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India can power global AI workforce: Cybersecurity entrepreneur
Sinha identified two immediate challenges for companies: employees misusing AI tools and the rise of autonomous AI agents.
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Staff Reporter - Mon, 13, Apr 2026
- 17:02 EDT
- 33
Representative Image / Generated using AI
Silicon Valley: India’s vast technology talent pool could position it as the world’s backbone for building next-generation AI systems, an Indian-origin cybersecurity entrepreneur said, while urging greater investment in core AI capabilities.
“India has a massive technology force… they can be the workforce of the entire world and build agents for a lot of these enterprise companies,” Satyam Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Acuvity, told India Abroad in an interview.
Sinha’s AI security startup Acuvity was recently acquired by cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, in a deal that reflects growing global focus on securing artificial intelligence systems as their use expands across industries.
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He said the rapid adoption of AI is fundamentally reshaping enterprise operations, but also creating new layers of risk that organisations are only beginning to understand. “In this day and age, AI is becoming very, very important. Almost every enterprise in the world is thinking about how to reinvent themselves with AI,” he said.
At the same time, he warned that every technological shift brings new vulnerabilities. “Every time a new technology is introduced, there are security concerns and risks that get created because of that,” he added.
Sinha identified two immediate challenges for companies: employees misusing AI tools and the rise of autonomous AI agents. He said workers often upload sensitive data into consumer AI platforms without understanding the risks. “Imagine a person sitting inside that company… uploading your records and files. Suddenly, your data is getting leaked,” he said.
The second, more complex risk stems from AI agents that can perform tasks independently. “The new dimension of enterprise is gonna have humans working and agents working, and there are even more attacks where you can confuse the agents,” he said.
These systems, he cautioned, can be manipulated in ways similar to social engineering attacks. “If your agent has access to… your Google documents and your email, I can trick those agents… and you will not even know,” he noted.
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Acuvity was built to address these emerging risks by ensuring that AI systems access data and operate in real time securely. Sinha said Proofpoint’s acquisition was driven by alignment with long-term strategy. “They liked the end-to-end vision of what we were doing with the product… and that’s what kind of took them towards an acquisition,” he said.
On India’s position in the global AI race, Sinha said the country must focus both on long-term research and near-term opportunities. He noted that while the United States and China lead in building foundational AI models, India has an advantage in deploying and scaling AI-driven applications.
“One of the core aspects of developing these kinda models… I think India is lagging behind on that front a little bit,” he said.
He argued that India should invest in future breakthroughs rather than only trying to catch up. “We really need to look at some of these AI specialists and researchers as like national assets,” he said.
Sinha also compared the current AI shift to industrialisation, warning that many routine jobs could be disrupted. “I compare AI to the modern-day industrialization… human race is now going to evolve into the next category,” he said.
He urged individuals to adapt quickly. “If you’re not gonna be willing to learn AI, you could be in trouble,” he said. The acquisition comes at a time when governments and companies are increasingly focusing on AI governance, data protection, and cybersecurity as the technology becomes central to business, public infrastructure, and national security.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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