NEW DELHI: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Friday announced a partnership with Zscaler to launch the AI & Cyber Threat Research Center in the country to strengthen cyber defenses amid rising AI-driven threats. The companies, in a press note, said the center will focus on protecting critical sectors such as telecommunications, banking, energy, and other essential digital infrastructure, while accelerating the adoption of trusted artificial intelligence technologies across India’s rapidly expanding digital ecosystem.
“Banks, enterprises, and government agencies will be invited to participate. The objective is to bring multiple stakeholders onto a common platform so that threats detected in one part of the ecosystem can be visible across others,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.
The research center will build on Zscaler’s existing digital and research presence in India, including operations in Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad. Zscaler already has a research team that monitors global cyber threats.
As per the company, bad actors increasingly target essential services such as power grids, banking systems, and telecom networks. The research team will analyze telemetry data and monitor dark web intelligence to detect attempts to target sensitive systems, including energy grids and banking infrastructure.
According to Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, millions of infiltration attempts are detected each month. The company reported 1.2 million intrusion attempts originating from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, along with a rise in zero-day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
Zscaler said it will deploy a dedicated India-focused threat research team leveraging its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes more than 500 billion daily transactions globally. Airtel will contribute visibility into mobile, broadband, and IoT networks to help detect suspicious activity and coordinate response efforts.
Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Zscaler, said legacy security models such as traditional firewalls and VPNs are inadequate for today’s hyper-connected environment and that a modern Zero Trust architecture is necessary to secure India’s digital ambitions.