Unlearn, relearn to stay relevant in evolving technological era, say experts

Resilience is non-negotiable, but with technology evolving rapidly, organisations must unlearn outdated practices and relearn new skills to stay relevant and effective, panellists said on Thursday at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 hosted by The Hindu along with VIT.

Speaking at a session on ‘The Role of Technology in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery’, Amrish Kumar Jain, Chief Information Officer, Tally Solution, said it is difficult to predict technology upgradation and build resilience in the evolving technological landscape. But organisations must continue to upscale and adapt themselves to emerging technology. While resilience remains non-negotiable, real-time testing is essential to build robust disaster recovery system. Moreover, human intervention would continue to play a crucial role in pushing the limits of artificial intelligence and mitigating risks in recovery systems, he said.

Noting that addition of an AI layer is enhancing every aspect, from design to operations, Roopesh Kumar, Head, Data Center Projects, SIFY Infinit Spaces Limited, highlighted the use of AI in predictive monitoring to prevent disasters. An additional AI layer in monitoring system are being deployed to improve efficiency and avoid the risk of incidents. He also explained the difference between monitoring and observability in predicting failures. Observability provides deeper insights into changes in system behaviour, enabling teams to anticipate potential failures.

Recalling how business continuity was sustained during the 2015 Chennai floods and the COVID-19 pandemic, Sendil Kumar Venkatesan,  CTO, Shriram Capital, said the organisation made efforts to strengthen its system with resilience plan to reduce downtime. Application programming interface plays a major role in disaster recovery strategies. Every organisation must have a blueprint for data recovery drills, especially when operating in a multi-cloud environment.

At the session moderated by Suresh Vijayaraghavan, CTO, The Hindu, panellists also discussed the use of application monitoring tools that provide clear picture of whether alerts are genuine or false to address issues. Tracing the evolution of data technology since tapes and floppy disks, Santhosh T.G., Chief Digital Officer, Switch Mobility, said organisations must ensure back-up mechanisms and embed technology in business operations. In the manufacturing sector, he noted that AI models are being developed to predict and optimise vehicle operations and maintenance with control and command centres playing a role in monitoring and decision-making.

Highlighting how cloud technology has transformed AI ecosystem and simplified data recovery for customers, Suraj Ramesh, Senior Principal Product Manager, Oracle India Private Limited, said automation plays a critical role in data recovery. It enables customers to restore processes at the push of a button. Cloud-based solutions have helped customers move from chaotic recovery to streamlined approaches to handle data recovery. Young users have little tolerance for downtime, he added.