Industry leaders stress AI progress with focus on trust & impact

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen an evolution from theoretical promise to practical, daily impact across a broad spectrum of sectors, as highlighted by technology leaders in observance of AI Appreciation Day. Across industries ranging from home security and digital infrastructure to cloud computing and enterprise IT, voices within the tech community have come together to reflect on AI's advances, current applications, and the challenges ahead.

Nick Nigro, Vice President Sales Australasia at Reolink, said AI is fundamentally reshaping the way we approach and experience home security.

"It has moved us beyond legacy security cameras that are limited to basic recording, motion reaction, and alert spam, towards intelligent systems that deliver smart, context-aware detection capabilities that reduce false alarms and focus on alerting users to meaningful activity."

He said advances in artificial intelligence are transforming every aspect of security cameras, improving both their core technology and everyday usability.

"The development of new AI features, including intelligent detection, virtual boundaries and AI video search are just some examples of how AI is beginning to be adopted into security cameras. With intelligent detection that accurately distinguishes between people, vehicles, animals, and objects, AI greatly reduces the likelihood of false alarms and ensures users receive only the most relevant alerts.

"Another advantage of AI is customisable perimeter protection, which allows virtual boundaries, monitoring zones, and linger alerts to be tailored to the specific security needs of any site. This, paired with advanced features, such as AI video search, makes it simple to quickly locate important moments, eliminating the need to sift through hours of footage.

"At Reolink, we are harnessing the power of AI to create security cameras that set a new standard for protection and convenience. By continuing to integrate advanced AI technology, our cameras will be able to perform tasks in seconds that once took our customers considerable time, streamlining everything from real-time alerts to intelligent monitoring. We're committed to expanding our AI capabilities so that we are able to continue supporting busy parents, pet owners, homeowners, and travellers in protecting what matters the most.

"With AI at the heart of modern security cameras, home protection has become more intelligent, intuitive, and personalised than ever before. Today's systems do more than just watch - they anticipate, adapt, and empower individuals to take control of their safety. As technology evolves, so too does our ability to safeguard what matters most, making security a seamless part of modern living."

Sonia Eland, Executive Vice President and Country Manager for ANZ at HCLTech, said AI is no longer just a future promise; it's a present force, driving real impact across businesses and society.

"Over the past 18 months, we've seen a rapid evolution from cautious experimentation to large-scale adoption. As confidence in AI grows, organisations are going beyond surface-level use cases to unlock deeper, enterprise-wide transformation. The idea that AI is overhyped doesn't hold when you see the tangible outcomes: millions in cost savings, valuable time reclaimed from manual tasks, and entirely new revenue models created at speed.

"Looking forward, emerging trends such as agentic and multi-modal AI, industry-specific models, and unified data strategies are set to redefine how businesses operate and innovate. Yet, as we accelerate into this next phase, our commitment to building ethical, secure, and human-centric AI systems must grow in equal measure. At HCLTech, our focus remains on delivering AI solutions that drive measurable ROI. On AI Appreciation Day, it's clear that while progress has been significant, we've only just begun to tap into AI's full potential.

"To truly appreciate AI, we must also appreciate the responsibility it demands. That means investing in skills development, creating inclusive innovation frameworks, and ensuring regulatory alignment as adoption scales. Only then can we unlock AI's benefits in a way that is sustainable, equitable, and future-ready."

The inexorable rise of AI has also introduced new challenges, such as security and trust. Suvabrata Sinha, CISO-in-Residence at Zscaler, pointed to findings from the ThreatLabz 2025 AI Security Report, which analysed more than 536 billion AI transactions. He said, "Our research revealed both the enormous potential of AI and the growing complexity of its misuse.... As we celebrate how far AI has come, it's also an opportunity to reflect on how we're safeguarding its future." Sinha underlined the need for industries to prioritise trust, governance, and resilience alongside innovation.

From an infrastructure perspective, Amit Luthra, Managing Director at Lenovo ISG India, called attention to the pressing need for robust technology foundations to enable AI. He highlighted the trend towards hybrid and on-premises environments for AI workloads, noting that 63% of enterprises in India favour these models for their scalability and security. "India's AI journey is still emerging, with 49% of organisations currently evaluating or planning adoption. This signals a shift from hype to tangible impact," Luthra said.

Application security and operational reliability were highlighted by Pratik Shah, Managing Director India & SAARC at F5, who stressed the importance of securing AI-powered applications in a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem. His comments echoed the view that AI now forms the core of business operations and that platforms must deliver both flexibility and security to keep pace with demand.

Mayank Baid, Regional Vice President for India & South Asia at Cloudera, celebrated the widespread adoption of AI agents in Indian enterprises, referencing survey results indicating that 84% of organisations have taken such steps within the last two years. "We are committed to enabling organisations to integrate any AI model with secure and governed data across hybrid environments," Baid stated, welcoming the synergy between AI innovation and India's digital development goals.

Another key element in the AI ecosystem is search, according to Karthik Rajaram, Area Vice President & General Manager at Elastic India. He explained how search drives not only AI applications but also operational efficiency and enhanced security. By harnessing structured and unstructured data through advanced search and AI, Rajaram believes businesses make better decisions and enrich customer experiences.

João Moura, CEO at CrewAI, focused on the collaborative potential of AI and humans through agentic workflows, where intelligent agents work autonomously and integrate closely with business objectives and human decision-makers. He emphasised that trust, orchestration, and oversight are essential as AI moves from experimentation to mainstream integration.

For Amit Agrawal, President at Techno Digital, AI's transformative power is only as potent as the digital infrastructure supporting it. He detailed efforts to decentralise AI by building expansive networks of data centres and embracing regional diversity in model training, with the goal of enabling equitable AI innovation across all communities in India.

Finally, Jay Modh, Founder & CEO of Intuitive.Cloud, described India as an emerging global powerhouse in practical AI application, citing economic forecasts that estimate AI could contribute USD $500 billion to India's economy and USD $4 trillion globally in the near term. He maintains that the challenge now lies not in adoption but in orchestrating AI's responsible scaling, ensuring trust, and focusing on measurable business outcomes.

These perspectives converge on a common theme: AI is at an inflection point where responsible innovation and robust digital infrastructure must underpin continued progress. As AI becomes ingrained in everyday life and enterprise, questions of ethics, security, trust, and inclusion are paramount. On AI Appreciation Day, industry leaders are united in both celebrating AI's successes and acknowledging the responsibilities that accompany its integration into the fabric of modern society.