Bharti Airtel is transforming its cybersecurity strategy by launching a new AI & Cyber Threat Research Centre in India. The project is in partnership with US-based cloud security firm, Zscaler. While the specific location of the centre is yet to be disclosed, the initiative will focus on enhancing national cyber resilience and protecting critical industries that underpin India’s economic and national security, which include the telecoms, banking and energy sectors, as well as safeguarding digital users as adoption of AI tools accelerates.
The centre will expand Zscaler’s global research operations into a dedicated national platform in India, designed to foster collaboration between the private sector, government, academia and public institutions. Zscaler said its research division has observed a surge in cyber threats targeting India, recording 1.2 million intrusion attempts originating from 20,000 sources and aimed at 58 Indian digital entities across both public and private sectors.
Executive vice chairman of Bharti Airtel, Gopal Vittal said the partnership reinforces the operator’s commitment to protecting customers and the country’s digital infrastructure. “This partnership with Zscaler marks a significant extension of this commitment, combining the power of our AI capabilities and scale with advanced cybersecurity research to protect India’s expanding digital ecosystem.
“We will focus on challenges unique to our market to build a safer, more resilient digital India where citizens and enterprises can connect and thrive with confidence,” Vittal said. For his part, chief executive and founder of Zscaler, Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital transformation requires a modern security architecture. “India is building digital systems at population scale.
This level of ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs that were never designed for a hyper-connected world. It demands a Zero Trust architecture that is secure by design. “With the AI & Cyber Threat Research Centre – India, we will bring the power of the world’s largest security cloud to protect public and private sectors, combining intelligence from over 500 billion daily transactions with local expertise,” he added.
The launch underscores the growing emphasis among Indian operators on AI-driven security solutions, as cyber threats become more sophisticated and digital adoption continues to rise across sectors.
