As enterprises move rapidly from experimenting with artificial intelligence to deploying AI across critical business operations, cybersecurity is becoming an equally important part of the AI conversation. Against this backdrop, Kavitha Srinivasulu has joined Persistent Systems as Vice President – Chief Cyber & AI Security Officer, taking on a leadership role that brings together cybersecurity, AI security, risk advisory and digital transformation.
The appointment comes at a time when organizations are dealing with a new security landscape shaped not only by conventional cyber threats but also by the rapid adoption of AI, cloud technologies and increasingly autonomous systems. Srinivasulu’s new mandate is focused on helping organizations navigate these emerging risks while pursuing technology-led growth.
A New Leadership Mandate at the Intersection of AI and Cybersecurity
In her new position at Persistent Systems, Srinivasulu will work with customers, C-suite executives and leadership teams across several strategic areas, including Risk Advisory, AI Security, Security Engineering and Digital Transformation.
Her role reflects a broader shift taking place across enterprise technology. As AI becomes embedded in applications, workflows and decision-making processes, security can no longer be treated as a separate layer added after deployment. Organizations increasingly need to consider security, privacy, governance and resilience while AI systems are being designed and implemented.
Srinivasulu’s responsibilities therefore extend beyond traditional cybersecurity. Her mandate combines cyber risk expertise with AI security and transformation initiatives, with an emphasis on helping organizations build technology environments that are secure and resilient.
Bringing Two Decades of Cyber and Risk Experience
Srinivasulu brings around 20 years of experience spanning cybersecurity, data privacy, risk advisory and business resilience.
Before joining Persistent Systems, she was associated with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where she served as Global Head – Cyber Risk & Data Privacy for the BFSI Risk & Compliance division. Her career has included work across multiple industries, including banking and financial services, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, IT services and telecommunications.
Her professional experience has covered areas such as risk advisory, business consulting, delivery assurance, cybersecurity, privacy and operational resilience. This background gives her exposure to the security challenges faced by organizations operating across highly regulated and technology-intensive sectors.
The transition to Persistent Systems places that experience within a business increasingly focused on enterprise AI and digital engineering.
Why AI Security Is Becoming a Boardroom Issue
The rapid expansion of AI is changing the nature of enterprise cybersecurity.
Companies are increasingly connecting AI models with internal data, applications, cloud environments and business workflows. At the same time, AI itself is becoming part of the threat landscape, with organizations having to consider issues ranging from data exposure and model security to unauthorized access and the risks associated with autonomous AI systems.
Recent developments across the cybersecurity industry illustrate the shift. Nvidia, for example, recently introduced an open-source platform designed to place security boundaries around AI agents and monitor potentially harmful autonomous activity.
Similarly, Palo Alto Networks recently announced an AI-powered cybersecurity service designed to continuously identify vulnerabilities across applications, APIs and cloud infrastructure. The company said the service uses advanced AI models to help organizations detect security weaknesses and develop remediation strategies.
These developments point to a growing convergence between AI innovation and cybersecurity—an environment in which organizations must protect both the technology infrastructure supporting AI and the AI systems themselves.
Persistent Systems’ Growing Enterprise AI Focus
Srinivasulu’s appointment also comes as Persistent Systems continues to strengthen its positioning around AI-led digital engineering and enterprise modernization.
Persistent describes itself as a digital engineering and enterprise modernization partner, with offerings spanning software engineering, cloud computing, data and analytics, intelligent automation and enterprise AI. Its current corporate messaging emphasizes moving AI from ambition and experimentation toward operational business value.
The company’s recent activities further demonstrate its focus on governed enterprise AI. In September, Persistent announced a Databricks Brickbuilder Specialization for BFSI, aimed at combining industry expertise, governed data and production engineering to support AI applications in financial services.
Persistent has also recently highlighted the importance of governance and oversight as businesses adopt agentic AI. Company executives have discussed issues including autonomous decision-making, observability, contextual workflows and the role of human oversight in enterprise AI systems.
Against this backdrop, a senior leadership role dedicated specifically to cyber and AI security adds another dimension to the company’s broader AI strategy.
Connecting Security With Digital Transformation
One of the notable aspects of Srinivasulu’s new role is the combination of security engineering and digital transformation.
Traditionally, cybersecurity teams have often been brought into technology projects primarily to manage risk and compliance. But as digital transformation becomes increasingly AI-driven, security considerations are becoming intertwined with architecture, data, cloud infrastructure and business processes.
This means security leaders increasingly need to understand not only how systems can be protected, but also how new technologies can be deployed without creating additional operational and business risks.
Srinivasulu’s responsibilities across risk advisory, AI security and digital transformation place these areas within a common leadership mandate. Her work will involve engaging with customers and senior executives as they evaluate emerging technology risks and opportunities.
From Cyber Risk to Trusted AI Adoption
The larger challenge for enterprises is no longer simply whether they will adopt AI. For many organizations, the question is how they can adopt it securely, responsibly and at scale.
AI systems can introduce new dependencies and attack surfaces while also changing how employees interact with corporate data and applications. Agentic AI adds another layer because systems may increasingly be capable of taking actions rather than simply generating information.
This makes security, governance and resilience central to enterprise AI strategies.
Srinivasulu’s new position reflects this evolving requirement. Her stated focus at Persistent Systems includes helping organizations pursue secure transformation and trusted innovation while creating sustainable business value in the AI era.
A Strategic Role for the AI-Driven Enterprise
The appointment represents another example of how senior cybersecurity roles are evolving alongside artificial intelligence.
The modern security leader is increasingly expected to work across technology, business, risk and transformation rather than operate solely within a traditional security function. AI security, data privacy, resilience and digital transformation are becoming increasingly interconnected as organizations deploy intelligent systems across their operations.
For Persistent Systems, Srinivasulu’s arrival adds leadership experience in cybersecurity, privacy and risk to a technology environment where enterprise AI is becoming an increasingly important growth and transformation theme.
For Srinivasulu, the new role marks the next chapter of a career spanning cybersecurity, data privacy, risk advisory and business resilience—now with a specific focus on securing organizations as they enter a more AI-driven phase of digital transformation.
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