Cybersecurity is not just for protection, it’s a driver of digital trust and growth: Amit Jain, HCLTech

In today’s increasingly interconnected digital world, cybersecurity has become a cornerstone of enterprise resilience and trust. As cyber threats grow in complexity and frequency, organisations across the globe are turning to trusted partners to navigate these challenges while driving secure innovation. India, with its expanding digital economy and deep talent pool, is playing a pivotal role in shaping the global cybersecurity landscape—and HCLTech stands at the forefront of this transformation.

Amit Jain, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Cybersecurity Services at HCLTech, shares insights into how the company is leveraging India’s strengths, addressing the evolving threat landscape, and helping enterprises shift from a reactive security mindset to a proactive, resilience-driven approach. From pioneering AI-enabled security solutions to building global delivery hubs and fostering strong industry collaborations, HCLTech is redefining cybersecurity as a strategic business enabler. In this conversation, Jain outlines HCLTech’s vision, recent success stories, and the company’s roadmap for delivering “Total Resilience” to clients worldwide.

What role is India playing in the global cybersecurity landscape, and how is HCLTech capitalising on this momentum?

As one of the fastest-growing digital economies, India is witnessing exponential adoption of enterprise technologies, digital payments, hybrid work models, and large-scale digital transformation across industries. With this growth comes an expanded attack surface and rising cyber threats, making cybersecurity a top priority.

India’s strength lies in its deep pool of technology talent. We’re seeing a surge of professionals, from fresh graduates to senior experts, pursuing careers in cybersecurity. The rise of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and delivery hubs in India further reinforces the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals.

At HCLTech, we’ve made significant investments in India to deliver and innovate. Our Cybersecurity Fusion Centers (CSFCs) and Cybersecurity Innovation and Delivery Centers (CIDCs) in India are at the heart of our global delivery strategy. These hubs bring together security architects, solution experts, and cyber analysts to co-create AI-driven solutions that address complex enterprise challenges. Whether it’s supporting clients in India, the Americas, or Europe, our India-based teams are critical to helping organisations build cyber resilience and secure digital trust at scale.

What are the most common cybersecurity challenges your clients face today, and how is HCLTech addressing them?

One of the biggest strengths at HCLTech is how closely we listen to the market, and our recent Global Cyber Resilience Study 2024–25, where we surveyed over 1,500 security leaders worldwide, reflects the realities our clients face today.

Three core challenges stand out. First, the attack economy is evolving rapidly. With the rise of AI-generated threats, 81% of enterprises expect a cyberattack on their enterprise in the next 12 months. The speed and sophistication of these attacks make traditional defenses obsolete.

Second, there’s a clear preparedness gap. Most enterprises express low confidence in their in-house expertise and ability to prevent, detect, respond to, or recover from attacks. Our study shows that more than three-fourths feel underprepared, highlighting the urgent need for stronger, integrated resilience strategies.

Third, CISOs are grappling with a fragmented security landscape. Managing too many point products leads to inefficiencies and spiraling costs. Simplification and consolidation are no longer optional but critical for scalable protection.

At HCLTech, we address these head-on by delivering Total Resilience through a dynamic cybersecurity approach. Our dynamic cybersecurity approach enables enterprises to move from a ‘static’ to a ‘dynamic’ posture to combat the growing threat landscape, geopolitical climate, and economic headwinds. 

Our comprehensive services span consulting, transformation, and managed services across all domains—cloud, infrastructure, OT, IT, identity, applications, and data. With over 28 years of experience, a global team of 8,000+ cybersecurity experts, and deep investments in frameworks, IP, and automation, we are confidently helping more than 800 enterprises navigate the most complex security challenges.

How is HCLTech helping organisations shift from viewing cybersecurity as a cost center to leveraging it as a driver of digital trust and business growth?

What truly differentiates us is our emphasis on co-creation, early visualisation, and a strong focus on outcomes and customer success as core criteria. Clients can see their end-state architecture through our innovation labs—including prebuilt attack scenarios, playbooks, and frameworks—before they begin implementation. This approach not only shortens time-to-value but also builds confidence from day one. 

Our Total Resilience approach covers the complete spectrum—consulting, protection, detection, assurance, and recovery. We work hand-in-hand with clients, not just in creating a technology roadmap but also in building and managing it to ensure sustainable outcomes. Our commitment at every step of the journey gives our customers the confidence they need to succeed.

We collaborate closely with the world’s leading cybersecurity OEMs and hyperscalers—Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Microsoft, Zscaler, Google Cloud, AWS, and others—to deliver integrated, ecosystem-driven solutions that help clients drive secure innovation at scale. 

Moreover, our risk quantification, assessment, and governance services ensure a closed-loop approach—helping clients stay aligned with compliance mandates, regulatory frameworks, and evolving risk postures. We recognise the importance of helping CIOs and CISOs communicate the outcomes and impact of cybersecurity investments to Boards and executives. By translating complex cybersecurity strategies into clear, actionable insights, we empower leadership to make informed decisions.

Can you share a client success story where HCLTech’s cybersecurity approach significantly transformed their risk posture or enabled growth?

A leading financial services provider in India partnered with HCLTech to overhaul its cybersecurity operations amid growing concerns over sophisticated cyber threats and a fragmented, legacy-heavy IT environment.

HCLTech delivered an integrated Managed Network and Security Operations solution, encompassing Security Device Management, Endpoint Management, and Security Assurance. The goal was clear: strengthen threat detection and response capabilities while simplifying operations.

By consolidating Level 1 to Level 3 support into a single managed services model and deploying a “shift-left” SOP-driven approach, the organisation achieved:

• Improved cyber resilience through advanced threat protection and faster response
• Streamlined vulnerability management to keep systems consistently up-to-date
• Enhanced incident handling, minimising impact and enabling faster recovery

The transformation led to increased protection, better cost efficiency, and measurable productivity gains year over year. It’s a testament to how HCLTech’s cybersecurity strategy drives both operational security and sustainable business growth.

With GenAI becoming integral to digital transformation, how is HCLTech leveraging AI in its cybersecurity offerings while managing the associated risks?

GenAI is rapidly becoming central to enterprise transformation—but as with any disruptive technology, it brings new risks along with its immense potential. At HCLTech, we take a dual approach: securing AI and using AI to strengthen cybersecurity.

We help enterprises secure the adoption of AI and GenAI by safeguarding the sensitive data that fuels these models, ensuring responsible innovation from the start. Our services include OWASP Top 10 assessments for LLMs, mitigation strategies for model vulnerabilities, and governance frameworks aligned with evolving global regulations like the EU AI Act.

We also offer Responsible AI adoption services, focused on managing risks, ensuring ethical use, and maintaining compliance. Our Model Risk Management and AI governance capabilities fully integrate with broader enterprise AI strategies, helping clients scale GenAI securely.

Our AI-driven cybersecurity capabilities—through HCLTech AI Force and AI Foundry—embed intelligent guardrails within SecOps workflows. From automated threat detection and response to dynamic risk scoring, these platforms help enterprises accelerate SecOps transformation while keeping trust and safety at the core.

Ultimately, we aim to help clients confidently integrate GenAI into their business by delivering secure, responsible, and resilient AI-enabled cybersecurity.

What’s your long-term vision for HCLTech’s role in the global cybersecurity market?

My long-term vision for HCLTech in the global cybersecurity market is centered around one core mission—delivering Total Resilience.

As enterprises navigate a complex world shaped by geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and accelerating digital change, we aim to make them resilient, able to adapt, respond, and thrive. We are doing this by helping clients modernise a cybersecurity operating model through agentic AI and platformisation and operationalising the true promise of Zero Trust.

We’re building a global cybersecurity business that is innovation-led and designed to provide 360-degree services—from consulting and transformation to managed detection and response across IT, cloud, OT, identity, applications, and data.

We’ve invested deeply in our cybersecurity innovation centers, delivery platforms, and intellectual property. As one of the fastest-growing cybersecurity services businesses, we continue to expand in high-growth regions like ANZ and the Middle East, while strengthening our leadership in the Americas and Europe.

Equally important, we’re committed to being an employer of choice. We’re constantly growing our talent base, welcoming everyone from passionate freshers to experienced security leaders. Our vision is to shape the future of cybersecurity, not just for our clients but for the global workforce that will protect the digital world of tomorrow.