Empowering India's Al future through data: Snowflake's Vijayant Rai on innovation, collaboration, and talent

Snowflake India MD Vijayant Rai shares how the company is unifying data, advancing AI innovation, and skilling the next generation for a data-first India.

- By Shrikanth G

Snowflake is expanding its presence in India as enterprises fast-track data and AI adoption. From unifying fragmented data to fostering Al-driven innovation and large-scale skilling, the company is deepening its commitment to the Indian market. Vijayant Rai, Managing Director - India, Snowflake, speaks to Dataquest about how the company is scaling its impact across industries, enabling collaboration, and nurturing a data-first, Already workforce. Excerpts.

How do you see Snowflake evolving in India?

Snowflake's journey in India is relatively new, we have been operational here for about five years, though globally we were founded in 2012. We began during the COVID period, which coincided with massive digital adoption. Our early customers were digital-native, born-in-the-cloud companies looking for best-of-breed data solutions.

Since then, we have been innovating heavily on the Snowflake platform, which has given us a second wave of market traction. Today, we are scaling consistently across verticals such as manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and financial services. We have also made investments in the public sector, which we believe will become a key growth opportunity in the coming years.

In just a few years, Snowflake has built a strong presence across multiple regions in India with hundreds of customers across diverse industries.

How has the data and AI market evolved in recent years, and how has Snowflake adapted to these changes?

Customers today look at data very differently. As they scale their digital journeys, they see the cloud as a destination for elasticity and agility. More importantly, data is no longer viewed merely as a system of record, it is now a strategic asset.