Airtel and Zscaler Launch AI & Cyber Threat Research Center in India

New Delhi, February 20, 2026: Bharti Airtel Limited has partnered with Zscaler Inc. to launch the AI & Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at strengthening India’s cyber resilience and accelerating trusted AI adoption.

The announcement was made through a press release issued by Airtel and submitted to National Stock Exchange of India Limited (Symbol: BHARTIARTL) and BSE Limited (Scrip Code: 532454).

Focus on National Cyber Resilience

The new research center is designed to protect critical sectors such as telecommunications, banking, and energy, along with India’s rapidly expanding digital ecosystem. The initiative aims to strengthen collaboration between the private sector, public sector, academia and government.

India is currently undergoing large-scale digital transformation across key sectors. According to the release, the expanding digital infrastructure has significantly increased the national attack surface, while cyber threats are evolving rapidly with the use of AI by threat actors.

Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, has observed:

Millions of infiltration attempts each month
1.2 million intrusion attempts originating from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities
Increased zero-day exploit attempts across industries
Nation-state cyber espionage campaigns targeting Indian entities

Also Read: HCLTech Unveils VisionX 2.0, a Next-Gen Multi-Modal AI Edge Platform with NVIDIA

Four Strategic Pillars of the Research Center

The AI & Cyber Threat Research Center – India will operate under four core objectives:

Protect: Deliver real-time actionable intelligence to strengthen cyber resilience
Remediate: Partner with government agencies to prevent and neutralize cyber-attacks
Facilitate: Promote AI-driven defenses and Zero Trust architecture
Build: Develop cybersecurity talent through AI and Zero Trust certifications

Role of Airtel and Zscaler

As founding members, Airtel and Zscaler will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility.

Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India-focused threat research team leveraging the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions globally.

Airtel will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, enabling faster detection of suspicious activity and improved coordination across ecosystem stakeholders.

Leadership Commentary

Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice-Chairman of Airtel, stated that the initiative strengthens Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and India’s digital infrastructure.

Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman and Founder of Zscaler, emphasized the need for modern Zero Trust architecture to secure India’s large-scale digital systems in an AI-driven environment.

Invitation to Additional Members

The companies confirmed that additional entities from India’s critical public and private sectors will be invited to join the initiative to further expand collaboration and strengthen national cyber resilience.