Anuj Jaiswal, Vice President of Products at Fortanix discusses data security in hybrid multi-cloud environments and more in this catch-up: 

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Hi Anuj! Please share more about your tech leadership journey with us.

With over 23 years of experience in Cybersecurity, Applied AI, Machine Learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLMs), and enterprise-scale applications, my career has been defined by leading large-scale systems and driving AI-first business innovations. I’ve successfully managed global teams of 300+ developers to deliver products that operate at planet scale, while ensuring robust cybersecurity measures. My focus has been on shaping technical vision, and aligning it with business goals across cloud infrastructure, AI, digital transformation, and data security.

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My leadership journey spans both product and engineering roles, with experience in building and scaling planet-scale systems. Most recently, as VP of Engineering at Embrace.io, I led the development of their Mobile App Observability SaaS platform, designed to handle massive data volumes, while researching new market opportunities. Before Embrace.io, I played a key role at Arkin, a company recognized for its planet-scale innovation, which led to its acquisition by VMware in 2016. Earlier, I held senior leadership positions at FrontRange Solutions (acquired by Ivanti) and DBO2 (acquired by Predictive Solutions), where I contributed to large-scale system development and product innovation.

In each of these roles, my focus has been on leveraging cutting-edge technologies to drive business outcomes, whether through scaling AI-driven systems or optimizing large-scale infrastructure. My extensive experience in planet-scale systems has been crucial in navigating the complexities of the tech landscape and delivering high-impact results.

Fortanix focuses on data security in hybrid multicloud environments. Can you elaborate on the innovative features you have developed and their impact on enhancing data security?

After numerous conversations with CISOs and security practitioners, a common challenge emerged: they had no visibility into their cryptographic security posture. Questions like, “What is the cryptographic security posture of my environment?” “What are the risks and vulnerabilities?” “How do we audit effectively?” and “How do we remain compliant with regulations?” surfaced repeatedly. It became clear there was a significant gap that could only be addressed by developing an innovative solution. This realization led to the birth of Key Insight.

Fortanix announced a major expansion to the Key Insight solution, allowing organizations to discover, assess, and remediate their fragmented cryptographic security risks proactively. Key Insight can now scan on-premises services such as databases, storage, etc., making it the market’s first solution to discover encryption keys and data services across hybrid environments, including on-premises. This holistic approach to managing cryptographic risk is critical to organizations that want to protect their data today against emerging threats in a post-quantum computing era.

The product enables teams to discover, assess and remediate cryptographic security posture, all from a single platform with additional enhancements including federated authentication for improved access control, allowing seamless integration into an organization’s Identity Access Management (IAM) infrastructure.

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The latest enhancements to Fortanix Key Insight strengthen users’ ability to:

• Discover and monitor encryption keys and data services across on-premises and multicloud environments.
• Quickly assess how well data services are secured across an enterprise’s digital infrastructure, all from a single view.
• Simplify audits to ensure security posture aligns with internal policies, industry regulations, and security best practices.
• Obtain immediate insight into the most at-risk data services to accelerate security posture improvements.

Fortanix identified a critical problem for enterprises—traditional data security solutions often fail to comprehensively protect data at rest, particularly within file systems across diverse environments. In response, Fortanix launched File System Encryption as part of its Data Security Manager to address this gap, offering robust, full-stack encryption for data stored in Linux and Windows file systems. This new capability enhances security by ensuring that sensitive data remains protected against unauthorized access, even if systems are compromised, thus bolstering overall data security for enterprises operating in hybrid and multicloud environments.

The problem many enterprises face is the complexity and fragmentation of managing multiple data security services across different environments, leading to inefficiencies and security gaps. To solve this, Fortanix introduced Key Insight and Data Security Manager on Fortanix Armor, a new unified platform that consolidates critical data security services. Fortanix Armor simplifies enterprise security with features like enterprise-grade identity and access management, easy onboarding, audit trails, logging, unified management, and billing and reporting. Built on Confidential Computing, Armor ensures data is protected even while in use, making it one of the most secure platforms in the industry. Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) will also soon be integrated into Armor, further enhancing its capabilities.

Key Insight is available today on Fortanix Armor, a new, unified platform for consolidated data security services. Fortanix Armor provides enterprise-grade identity and access management for its services, as well as simple onboarding and service consumption. Fortanix Armor, the go-forward platform for all Fortanix solutions, is a strong foundation that unifies critical services like audit trails, logging, unified management, and billing and reporting. Like all Fortanix solutions, Armor is built on Confidential Computing, which protects data in use, making it the most secure data security platform in the industry. In the coming weeks, Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) will also be added to the Armor platform.

How do AI, ML, and Deep Learning play a role in Fortanix’s product offerings? Product Vision and Roadmap:

In an AI-driven world, encryption isn’t just about security—it’s about enabling innovation responsibly. Fortanix’s cutting-edge consolidated data security platform empowers enterprises to protect their most critical data. AI, ML, and Deep Learning play crucial roles in Fortanix’s product offerings by enhancing the ability to secure, manage, and analyze sensitive data in more intelligent and adaptive ways. Here’s how they fit into the product vision and roadmap:

1. Enhanced Cryptographic Security and Risk Management

AI and ML are integral in Fortanix’s tools like Key Insight, where they are used to automatically discover and assess cryptographic assets, analyze security vulnerabilities, and proactively identify potential risks, making it easier for enterprises to maintain a robust cryptographic posture.

2. Data Tokenization

Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) provides Data Tokenization techniques for sensitive data. These capabilities help enterprises quickly identify sensitive data types across structured and unstructured environments, ensuring they remain protected without manual intervention.

3.Confidential Computing and Data Privacy

With AI and ML integrated into Fortanix’s Confidential Computing solutions, data can be processed securely while still being analyzed. This allows sensitive data to be used for ML and AI-driven applications without exposing it to potential breaches. This is a critical capability as organizations handle increasingly large and sensitive datasets, particularly in AI-driven sectors like finance and healthcare.

The future roadmap of Fortanix will focus on continuing to integrate AI, ML, and Deep Learning into its security platforms. The goal is to offer fully automated, adaptive, and intelligent data security solutions that respond in real-time to evolving threats. Fortanix will likely focus on expanding AI’s role in areas like proactive risk mitigation, quantum-safe encryption solutions, and autonomous threat remediation. Further integration of AI/ML with Confidential Computing will enable businesses to harness the power of AI securely, protecting sensitive data even in AI-driven applications.

What is your approach to defining the product vision and roadmap? How do you ensure that your product strategy aligns with the evolving needs of your customers and the market?

1.Learning from Customers to Drive Innovation

It all starts with the customer. I spend time talking directly with CISOs, security leaders, and practitioners to understand their pain points and evolving challenges. By consistently learning from customers, I ensure we’re solving real problems. This feedback is critical to refining our roadmap, keeping us aligned with what truly matters to users, and ensuring our solutions remain innovative and impactful.

2. Nimble Execution with Rapid Iteration

In a startup environment like Fortanix, speed is everything. We keep our roadmap flexible to allow for rapid iteration. Launching MVPs and getting real-world feedback is how we move

fast while staying focused on delivering meaningful outcomes. This approach helps us quickly validate ideas, adapt where needed, and ensure we’re always aligned with customer needs and market trends.

3. Data-Driven Insights to Inform Decisions

While customer feedback is a big part of the puzzle, I also rely on data-driven insights. Analytics and metrics help us validate assumptions, measure product performance, and ensure that decisions are grounded in facts. This balance between qualitative feedback and quantitative data ensures we’re making informed decisions about where to invest resources and what features to prioritize.

4. Understanding the Market to Stay Ahead

A key part of my strategy is staying ahead of market trends. I make sure we’re plugged into what’s happening in areas like AI, ML, and post-quantum cryptography. Understanding the market allows us to anticipate future challenges and position Fortanix as a leader in data security. This forward-looking approach ensures our roadmap stays relevant and ahead of the curve.

5. Focusing on Product-Market Fit

Achieving product-market fit is at the heart of our roadmap. Innovation only matters if it’s aligned with customer needs and market demands. By continually validating the roadmap with real-world feedback and staying attuned to business goals, I make sure we’re building products that not only push boundaries but also solve real, pressing problems for our customers.

6. Collaboration and Agility

Finally, no roadmap exists in a vacuum. I ensure there’s strong collaboration across product, engineering, sales, and marketing. This ensures that we’re all aligned on our goals and can adapt quickly when needed. The ability to be agile and adjust course based on new information is critical to ensuring we’re always moving in the right direction.

In short, my approach is all about combining innovation with practicality, staying customer-focused, and remaining agile to keep pace with a rapidly changing market. By staying close to customers, leveraging data, and understanding the market, we ensure that our product vision is always aligned with both immediate needs and long-term opportunities.

What are the current trends in data security that enterprises should be aware of?

Organizations in heavily regulated sectors such as telecom, healthcare, or financial services often encrypt sensitive data to meet compliance. With data residing across multiple cloud and on-premises environments, organizations often don’t know where their encryption keys are or how well cryptography is applied, degrading security and complicating audits. Further, the manual discovery and enumeration of crypto security posture details is a complex and time-consuming task, which is even more difficult when security teams are strained for resources.

Couple this with NIST’s post-quantum cryptography standards that were published in August, companies are tasked with updating their entire cryptographic environment with these new standards.

Quantum computers have the potential to break widely used encryption algorithms like RSA and ECC, which are foundational to securing data. The assessment for quantum vulnerabilities existing in hybrid environments enables organizations to be proactive in planning and executing post-quantum solutions.

Before we wrap, share five tips for aspiring product and engineering leaders who aim to achieve similar success in their careers.

1. Stay Close to the Customer

Always keep the customer at the center of your decision-making. Deeply understanding their needs, pain points, and feedback is key to building products that solve real problems. The more customer-focused you are, the more likely your products will resonate in the market.

2. Embrace Data-Driven Decisions

Make decisions based on data whenever possible. While intuition and experience are important, backing up your choices with data ensures you’re making informed decisions. Track performance, gather insights, and always be willing to pivot when the data suggests it.

3. Prioritize Learning and Adaptability

The tech landscape is constantly evolving, so continuous learning is crucial. Stay curious, keep exploring new trends, and be willing to adapt. Success in product and engineering leadership requires being nimble and open to change.

4. Focus on Collaboration and Building Strong Teams

No leader can succeed alone. Focus on building cross-functional collaboration and empowering your teams. The best product and engineering outcomes happen when you have a unified, motivated team working toward a shared goal.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks

Innovation comes from taking calculated risks. Don’t be afraid to push boundaries and try new things. Failure is part of the process—what matters is how quickly you learn and adapt from it.

These principles—focusing on the customer, relying on data, continuous learning, fostering strong collaboration, and embracing risk—are key to achieving success as a product or engineering leader.

Thank you, Anuj, for sharing your insights with us.

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