Cloud 3.0: Reinventing infrastructure for the AI-first enterprise

As cloud infrastructure enters its third major evolution, the rules of the game are shifting. What was once about cost and scale is now about intelligence, embedded AI, autonomous operations, and regulatory readiness. The arrival of Cloud 3.0 is transforming not just IT infrastructure—but the very fabric of how businesses operate, innovate, and compete.In a dynamic fireside chat at the ETCIO Annual Conclave 2025, moderator Sneha Jha, Editor, ETCIO, explored this next frontier with two leaders navigating complex, high-scale cloud journeys:
Ruma Kishore, Director – Global Business Digital Transformation, UnileverRavi Kumar, Sr. EVP & Head of Technology, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Together, they offered a blueprint for CIOs seeking to thrive in the age of AI-native, cloud-agnostic infrastructure.
Cloud 3.0 is already here—If you're ready to see it
'Two-thirds of the planet uses a Unilever product,' said Ruma Kishore, grounding the conversation in scale. For a global FMCG behemoth, Cloud 3.0 is not hype—it's embedded in the DNA of transformation.
'We completed a full migration to cloud by 2023. SAP on Azure. Sales and CD on GCP. A truly
multi-cloud architecture
.'
But Cloud 3.0 is not about infrastructure alone—it's about intelligence and autonomy. In Unilever's case, AI-powered digital twins and a manufacturing metaverse are now deployed across 270+ factories globally.
'We're seeing real operational gains—not in theory, but through business outcomes. From productivity to efficiency, Cloud 3.0 is at the core.'
Yet even with all the promise, Kishore cautioned:
'Sometimes, you need to peek behind the cloud.'
Whether it's security, resilience, or vendor transparency—leaders must go beyond abstraction and inspect how cloud services are actually architected.
In banking, Cloud 3.0 is no longer a luxury—It's a survival imperative
For Ravi Kumar of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cloud 3.0 is the foundation for staying relevant in a world dominated by
cloud-native fintechs
.
'Fintechs are born in the cloud. They're fast by default. Banks need to rebuild—not just modernize—if we want to keep up.'
This means moving from monoliths to microservices, adopting API-first thinking, and deploying self-healing and self-provisioning systems to scale securely.
'Every digital customer experience you see today—from UPI to wealth—is backed by cloud-native infrastructure. But the real change must start at the core.'
Kotak is reshaping its data and application architectures to enable real-time analytics, cloud-native personalization, and population-scale performance.
AI at scale: The new benchmark of cloud success
Kishore offered a striking example of how Unilever is reducing time-to-market through cloud-powered in-silico R&D. From deodorant biomechanics to sunscreen melanin formulations, R&D models are now run virtually—cutting the cost and time of physical experimentation.
'Our cloud lets us simulate, iterate, and scale insights faster than ever before. We're collapsing the distance between consumer signals and product creation.'
Kumar echoed this shift:
'The faster you turn data into insight, the more competitive you become. That's only possible on a cloud-native AI stack.'
Governance, not just agility, defines cloud 3.0
While agility is the promise, governance is the price of admission. In highly regulated industries like BFSI, Cloud 3.0 is impossible without airtight frameworks.
Kumar emphasized that regulators like RBI aren't mandating sovereign clouds—but they do demand uncompromising data governance.
'Zero trust isn't optional. Encryption, posture management, observability—it all needs to be part of your architecture from day zero.'
He noted that FinOps, MLOps, and continuous audit-readiness are essential to staying compliant while still scaling innovation.
As the session drew to a close, Kishore looked forward to an AI-shaped cloud landscape.
'From edge devices to centralized cloud, AI will make us think harder about where we compute—and why.'
She advocated for "spectrum thinking": balancing distributed intelligence at the edge with centralized cloud scale, guided by business context over technology obsession.
Kumar's advice to CIOs starting their journey was clear:
'Build flexible architectures—but start with strong guardrails. Design for change, not just control.'
Cloud 3.0 is not just about better infrastructure—it's about redefining enterprise agility and intelligence. From Unilever's cloud-native digital twins to Kotak's regulatory-ready AI architectures, the session revealed a future where:
Cloud-native architectures enable real-time, AI-driven business decisionsZero trust and data sovereignty are built into design—not added on laterDigital R&D and intelligent edge computing will define industry speed
Governance, not hype, will separate the agile from the fragile

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