IBM, Yotta to build sovereign agentic AI platform for Indian enterprises

IBM and Yotta Data Services have announced an ambitious partnership aimed at developing a sovereign 'agentic AI' platform tailored for enterprises and government organizations in India. This initiative, revealed on May 5, comes as businesses increasingly seek AI solutions that adhere to local data residency and governance standards. The new platform will integrate IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate with Yotta’s Shakti Cloud infrastructure, enabling organizations to effectively deploy and manage AI agents across various functions, including IT service management, finance, procurement, human resources, and customer support. This announcement coincides with a significant shift in Indian businesses, which are moving past mere experimentation with AI and are now focusing on scaling AI tools, especially in heavily regulated sectors such as banking, public service, and manufacturing. Sunil Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Yotta Data Services, emphasized the importance of sovereignty, security, and performance in AI innovation, stating, "Together with IBM, we propose to empower enterprises to leverage agentic AI on a secure, India-hosted cloud, ensuring they maintain control over their data and operations while innovating with confidence." Additionally, the collaboration aims to introduce IBM Sovereign Core to India via Yotta’s Shakti Cloud. This framework is designed to assist enterprises in creating AI-ready environments that emphasize compliance monitoring, governance, and controlled execution of AI. IBM has outlined that the platform will be built on four foundational pillars: operational sovereignty, data sovereignty, technology sovereignty, and AI sovereignty. Key features will include customer-operated control planes, in-boundary encryption, continuous compliance monitoring, and governed AI execution. The sovereign infrastructure will be hosted within Yotta’s India-based cloud environment, which is empaneled by MeitY. This setup ensures that enterprises can meet local regulatory and audit requirements while keeping AI workloads within designated sovereign borders. Sandip Patel, Managing Director of IBM India & South Asia, noted the growing demand among Indian enterprises for secure and governed AI operations that align with regulatory expectations. He stated, "This collaboration will merge IBM's AI expertise with Yotta's sovereign cloud infrastructure, enabling organizations to responsibly scale AI—embedding sovereignty, governance, transparency, and trust from the very beginning." Looking ahead, the two companies plan to collaborate on proofs-of-concept, co-create solutions, and implement technical enablement programs across various industries, including banking, public sector, manufacturing, and digital-native businesses.