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The importance of data sovereignty is increasing strategically as organizations rely more and more on cloud services, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms. The simple fact that the data will be located in the country will not mean control, when the infrastructure and expertise needed for their management come from abroad.
In today’s episode of the Analytics Insight Podcast, host Priya Dialani speaks with Manoj Dhanda, founder and CEO of Udho Cloud, highlighting why India needs stronger control over its data, AI workloads and digital infrastructure.
The discussion was about how sovereign cloud computing could be used to comply with regulations, avoid vendor lock-in, cut costs, and enhance cybersecurity, while allowing businesses to remain open to new technologies like generative and agentic AI.
Data sovereignty refers to keeping data under the legal and operational control of the country where it is generated or stored. For India, it can strengthen national resilience, protect sensitive information and reduce dependence on foreign infrastructure and technology providers.
No. Data may physically remain in India while the infrastructure is controlled by an overseas company. True sovereignty also involves understanding who operates the infrastructure, who has jurisdiction, who can access information and whether external authorities can potentially request access.
Sovereign cloud platforms can help enterprises meet data-related compliance requirements while potentially reducing costs and vendor lock-in. According to the discussion, they can also provide greater control over infrastructure, performance and GPU availability, helping organisations innovate with fewer dependencies.
AI systems often require large amounts of organisational, customer and personal data to deliver useful outcomes. Keeping sensitive information within India can provide stronger control over how that information is accessed, processed and protected while organisations deploy AI models and agentic systems.
As organisations increasingly use agentic AI, private and secure environments could become more important. The discussion emphasises hosting sensitive AI workloads within India and controlling access through private infrastructure, VPNs or secure gateways to reduce exposure to external platforms and vulnerabilities.
