India’s data privacy regime is moving from policy to implementation, with the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025, notified in November, and key compliance provisions coming into effect in phases. For businesses, especially smaller firms that rely heavily on cloud platforms, SaaS tools, and AI applications, the challenge is not just understanding the law but building practical safeguards without creating a disproportionate compliance burden. PrivaSapien, a privacy engineering deep-tech start-up, is working to address this emerging need. The company helps businesses identify privacy risks, mitigate them, and use data for business and AI applications while protecting user privacy. In an interaction with The Economic Times Digital, Abilash Soundararajan, Founder & CEO, PrivaSapien, discusses what businesses need to do to prepare for the DPDP regime, why technical safeguards will be critical, how AI is changing the privacy risk landscape, and more. Edited excerpts:
ET: As organisations prepare for data protection rules, what are the most critical steps they should take to ensure compliance?
