MAM
Hitachi Vantara expands focus on enterprise storage, AI, and hybrid cloud
Mumbai: Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure, and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), announced the completion of a strategic realignment designed to accelerate the company’s growth plan, including its ability to respond to market opportunities with a focus on hybrid cloud and generative AI. The new structure includes the integration of Hitachi Vantara and Hitachi’s IT Platform Products Management Division, which has been responsible for Hitachi’s business development, R&D, and production of data infrastructure solutions.
The realigned Hitachi Vantara commands extensive infrastructure and data storage experience across manufacturing and hybrid cloud, as well as a shared focus on collaboration to drive meaningful business outcomes for the company’s customers. As a result, the company will be able to innovate and adapt to the needs of the market in real-time, while also building upon its long-standing expertise in managing data across mission-critical environments.
The announcement comes at an important time as the emergence of technologies like generative AI has led to an explosive growth of processing required for data, and many companies are straining to keep up. One recent survey of IT leaders revealed that many IT professionals are struggling to manage AI projects and deal with the resulting deluge of data. According to the survey, nearly nine in 10 IT professionals (88 per cent) can’t support the surge of AI-related requests that they have received at their organisation. A separate survey found that more than 75 per cent of organisations are using multiple AI models and 90 per cent said that they have faced challenges integrating AI with other systems.
“The rise of generative AI and the explosion in data processing power are pushing the pace of change, and many organizations are struggling to keep up,” said Sheila Rohra, CEO of Hitachi Vantara. “This next phase of business transformation is designed to help us accelerate our execution and scale our business to identify and capitalize on market opportunities in real time. This extension of development, manufacturing, sales, and delivery capabilities will strengthen our ability to provide our customers with the AI-driven data performance, reliability, and resiliency they need across their hybrid cloud environments in order to realize real-world impact and growth.”
As part of the new organizational structure, Akinobu Shimada, formerly president of Hitachi’s IT Platform Products Management Division, has been appointed as chairman of Hitachi Vantara to bolster the already strong connection between Hitachi Vantara and Hitachi Ltd.
“Our strong partnership across the organisations has helped to create the right synergy to formalize a Hitachi Vantara structure that brings R&D and engineering closer to our key markets around the globe,” said Shimada. “Given the impressive amount of industry expertise and technical understanding infused into our business, I am confident that we will lead with a unified digital infrastructure and AI strategy and execution plan that enables us to deliver high-impact outcomes for our customers and positions our business for continued growth.”
Hitachi Vantara is pioneering the development of hybrid cloud storage that seamlessly combines on-premises and cloud computing to achieve safety, high performance and reliability, and cost advantage in processing critical, large-scale data for complex business requirements. As an example, the company recently announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to create a new generation of transformational AI solutions, Hitachi iQ, which layers industry-specific capabilities on top of its AI solution stack, so outcomes can be more specific and relevant to an organization’s business.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
