AI, Cloud, and Open-Source Evolution: EnterpriseDB’s Vision for India

In an exclusive conversation , Kevin Dallas, Chief Executive Officer, EnterpriseDB (EDB), we explored the company’s strategy for India’s digital transformation, AI-driven applications, cloud adoption, and open-source innovation.

Kevin shares insights on EBD’s investments in India, compliance with evolving data localization policies, and the company’s role in PostgreSQL’s open-source ecosystem. He also discusses AI-readiness, seamless cloud migration, and how EBD is positioning itself as a key player in enterprise database solutions.

Excerpts:

DQ: As EBD has a global footprint, how does India fit into your global strategy, and how do you see SQL adoption evolving in the Indian market?

First, let me talk a little about EBD. EBD has been around for about 15 years, and our primary focus has been in the area of databases. Many of our customers, particularly in financial markets, have been running transactional applications. At a macro level, we are seeing a shift where customers are looking for a platform to build transactional, analytical, and AI applications.

As a company, we are transforming our product and platform to support these new applications. In India, we are making several investments, including investments in talent, our go-to-market motion, and broader regional expansion.

When you look at the high-level agenda for the region, there is a strong movement towards digital adoption and AI. We believe we have the platform that can enable that transition by delivering what we call a sovereign data and AI platform, which I can elaborate on later.

DQ: AI regulations are evolving globally, with each nation having its own compliance and regulatory policies. How does EBD help enterprises stay ahead and be AI-ready while ensuring security, compliance, and performance?

This is an interesting time. World leaders are meeting to discuss AI, and there is an AI Summit taking place right now. There is a lot of discussion on how AI should be regulated globally to ensure it benefits both the economy and society. It is important that these conversations are happening, and that we discuss how to regulate AI appropriately.

At a fundamental level, AI cannot function without data. Particularly in India, addressing this new generation of applications requires a platform that can not only power these intelligent applications but also ensure security and compliance. Many companies and nations need to build their own AI and data frameworks, ensuring their data remains secure and that AI is used to benefit their enterprise or nation.

We are delivering what we call a sovereign data and AI platform that is open-source based. This allows nations and customers to keep their data secure and private. When running AI on this platform, companies need to consider two key areas—training and inference. On our platform, AI can be trained and inferred without those learnings being exposed to the open market. Enterprises and nations can keep their insights within their control. This is a major differentiator for EBD, and we believe now is the right time for our customers to adopt a sovereign data and AI platform.

DQ: Are there any significant upcoming collaborations or partnerships you are making with governments, the developer community, or enterprises?

PostgreSQL has been around for a couple of decades, and we are the leading contributor to the technology. We contribute about 30% of the PostgreSQL codebase, which is twice as much as Amazon, the second-largest contributor, and Microsoft, which is third.

While open-source contributions are important, we also focus on delivering an enterprise-grade implementation. Customers expect high performance, high availability, and the ability to support multiple workloads, including transactional, analytical, and AI-driven applications.

What makes us unique is that we provide a platform based on open PostgreSQL that supports multiple workloads, from transactional to AI, within a single hybrid environment. Most enterprises today require a hybrid deployment model, where workloads can run both in the cloud and on-premises. Cloud providers offer robust cloud-based solutions, but they do not always support true hybrid deployment. Our platform offers that flexibility.

DQ: How does EBD position itself in this fast-growing market, and how are you helping enterprises and the startup ecosystem?

PostgreSQL has established itself as the leading open-source platform for data and AI management, and there are several players contributing to its growth. Our differentiation lies in our focus on the types of applications our customers are trying to build.

The AI and analytics revolution is happening now, not in five or ten years. PostgreSQL is already the leading platform for online transactional processing, but we are also enhancing it to support large-scale analytics and AI-driven workloads.

We are moving beyond a traditional transactional database to support data lakes for analytics and PostgreSQL vector search for AI. The goal is to provide a complete platform that allows businesses to build intelligent applications. While many companies contribute to PostgreSQL, few offer the breadth of capabilities needed to support modern AI-driven applications in a truly hybrid environment. That is where we are focused.

DQ: How do you help organizations achieve seamless cloud migration?

The conversation with our customers typically begins with understanding the applications they want to migrate and the workloads they want to move. Businesses need to evaluate whether moving to open-source PostgreSQL will provide them with real benefits, and in most cases, the answer is yes.

There are two key components—enabling businesses to build new applications on the platform and migrating existing applications.

Migrating existing applications can be complex, requiring deep technical expertise in both databases and applications. We invest in skilled resources to help customers with this transition. It is not just about moving applications; it is also about ensuring the platform can support future business needs.

We work closely with our customers to understand their requirements, help them migrate databases and applications, and provide the necessary support for a seamless transition.

DQ: India’s data localization policies are evolving. How does EBD ensure compliance with these regulations?

At EBD, our focus is always on the customer. There are two approaches companies can take—either build a product and hope customers adopt it or work closely with customers to develop solutions based on their specific needs. We follow the latter approach.

We view our customers as partners, not just clients. We work closely with them to understand their goals, whether it is securing data, deploying applications, or ensuring compliance. Our engagement ensures that our solutions align with evolving regulatory requirements, including India’s data localization policies.

Currently, we are focusing on two major areas—building a sovereign data platform that prioritizes privacy and security in hybrid environments and enhancing high-availability transactional processing and AI-driven analytics.

DQ: What investments is EBD making in India, and what strategic alliances or innovations are being introduced?

We are making significant investments in India, particularly in Pune, where a major portion of our engineering team is based. On the go-to-market side, we are expanding our sales and marketing efforts.

A key part of our strategy is strengthening partnerships. We recognize that success cannot be achieved in isolation, so we are actively collaborating with solution providers, global system integrators (GSIs), and technology partners to deliver a comprehensive data platform to enterprises.

While we do not have any major announcements at this time, we are actively seeking strategic partnerships that will help us scale our solutions in India and beyond.

DQ: Do you believe that the Indian talent pool is sufficiently trained to support these initiatives?

This is a bet we made a long time ago, and we are glad we did. The AI revolution is driving massive investments in sovereign AI, data center infrastructure, and technological capabilities across the region.

India is making significant investments in AI research and workforce development, and we want to be part of this transformation. Our goal is to support India’s AI and data ecosystem by fostering skilled professionals who can drive innovation.

Beyond AI, data management and security are equally critical. We see an opportunity to position EBD as the red hat of data, enabling businesses to leverage AI, analytics, and data-driven decision-making while ensuring compliance with regional and global standards.