How AI is rewiring India’s Security Operations Centres

Security Operations Centres (SOCs)—the nerve centres responsible for monitoring and protecting enterprise IT infrastructure—are undergoing a quiet but far-reaching transformation in India. Once dominated by human analysts poring over dashboards and alerts, SOCs are rapidly evolving into AI-powered command centres designed to predict, prioritise and neutralise cyber threats at machine speed.

As cyberattacks grow more frequent and sophisticated, and as enterprises generate unprecedented volumes of data across cloud environments, applications and endpoints, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are emerging as the backbone of modern cybersecurity operations.

This shift is no longer experimental. According to an IDC study commissioned by Fortinet, nearly 94% of Indian organisations are already using AI across their cybersecurity environments. The trend signals a decisive move away from reactive, rule-based defence towards predictive, intelligence-led resilience—driven as much by operational necessity as by technological maturity.

Why AI is reshaping SOCs

India’s digital economy produces vast streams of security telemetry every second. Traditional SOC models, reliant on analysts manually triaging thousands of alerts, have struggled to keep pace. Alert fatigue, delayed response times and missed threats have become persistent challenges for enterprises.

AI is changing this equation by automating core SOC functions. Advanced ML models can correlate events across disparate systems, detect subtle anomalies buried in data noise and prioritise incidents based on contextual risk. Generative AI adds another layer of intelligence, enabling analysts to query logs, investigations and incidents using natural language rather than complex query languages.

“This approach moves us significantly closer to the vision of an autonomous SOC, where automation not only saves time but augments the team’s ability to deal with constant alerts and noise,” said Steve Ledzian, CTO, Google Cloud Security & Mandiant, JAPAC. The emphasis, he noted, is shifting from speed alone to smarter decision-making at scale.

IT services giants lead the charge

India’s large IT services firms are playing a central role in operationalising AI-driven security for enterprises. Infosys has embedded AI into its Cyber Next Cyber Defense Centers, integrating SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) and UEBA (User and Entity Behaviour Analytics) into a unified platform. These centres are particularly aligned to regulated sectors such as banking and financial services, where compliance is as critical as threat detection.

Wipro has expanded its AI-enabled security platforms to accelerate threat identification and automate response, using machine learning and advanced analytics to reduce alert noise and shorten incident lifecycles. At TCS, AI is positioned as a differentiator rather than an add-on. Intelligent automation and predictive analytics embedded into platforms such as Ignio help organisations identify anomalies before they escalate into breaches.

HCLTech, meanwhile, is integrating advanced analytics and threat detection across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, reflecting the growing complexity of enterprise IT estates. Collectively, these firms are redefining SOCs from passive watchtowers into interconnected, intelligent defence networks.

Rise of specialised AI-first SOC providers

Alongside the IT majors, a new generation of Indian cybersecurity specialists is building AI-centric SOC and SOC-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) offerings. CyberNX focuses on AI-driven 24×7 monitoring and real-time threat detection, with a strong emphasis on BFSI and fintech clients. Sattrix targets mid-sized and regulated enterprises with ML-powered SOCaaS models that reduce the cost and complexity of building in-house SOCs.

Sequretek combines managed security services with AI and ML to detect advanced threats that bypass traditional signature-based tools. Eventus Security and Ahex Technologies are also gaining traction by using AI to improve threat correlation and speed up response. This growing ecosystem reflects rising demand for AI-augmented security operations across sectors.

Skills, regulation and the road ahead

At the core of modern SOCs is the convergence of AI with SIEM, SOAR and UEBA platforms. AI enhances SIEM by analysing behavioural patterns and assigning contextual risk scores, while SOAR enables automated responses such as isolating endpoints or blocking malicious traffic. Generative AI assistants further simplify investigations by producing summaries, impact assessments and remediation recommendations.

AI is also helping address India’s chronic cybersecurity talent shortage. By automating routine tasks and augmenting analyst decision-making, organisations can scale security operations without a proportional increase in headcount.

“There’s a lot of security training material available, but AI is the way to truly scale up cybersecurity capabilities,” said Mayank Upadhyay, vice-president, security engineering at Snowflake.

According to Vivek Srivastava, country manager for India and SAARC at Fortinet, the objective is moving beyond detection. “The ultimate goal of AI-driven SOCs is anticipation,” he said. Regulatory pressure—from RBI and SEBI mandates to sector-specific compliance norms—is further accelerating adoption, particularly in BFSI, telecom and healthcare.

What began as an experiment in automation is fast becoming the new normal. In India’s modern SOCs, as experts note, AI does not replace human defenders—it amplifies them, helping enterprises stay one step ahead in an increasingly hostile digital landscape.