From Data Protection to Cyber Resilience: Fady Richmany Says Cyberattacks Are No Longer a Matter of “If,” but “When”
As digital transformation accelerates and reliance on cloud computing and artificial intelligence continues to grow, data protection alone is no longer sufficient to address an evolving cyber threat landscape. Even large organizations that invest millions of dollars in cybersecurity remain vulnerable to breaches, while the speed of recovery and restoration of operations and data has become a critical factor in an organization’s ability to maintain business continuity.
During a media session held on the sidelines of SHIFT 2026, organized by Commvault in Cairo, Fady Richmany, Corporate Vice-President & General Manager, Emerging Markets at Commvault, discussed the transformations taking place in the data protection industry, the company’s vision for cyber resilience, and the new challenges that artificial intelligence is creating for organizations.
Richmany explained that the name SHIFT reflects the transformation the industry has undergone, moving from a traditional focus on data protection and backup toward a more comprehensive concept of Cyber Resilience.
He noted that Commvault began its technological journey decades ago, with its roots in innovation dating back to 1988, while the company was officially established in 1996. As organizations’ needs evolved, the company moved from traditional data backup to a broader concept of data protection, encompassing areas such as data security, compliance, archiving, and data analytics.
From Backup to Cyber Resilience
According to Richmany, the most significant shift came when Commvault began focusing on cyber resilience as an essential layer for dealing with the moment when cybersecurity defenses fail and a breach succeeds.
He said organizations need cyber resilience specifically when a breach occurs, explaining that the objective is not limited to preventing an attack, but also ensuring that the organization can restore its data and operations as quickly as possible and with minimal losses.
As threats continue to evolve, Commvault has expanded its vision beyond cyber recovery toward a more integrated framework that includes cyber recovery, identity protection, identity resilience, and data security, in addition to addressing security requirements associated with artificial intelligence.
AI Is Accelerating the Pace of Attacks
Richmany believes that artificial intelligence represents both a major opportunity for organizations and an increasing cybersecurity challenge.
On one hand, AI contributes to higher productivity and efficiency and is changing how many tasks are performed. On the other hand, the adoption of advanced AI technologies is expanding the Attack Surface, with a growing number of agents and systems capable of interacting with data and acting in ways similar to human users.
He explained that the development of AI tools has significantly accelerated the exploitation of vulnerabilities and digital environments, forcing organizations to rethink their preparedness and recovery mechanisms rather than focusing solely on traditional prevention measures.
In this context, he highlighted Unity, a platform release launched by Commvault that brings together cyber recovery, identity protection, and data security capabilities in line with the evolving nature of cyber threats.
He also discussed Arlie, AI-powered capabilities within the platform designed to support organizations in resilience and recovery processes, including identifying the appropriate data and backups for recovery and simplifying the procedures required by IT teams.
From Synthetic Backup to Synthetic Recovery
Among the concepts introduced by Commvault as part of its evolving recovery capabilities is Synthetic Recovery, which aims to reduce the amount of data an organization could lose in the event of a cyberattack.
Richmany explained that an organization may discover after an attack that its latest completely clean copy of data dates back a significant period of time. This can be unacceptable for banks, hospitals, government entities, telecommunications companies, and other organizations.
Instead of relying exclusively on the oldest available clean copy, organizations can use a more recent copy that has been compromised, clean it of malware, and combine it with data contained in an older clean copy. This can significantly reduce the time gap in the data that the organization may otherwise lose.
“No One Is Immune”
Richmany believes that one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is the assumption that they are already prepared to deal with cyberattacks.
He noted that attacks are now targeting organizations across different sectors and countries, including automotive, retail, healthcare, transportation, and other industries. He emphasized that an organization’s size or cybersecurity spending does not necessarily mean that it will be protected from a breach.
He added that the question is no longer whether an organization will experience an attack, but rather how prepared it is to deal with one when it occurs and how long it will take to restore its operations and data.
He explained that recovery delays can, in some cases, extend to weeks or months, turning a cyberattack from a technical issue into a genuine business crisis that affects revenues, customers, and service continuity.
The Challenge Is Not Just Technology, It Is Preparedness
One of the key points emphasized by Richmany is that having the right technology does not, by itself, make an organization cyber resilient.
He compared the situation to an evacuation plan in a hotel in the event of a fire. If people inside the hotel do not know where the emergency exits are and have never practiced the evacuation plan, the plan will have limited value in a real emergency.
The same applies to organizations, he said. When an attack occurs, backup, security, IT, and business continuity teams can quickly become overwhelmed if there are no clear, previously tested procedures defining each team’s responsibilities and the steps required to restore systems and data.
For this reason, Richmany believes that regularly testing and practicing recovery plans is a fundamental component of cyber resilience rather than an additional measure.
AI Is Reshaping the Workforce
Richmany also discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on skills and human resources, explaining that technological transformation does not mean the disappearance of the human element, but rather a change in the nature of the skills required.
He noted that some roles that were highly important years ago, such as traditional programming, are beginning to be affected by AI capabilities, while new requirements are emerging that call for different skill sets.
He emphasized that organizations will continue to need human talent, but the nature and number of these roles will evolve alongside technological development.
The New Challenge: More Connected Systems and Greater Data Exposure
As organizations move from traditional infrastructure to virtualized and cloud environments, their data ecosystems have become increasingly complex.
Richmany outlined the evolution of technology infrastructure from traditional servers to Virtualization, followed by cloud computing, the emergence of major cloud service providers, and the widespread adoption of SaaS applications.
According to his view, these transformations have also changed the concept of business continuity and disaster recovery. In the past, organizations could rely on replicating data across different data centers, allowing them to switch to an alternative center in the event of a natural disaster or an outage at the primary data center.
However, the nature of today’s cyber threats requires these models to be reconsidered, particularly when the same threat can affect interconnected data and systems.
Egypt: A Market Experiencing Rapid Technological Transformation
Regarding the Egyptian market, Richmany pointed to significant opportunities amid the technological development Egypt has experienced in recent years, noting that technological transformation continues to create new opportunities for skills development, investment, and innovation.
He believes that technological change is an ongoing process. Just as smartphones reshaped the telecommunications and mobile device markets within a relatively short period, and digitalization transformed entire industries, artificial intelligence is now reshaping numerous sectors, jobs, and operating models.
From this perspective, Egyptian organizations, like organizations around the world, face the need to develop their capabilities alongside this transformation—not only to benefit from new technologies, but also to ensure data protection and the ability to recover when systems come under threat.
Cyber Resilience Starts Before an Attack
Concluding his remarks, Richmany emphasized that cyber resilience does not mean preventing every attack. Rather, it means being prepared for the moment when an attack succeeds in breaching an organization’s defenses.
The primary objective is to minimize recovery time, reduce the amount of lost data, and maintain business continuity and critical services.
As artificial intelligence becomes an integral part of the future of technology, it is simultaneously creating new challenges for organizations in data protection and risk management. Therefore, building the ability to recover quickly and continuously testing response plans have become essential components of any modern business protection strategy.
In a digital world where the speed of cyberattacks is increasing alongside the pace of innovation, cyber resilience is no longer simply an extension of data protection—it has become a fundamental par
t of an organization’s ability to remain operational.