AI could help partners build ₹1,000 crore businesses in 3–4 years, says Veeam India MD

The company plans to expand beyond traditional channel partners as AI, cyber resilience and DPDP reshape customer demand and create new services opportunities.

The AI era could compress what previously took channel partners decades to achieve into just a few years, according to Veeam Software India, as the company doubles down on partner capability development and expands beyond its traditional technology ecosystem.

“Partners that build AI expertise, develop industry-specific use cases and invest in domain capabilities could potentially build ₹1,000 crore businesses within three to four years, roughly half the time it took partners that capitalised on the cloud computing wave,” Sandeep Bhambure, managing director and vice president, India and SAARC at Veeam Software, told CRN India.

Bhambure drew parallels between three major technology transitions that have reshaped India's channel ecosystem over the past three decades: infrastructure, cloud and now AI.

"I have been in the industry for almost three decades, and I have seen channel partners reach ₹1,000 crore in revenue by riding the infrastructure and software waves. It took many of them a couple of decades to reach that milestone," Bhambure said.

He said the next wave accelerated significantly.

"There were partners who achieved similar revenues by riding the cloud wave in just six or seven years."

According to Bhambure, AI now presents an even faster growth opportunity for partners that move beyond technology fulfilment and build customer-facing AI capabilities.

"In the AI era, partners that focus on helping customers leverage the power of AI, build use cases and strengthen their skill sets for specific business functions—particularly in sectors such as healthcare and BFSI—have the opportunity to reach that kind of revenue in maybe three or four years."

For Bhambure, however, faster growth will require partners to fundamentally rethink how they operate.

AI demands a different kind of partner

Unlike previous technology transitions that largely revolved around infrastructure deployment or cloud migration, AI is expanding technology buying decisions beyond traditional IT teams.

Bhambure said managed service providers and solution providers will need domain expertise alongside technical capabilities as enterprise buying becomes more cross-functional.

"They are no longer interfacing only with IT teams," he said.

"They are now engaging with CISO organisations, governance, risk and compliance teams, and other business stakeholders. Each of these groups looks at problems differently."

According to him, DPDP compliance initiatives involve governance, risk and compliance teams, while AI deployments also bring SaaS owners and business leaders into purchasing decisions.

That shift means partners can no longer rely solely on infrastructure expertise.

"Cross-functional and cross-domain skills are going to be very important for MSPs to build over the next few months," Bhambure said.

The changing customer landscape is also reshaping how Veeam itself intends to build its ecosystem.

Bhambure said partner capability development will remain one of the company's biggest investment priorities in India, but those investments will extend beyond traditional infrastructure-focused partners.

"We also want to work with a different set of partners that have not traditionally been part of our ecosystem," he said.

According to Bhambure, partners that have historically specialised in data resilience may not automatically possess the capabilities required for AI acceleration or DPDP compliance.

Instead, Veeam plans to invest alongside existing partners willing to build those competencies while simultaneously engaging with specialist firms that already possess expertise in AI, governance and compliance.

"We want to invest in partners who are willing to leverage these new opportunities and help them build the necessary capabilities," he said.

AI, compliance and cyber resilience create the next services opportunity

Bhambure believes the opportunity exists because enterprise customers are simultaneously dealing with three major priorities: AI adoption, cyber resilience and regulatory compliance.

He argued that organisations are approaching DPDP compliance too narrowly by treating it as a checklist exercise rather than a broader business transformation initiative.

"Organisations need to look at DPDP compliance in its entirety. They cannot take a piecemeal approach," he said.

He also believes enterprises are still missing a critical trust layer within AI deployments.

"What the world lacks today is the trust layer in the entire AI stack," Bhambure said, adding that trusted data, governance, privacy, compliance and resilience need to become foundational capabilities before organisations can fully realise AI's potential.

At the same time, ransomware threats continue creating demand for stronger cyber resilience services.

Citing findings from Veeam's latest ransomware research, Bhambure said 75 percent of organisations experienced at least one cyberattack during the previous 12 months, while backup data continues to be a primary target for attackers.

According to him, recovery processes, including clean room recovery and backup validation, are becoming as important as security technologies themselves.

Partnerships expanding beyond technology

Reflecting those changing customer priorities, Veeam is also broadening the types of organisations it works with.

Among the latest initiatives is a strategic memorandum of understanding with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) focused on strengthening India's cyber resilience ecosystem through awareness, capability building, compliance enablement and policy collaboration.

The company is also signing partnerships with universities to help address cybersecurity and AI skills shortages.

Looking ahead, Bhambure said Veeam expects future partnerships to become increasingly outcome-driven rather than purely technology-led.

"We will continue to build partnerships that solve real-world customer problems rather than focusing only on technology," he said.

"They will be outcome-driven, with clear and measurable business outcomes."