Published on April 06, 2026
The third Tata Cyber Excellence SME Forum was hosted by Tata Power in Mumbai on March 10, 2026, bringing together cybersecurity practitioners, leaders and technology experts from across the Tata group ecosystem. The forum witnessed strong participation with more than 30 delegates attending in person and over 35 participants joining virtually. This strong turnout reflected the increasing importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing in strengthening cyber resilience across organisations.
Organised as part of the Tata Business Excellence Group’s (TBExG) Cyber Excellence initiative, the forum served as an important platform for cyber professionals to exchange insights, discuss emerging threats and showcase practical cybersecurity implementations from across Tata group companies. The discussions reinforced a key message — cybersecurity today is no longer only a technology concern but a strategic business priority that requires leadership attention, cross-functional collaboration and continuous learning.
Setting The Context
The forum began with opening remarks from Ajit Maleyvar, Business Excellence Head, Tata Power, who highlighted the evolving cyber threat landscape and the increasing complexity of digital ecosystems across industries. As organisations continue to adopt digital platforms, artificial intelligence solutions and interconnected infrastructure, the attack surface expands significantly.
He emphasised that cybersecurity therefore becomes a critical capability for sustaining trust, ensuring operational continuity and protecting digital assets. Platforms such as the Cyber Excellence SME Forum play a vital role in enabling Group companies to share experiences, learn from one another and collectively strengthen their cyber posture.
Welcome Address - Sanjeev Singh
Sanjeev Singh, Head, TBExG, formally welcomed the participants and underscored the importance of building a strong cybersecurity culture across organisations.
He highlighted that cybersecurity professionals must constantly operate with a mindset of vigilance and preparedness in a world where cyber threats evolve every second.
He also encouraged organisations to openly share learnings and experiences from cybersecurity incidents so that the broader ecosystem can benefit from collective knowledge. Such collaborative learning helps organisations strengthen their preparedness and respond more effectively to emerging threats.
Leadership Perspective - Dwarka Srinath
A key highlight of the forum was the leadership address by Dwarka Srinath, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Tata Power. He shared insights into cybersecurity in the context of rapidly evolving digital ecosystems and the expanding role of technology in business transformation.
Dwarka explained that cybersecurity today extends far beyond traditional compliance frameworks or control mechanisms. With increasing adoption of digital platforms, artificial intelligence, data-driven systems and distributed architectures, cyber risks are becoming deeply embedded within business operations.
He emphasised the need for organisations to build strong architectural foundations and integrate cybersecurity considerations early in the design of digital systems rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Recognising Best Practices Across the Tata Ecosystem
An important highlight of the forum was the recognition of mjunction and Jamipol teams for their cybersecurity initiatives and their willingness to share practical experiences with the wider Tata community.
These recognitions reflected the spirit of the Cyber Excellence Forum — encouraging organisations not only to implement strong cybersecurity practices but also to share their journeys so that others across the ecosystem can learn and accelerate their own progress.
Best Practice Sharing - Jamipol
Abhay Kumar Singh, Officer – Information Technology, Jamipol, presented the organisation’s journey in strengthening its cybersecurity posture through the adoption of AI and machine learning enabled security frameworks.
Facing challenges such as limited IT manpower and the growing sophistication of cyber threats, Jamipol adopted modern security solutions capable of providing continuous monitoring and real-time threat visibility. These solutions enable the organisation to proactively detect anomalies, identify threats earlier and respond more effectively to potential cyber incidents.
The presentation demonstrated how smaller organisations can leverage modern technology and ecosystem learning to significantly enhance their cybersecurity capabilities.
Best Practice Sharing - mjunction
Surya Bhushan, Deputy Head – IT & Cyber Security, mjunction, shared the organisation’s experience in strengthening cybersecurity through structured implementation and operational discipline.
He explained how mjunction focused on embedding cybersecurity controls across its technology landscape rather than treating security as a standalone function. The organisation invested in improving visibility of security events, strengthening monitoring capabilities and enhancing incident response preparedness.
Surya also highlighted the value of benchmarking and knowledge sharing through the Tata Cyber Excellence ecosystem, which helped the organisation learn from peer companies and continuously refine its cybersecurity practices.
Securing Operational Technology at Tata Power
Mihir Joshi, Chief Information & Cyber Security Officer, Tata Power, shared insights into securing Operational Technology (OT) environments in critical infrastructure sectors such as power generation and distribution.
He explained that OT environments present unique cybersecurity challenges because they integrate industrial control systems with enterprise IT systems and digital platforms. As the power sector becomes increasingly digitised — with smart meters, connected infrastructure and digital operational systems — protecting operational environments becomes even more critical.
Mihir described Tata Power’s approach of combining centralised cybersecurity governance with plant-level operational execution. This model enables effective monitoring, faster response to threats and better coordination between IT and OT security teams across distributed operational environments.
Industry Insights by Google
The forum also featured an industry perspective session by Ajay Sankhyan, Customer Engineer – Security, Google Cloud India Pvt Ltd.
He shared insights into the evolving global cyber threat landscape and discussed how attackers are increasingly leveraging automation, artificial intelligence and identity-based attacks to compromise systems.
Ajay emphasised the need for organisations to adopt modern security architectures such as zero-trust models, continuous monitoring and identity-centric security strategies to effectively secure distributed digital environments.
Panel Discussion - Preparing for the Data Privacy Era
One of the most engaging segments of the forum was the panel discussion on the implications of India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and how organisations should prepare for the evolving data privacy landscape.
The panel featured Mini Gupta, Partner – Cybersecurity and National Leader for Data Privacy & Data Protection, EY LLP; Harshad Mengle, Global CISO, Tata Chemicals, and Surya Vadlani, AVP – Information Security, Infiniti Retail Limited. The session was moderated by Sushant Mallik, Senior Manager, TBExG.
The discussion explored several important aspects of DPDP readiness including identifying and mapping personal data across systems, establishing governance structures such as Data Protection Officers, implementing consent and notice mechanisms and adopting a risk-based approach to data protection.
The panelists emphasised that organisations should view DPDP not merely as a compliance requirement but as an opportunity to strengthen data governance frameworks and build greater trust within digital ecosystems.
Experience Sharing - Cyber Excellence Journey
Pawan Chawla, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer and Data Privacy & Protection Officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance Company, shared valuable insights from his experience in driving cyber excellence initiatives.
He emphasised the importance of structured assessments, benchmarking, and continuous improvement in strengthening cybersecurity maturity across organisations.
According to him, cyber excellence programmes should not be treated merely as compliance exercises but as capability-building journeys that enhance resilience, governance and preparedness.
Looking Ahead
The Tata Cyber Excellence SME Forum continues to play an important role in building a collaborative cybersecurity ecosystem across the Tata group.
In an environment where cyber threats evolve rapidly, collective learning and knowledge sharing become powerful enablers of resilience. Platforms such as these allow organisations to exchange experiences, adopt proven practices and strengthen cybersecurity capabilities together.
The forum concluded with a reaffirmation of the spirit of continuous learning, open sharing and collaborative improvement — principles that remain central to the Tata group’s journey towards excellence.