Why Arctic Wolf is Betting Big on India’s Cyber Talent
Managing vast volumes of cybersecurity data requires not just research and AI, but skilled professionals who are increasingly finding a base in India. Arctic Wolf, a US-based cybersecurity firm, is among the latest players rapidly expanding its footprint in India. Founded in Minnesota in 2012, the cybersecurity company specialises in managed detection and response services, offering threat detection and prevention for businesses. Serving over 3,000 customers, the company has been focusing heavily on India with Bengaluru as a base. “India is going to pass Waterloo (a key hub for Arctic Wolf globally) pretty soon and become our largest engineering facility. And, we’ll continue to invest even more over time,” said Daniel Schiappa, chief product and services officer at Arctic Wolf, in an exclusive interaction with AIM. Cost to Innovation According to Schiappa, every day, Arctic Wolf collects more data than Twitter did in its first 10 years and operates at a scale 1,000 times larger than Google Search. He believes that this shift isn’t just about cost efficiency. The perception of India as a low-cost outsourcing hub is changing rapidly as global firms recognise the country’s highly skilled workforce. “A lot of companies think of it as a lower-cost development centre. I don’t. I think of it as a talent pool, just an almost unlimited talent pool of people, particularly in cyber,” he added. For years, India has been viewed as a destination for outsourced IT services, but global security firms are now leveraging the country’s deep talent pool for cutting-edge R&D. Arctic Wolf, for instance, isn’t just hiring engineers in India but integrating them into its core research and product development efforts. “They work on our data platform, they work in our AI, they work on…a broad representation of everything we do in R&D,” Schiappa explained. The company’s expansion aligns with a broader industry trend where firms no longer limit India’s role to backend support. Instead, Indian teams are directly contributing to key innovations in cybersecurity. “We look at all our plans, and it’s always hinged on how rapidly we can bring people on board and get them up to speed,” he added, emphasising that the need for skilled professionals has become even more critical as AI transforms cybersecurity, demanding expertise in machine learning, big data, and advanced threat detection. AI for Cybersecurity Focusing on the role of AI, Schiappa considers it both a boon and a challenge for cybersecurity. On the one hand, it helps automate threat detection and response, but on the other, it is also being weaponised by cybercriminals. “AI is just gonna play a big role in them executing those types of attacks,” Schiappa warned, referring to AI-driven ransomware and autonomous cyberattacks. “Whether it starts with better social media attacks…or scanning for vulnerabilities, AI will certainly help with a lot of that.” The challenge isn’t just in detecting threats but also in identifying rogue AI within enterprises. “Identifying even shadow IT AI, in addition to rogue AI, I think is a key element for the future,” he further explained. This is an area where India’s cybersecurity researchers and data scientists are expected to play a major role in developing solutions that can detect unauthorised AI activity within corporate environments. Further Expansion Global security firms are also looking at India as a strategic location for expanding their global footprint. Arctic Wolf’s acquisition of software firm Cylance, strengthened its presence in Bengaluru, where it now operates one of its largest engineering facilities. “It gave us a tremendous footprint in India, which is someplace we were investing heavily in anyway. So it really kind of added fuel to that,” Schiappa said. The firm is also considering setting up a security operations centre (SOC) in India. “I would be surprised if we don’t open a SOC in India,” he noted. While there are no concrete plans yet, Arctic Wolf’s continued investment in Indian talent suggests that a SOC in the country could be on the horizon. “Now we’re finding great data scientists in India. And we’ve grown our data science team tremendously over the last 18 months,” Schiappa noted. The fact that India now has a strong mix of North American and Indian talent within global cybersecurity teams is another reason firms are doubling their investments. Beyond individual companies, India’s broader cybersecurity ecosystem is also evolving rapidly. The country is witnessing a surge in AI-driven cybersecurity startups, further validating its growing importance in global security. Companies such as Sequretek, CloudSEK, Kratikal and startups such as Astra Security are leveraging AI and automation to enhance cyber defense mechanisms.
The perception of India as a low-cost outsourcing hub is changing rapidly as global firms recognise the country’s highly skilled workforce, particularly in cyber.
The perception of India as a low-cost outsourcing hub is changing rapidly as global firms recognise the country’s highly skilled workforce, particularly in cyber.
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["AI", "machine learning", "data science", "Aim", "RAG", "R", "Go", "API", "big data", "ViT"]
As a rare blend of engineering, MBA, and journalism degree, Vandana Nair brings a unique combination of technical know-how, business acumen, and storytelling skills to the table. Her insatiable curiosity for all things startups, businesses, and AI technologies ensures that there's always a fresh and insightful perspective to her reporting. She now hosts her tech segment 'Point Break' on AIM Tv.