How can organizations protect their most valuable asset, data, while unlocking its full potential through AI-driven insights? That is the question I explored on the IT Press Tour in Silicon Valley during a face-to-face conversation with Sanjay Poonen, President and CEO of Cohesity.

In this episode, Sanjay shares how Cohesity evolved from reinventing backup and recovery to leading the market in data security and cyber resilience. We discuss the game-changing acquisition of Veritas’s NetBackup business, the company’s growing footprint across healthcare, finance, government, and retail, and why uniting cultures and customers is key to their next chapter.

We dive into how Cohesity is using AI to transform backup data into a source of real-time intelligence, including its patented Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) capabilities developed in partnership with NVIDIA. Sanjay also explains how this innovation is enabling businesses to meet strict data sovereignty requirements while benefiting from cloud agility.

From cyberattack recovery and on-premises innovation to working with some of the biggest names in AI and cloud, Sanjay offers a candid look at leadership in a time of rapid growth. If you want to understand how AI and cybersecurity are converging to shape the future of enterprise data, this conversation delivers practical insight, strategic thinking, and a clear vision for what is ahead.