“Real AI Breakthroughs Will Come From Smarter Algorithms, Not Just Hardware”

In an exclusive interview, Akamai CEO and co-founder TOM LEIGHTON, during his India visit, spoke with Rohit Chintapali about competing with hyperscalers, the rise of distributed compute, Al inference at the edge and why India is critical to Akamai's roadmap. Excerpts

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How has Akamai’s India journey evolved since entry, and where does India fit in the company’s roadmap today?

We have been in India for about 25 years, starting with the acquisition of a small company of just 40 people.

Today, we're over 3,000. The growth here has been spectacular, mirroring India's broader evolution. This is Akamai's largest global presence, and every function we have worldwide from product innovation, development, deployment, operations, sales, and support. Everything exists here end-to-end.

India isn’t just a talent hub for us; it’s also a major market. In fact, our global innovation culture has deep roots here; our annual innovation contest, Wizards, began in Bengaluru in 2013. So, in many ways, India sits at the heart of Akamai’s growth story and future roadmap, and our customer base continues to grow here rapidly.

Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) is a big market for your growing compute business. Tell us how the India market stands out for you in the region.

APJ is a fast-growing, forward-looking region, and India is leading that momentum. The conversations we're having here with technology leaders are deeply focused on Al and cybersecurity.

Indian enterprises are at the forefront of what we call the ‘agentic web,’ where interactions with apps, APIs and websites are powered by AI-driven agents.