
Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam, spoke to Sandhya D’Mello, Technology Editor, Security Advisor Middle East about the strategic rationale behind the company’s landmark acquisition of Securiti AI.
The interview explores how unifying data resilience with security, privacy, governance, and AI trust creates a foundational platform for scaling safe AI, why fragmented data tools are no longer viable in an AI-driven world, and how the combined Veeam–Securiti AI platform is reshaping global data resilience strategies.
Eswaran also highlights why the UAE’s digital-first vision and strong regulatory focus make the region a strategic priority for Veeam’s next phase of growth, as organisations seek to innovate confidently while meeting evolving requirements around data sovereignty, compliance, and AI ethics.
Interview excerpts:
Why was this the right moment for Veeam to acquire Securiti AI?
AI has fundamentally changed how organisations consume, move, and monetise data. Customers today operate multiple disconnected tools—one set for analytics and intelligence, another for security, privacy, compliance, and governance, and a separate layer for data protection and resilience. This fragmentation no longer works in an AI-driven world.
The speed at which AI operates means humans cannot manually orchestrate these layers safely. The industry needed to step back and rethink how data is managed end-to-end. This acquisition allows Veeam to bring together data understanding, security, privacy, governance, and resilience into a single unified platform. The timing is critical because enterprises are scaling AI now—and without this foundation, most AI projects fail before reaching production.
How will the combined platform accelerate safe and trusted AI adoption?
Today, most AI projects fail not because of models or infrastructure, but because data is not secured, governed, or exposed correctly. With the combined platform, AI initiatives can move from idea to pilot to production in weeks rather than months. When we say “safe AI,” we mean two things coming together: data security and data resilience. There is no AI without data security, and there is no trust in AI without data resilience.
“The platform provides deep visibility across primary and backup data, structured and unstructured data, enabling organisations to understand lineage, risk, and exposure. This ensures the right data feeds AI pipelines—preventing hallucinations, data leakage, and compliance violations—while allowing rapid, confident innovation.”
How will this acquisition reshape Veeam’s global data resilience strategy in the coming years?
Veeam has long been the global leader in data resilience. This acquisition elevates our role from protecting data to enabling trusted AI outcomes. We are evolving into a data and AI trust company. Our strategy now spans the entire data lifecycle—from creation and classification to protection, recovery, and AI consumption. By unifying resilience with security, privacy, compliance, and governance, we are redefining what resilience means in the AI era. It is no longer just about recovery after an incident, but about ensuring data is always trusted, compliant, and ready to fuel AI-driven transformation at scale.
With the UAE shaping itself as a “digital-first” nation, how is Veeam aligning its vision to expand its regional presence?
The Middle East, and particularly the UAE, is one of Veeam’s most strategic regions. What stands out is the region’s ability to balance innovation with strong regulatory frameworks. Initiatives around data protection, AI ethics, governance, and sovereignty are progressing in parallel with aggressive digital transformation agendas. Veeam’s unified platform aligns directly with this vision. We abstract the complexity of compliance and data sovereignty across jurisdictions, allowing organisations to innovate without worrying about regulatory risk. This enables enterprises, governments, and cities to focus on leveraging AI safely and responsibly. We are investing heavily in the region and are excited to partner with public and private sector organisations to support the UAE’s digital-first ambitions.
