Cohesity CEO: 'The Middle East is moving faster than any other region in data resilience'

Cohesity has become a prominent name in cyber resilience, as enterprises worldwide look for smarter ways to secure and recover data in an age of increasingly sophisticated threats. For CEO Sanjay Poonen, the company’s mission reflects this shift in urgency: “Our mission is to protect, secure and provide insights into the world’s data. The largest organisations in the world, the biggest brands, rely on us for cyber resilience.”

Traditional backup approaches are no longer enough as ransomware evolves. Poonen highlights how enterprises today face persistent threats from nation-state actors across the US, Europe and the Middle East. To address this, Cohesity has built what it describes as an immutable, zero-trust security platform designed for fast recovery.

The Middle East, he says, is particularly important in this landscape. Countries across the region are investing heavily in digital transformation and AI, creating opportunities and challenges for data protection.

Cohesity has established a strong presence in the region, working with banks, hospitals, telcos, and public sector institutions. “The Middle East is moving faster than any other region when it comes to data resilience,” Poonen says. “We have hundreds of customers here and are working closely with partners to deploy AI-powered solutions tailored to the market.”

A key element of Cohesity’s approach is the integration of AI into its platform. Its product, Gaia, leverages generative AI to provide advanced data insights, anomaly detection, and threat scanning, allowing organisations to protect and make sense of their data in ways that traditional backup solutions cannot.

“We’ve modernised the discussion from traditional storage to security. Generative AI on top of data is the next frontier for enterprises everywhere, including the UAE and wider Middle East,” says Poonen.

Looking ahead, Cohesity’s global priorities revolve around three strategic areas - multi-cloud data protection, advanced security capabilities, and AI-driven intelligence on the data being protected. “These three pillars are central to our innovation strategy, not just in the US but globally, and the Middle East is no exception,” he adds.

Poonen also emphasises the role of events like Gitex, where he met with Computer Weekly, in fostering awareness and collaboration. “This conference is incredible, it brings together 200,000 people and showcases how technology can enable resilience everywhere,” he said.

With cyber threats evolving rapidly and data becoming a critical economic asset, Cohesity sees its role as helping organisations navigate the complex intersection of AI, cloud adoption, and cyber resilience. For the Middle East, a region accelerating in AI adoption and digital transformation, the company’s CEO believes there is a unique opportunity to establish robust, secure, and future-ready data infrastructure.