Cloud migration represents India's biggest IT opportunity over the next decade

Sonia Ahluwalia
Vice President – Cloud Practice - Kyndryl India

According to Sonia Ahluwalia of Kyndryl, businesses are entering a completely new phase of cloud adoption in India. “Cloud migration is increasingly being driven by what I see as four powerful forces shaping every boardroom discussion—AI adoption, cyber resilience, regulatory compliance and the need for continuous innovation. Today's cloud decisions are no longer about where applications run; they are about how organizations innovate faster, remain secure, comply with evolving regulations and build resilient digital businesses.”

“Banks are balancing AI innovation with RBI regulations and cyber resilience. Manufacturers are modernizing factories with AI and Industrial IoT while protecting operational technology. Healthcare organizations are digitizing patient experiences while ensuring data privacy. Government agencies are accelerating citizen services under Digital India and MeghRaj while maintaining sovereignty and trust,” she cites a few instances. Over the next five years, Sonia expects cloud migration to evolve into continuous modernization—where enterprises continuously optimize applications, data, security and operations to remain competitive in an AI-first economy. “For Indian enterprises, cloud is no longer the destination. It is the strategic platform that will enable the country's next wave of innovation, resilience and digital growth,” she states.

CHALLENGES TO CLOUD MIGRATION

“In my conversations with CIOs and CTOs across banking, manufacturing, telecom, healthcare and the public sector, the challenge they consistently describe is modernizing decades of business-critical technology without disrupting the business. The real complexity lies in understanding application interdependencies, managing operational risks and ensuring that modernization does not compromise resilience. That's why I believe cloud migration is fundamentally a business transformation initiative.”