SNIA India T/E/N Storage Meetup - Pune - September 2025 - Hosted by IBM

PLEASE NOTE: This is a SNIA event being generously hosted by a SNIA member, in this instance, IBM

About this Event

PLEASE NOTE: This is a SNIA event being generously hosted by a SNIA member, in this instance IBM.

Title : Storage Innovation - The Agentic Way by Binayak Dutta, AI Architect – IBM Storage

In this talk, Binayak Dutta, a technology leader with extensive experience in storage
AI, will explore how Agentic AI is transforming the storage ecosystem. Building on
advancements in capacity forecasting, workload placement and mobility advisory,
anomaly detection, and ransomware threat detection, along with open-sourced
contributions such as MCP Servers and Observability Chatbots, he will demonstrate
how AI can be embedded across the storage lifecycle.
Attendees will learn how Agentic AI, combined with AIOps, enables predictive planning, real-time anomaly detection, proactive recommendations, and intelligent automation.
The session will also explore how agentic ecosystems foster interoperability, auditability, and trust across the storage stack—setting the stage for a future of autonomous, AI-native storage operations that reduce costs, improve resiliency, and enhanceadministrator productivity.

Key Takeaways:

 Understand how Agentic AI extends AIOps to enable self-managing, self-healing,
and self-optimizing storage systems.
 Learn from IBM Storage’s real-world AI innovations—from capacity forecasting
and workload optimization to anomaly and ransomware detection.
 See how open-source components like the Storage Insights MCP Server and
Observability Chatbot accelerate agentic AI adoption.
 Gain a forward-looking perspective on building autonomous, AI-native storage
operations that reduce costs, improve resiliency, and boost administrator
productivity.

Followed by SNIA Tech Talk on "Security and Privacy Concerns for AI" by Sharad Srivastava, CEO, Certus Erasure

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are creating numerous opportunities and challenges for many facets of society, including both security and privacy. For security, AI is proving to be a powerful tool for both adversaries and defenders. In addition, AI systems and their associated data must be defended against a wide range of attacks, some of which are unique to AI. The situation with privacy is similar, but the societal concerns are elevated to a point where laws and regulations are already being enacted. This session explores the AI landscape through the lenses of security and privacy.

Followed by a Panel discussion on 'Evolution of AI for Storage Industry'

Meetup Agenda:

3 to 3:30 pm Welcome /Registration

3:30 to 3:40 pm Welcome message from SNIA, Piyush Gupta, Executive Director , IBM Storage Virtualize (FlashSystem & SVC) & Storage Insights/SC WW Development, SNIA Board Member

3:40 to 4:00 pm Keynote Session from Alistair Symon, Vice President of Storage Systems Development

4:00 to 4:45 pm Talk on Storage Innovation - The Agentic Way by Binayak Dutta, AI Architect – IBM Storage

4:45 to 5:30 pm SNIA Tech Talk on "Security and Privacy Concerns for AI" by Sharad Srivastava, CEO, Certus Erasure

5:30 to 6:00 pm Panel discussion on Evolution of AI for Storage Industry
IBM Panellist – Sandeep Patil, Distinguished Engineer , CTO - ISDL (Storage), IBM Master Inventor

SNIA member panellist

SNIA member panellist

6:00 to 6:10 pm Vote of Thanks by Vaibhav Telang, Director - Data Protection (Development & Support), Leader-ISDL Storage Development

6:10 to 7:00 pm Hi-Tea & Networking

Speakers:

Piyush Gupta is an Executive Director in the Storage System & Software
Development group at ISDL (IBM Systems Development Lab), where he leads
the worldwide development of IBM’s flagship storage product IBM Storage
FlashSystem and IBM Storage Insights.
With over 23 years of experience in the storage and virtualization industry, including
more than 12 years in leadership roles at IBM, Piyush has been instrumental in
building high-performing teams that have shaped the storage industry through
innovation and delivery. His expertise spans Primary Block Storage, Observability,
Hybrid Cloud, Automation, Resiliency, Security, Networking, AIOps, and more.
A recognized technology evangelist, Piyush represents IBM Storage across global
platforms, including customer and developer conferences, product launch events,
and client forums such as User Group Meetings. He is also deeply committed to
giving back, frequently engaging as a guest speaker at leading management and
technical institutions.
Piyush holds an engineering degree and is management certified by IIM.

Alistair Symon
Vice President, Storage Systems Development, IBM Infrastructure
Alistair is the head of development for storage systems in IBM where he
leads the development of IBM storage products including All Flash Arrays,
Hybrid Disk Systems and Tape.
Prior to this Alistair was Vice President of Distributed Storage Development
leading worldwide development of the XIV, All Flash Arrays and
SVC/Storwize products.
Earlier in his career, Alistair was responsible for IBM& Enterprise Storage
Systems including DS8000 and Tape Systems. He has also led the
development of IBM’s Storage Software products including the Spectrum
Control and Spectrum Protect products that enable customers to manage
and backup their data centers. He was the manager of storage development
in the UK. In this role he was responsible for the development of the SAN
Volume Controller, IBM’s software for virtualizing storage area networks, and
the RAID engine for ESS 800 and DS8000.
Alistair began his career as a software engineer at the Hursley Laboratory in
the UK working on software infrastructure for the retail industry. He then
moved to storage development where he has held various management
positions over the last 25 years.
Alistair received his BSc in Computer Science from the University of Warwick
in the UK.

Binayak Dutta,
Lead AI Architect & Data Scientist, IBM Systems
Binayak Dutta is a technology leader with over 25 years of experience driving AI
innovation across consulting, software, and systems. As an AI Architect and Data
Scientist at IBM Systems, he pioneers AI features for the IBM Storage portfolio, including forecasting, anomaly detection, workload optimization, ransomware threat detection and agentic AI integration.
He leads the IBM Storage AI Guild in India, collaborates with IBM Research to productize cutting-edge AI advancements, and has open-sourced the Storage Insights MCP Server and Observability Chatbot to accelerate adoption in the agentic ecosystem. Binayak holds an M.Tech in Data Science & Engineering from BITS Pilani, multiple patents and is recognized with IBM technical excellence awards for his impact on enterprise storage AI.

Sharad Srivastava is a seasoned technology leader with over thirty five years of industry experience. For the past 14 years, he has been at the helm of a successful organisation specialising in data storage and data related technologies. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Sharad spent 18 years leading country operations for renowned global storage companies, where he was instrumental in brand building, channel development, and establishing robust support systems.
His expertise covers a wide spectrum, including R&D, product development, sales, marketing, and technical support. As an entrepreneur, he founded Certus Software India, a joint venture with Germany’s Certus Software GmbH, delivering globally certified data erasure solutions. He also launched TrustPrivacy, focusing on training, consultancy, and DPO services centred on DPDP implementation.
Sharad’s strategic vision led to the establishment of the top two storage brands in India, notably introducing Seagate Technologies and Western Digital across India and South Asia. He began his career at HCL Ltd., specialising in peripheral diagnostics and controller design. Sharad served as Chairman and is currently a board member of SNIA India. He holds an MBA in International Marketing from Oklahoma City University, USA and a BE (Honours) in Electronics & Telecommunication from NIT, Kurukshetra, India, and is a certified Data Protection Officer.

Sandeep Patil
Distinguished Engineer , CTO - ISDL (Storage), IBM Master Inventor


Sandeep Patil is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and CTO of India Storage Labs,
bringing over 25 years of experience in the industry. An IBM Master Inventor with
more than 400 issued patents, he is recognized as one of India's leading inventors.
Sandeep has been externally honoured as a Prolific Inventor by the Global IP Forum
and acknowledged for his technical leadership and innovation by Zinnov.

Vaibhav Telang
Director - Data Protection (Development & Support), Leader-ISDL Storage
Development


Vaibhav Telang leads the Storage business unit within India Systems Development
Labs (ISDL). The ISDL Storage organization includes IBM FlashSystem, IBM
Spectrum Fusion, IBM Storage Insights, IBM Spectrum Scale & IBM Protect Plus
products, along with the Storage Solutions & L2 support missions. Team is based out of Pune, Bangalore & Hyderabad.

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