Preparing for the unknown: The future of data resilience with Druva CTO Stephen Manley

10 September 2025 Time to read: ~

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In an era of pervasive data sprawl and escalating cyber threats, organizations need a robust approach to data resilience. We sat down with Stephen Manley, CTO of data security company Druva, to explore this topic for our Executive Exchange video series. 

Cyberattacks are so prevalent today that for many businesses, it’s not a matter of if, but when. Getting back up and running quickly depends on your preparedness. Manley outlined three pillars for executives: 

  1. Ensure you have a reliable, recoverable copy of data. 

  2. Establish organizational alignment between IT, security, and business units to understand and address business impact. 

  3. Foster an informed workforce where employees have a “healthy respect” for security. 

Data protection has seen a profound shift with the rise of cloud adoption and widespread ransomware. It’s not just large corporations that find themselves in the crosshairs — companies of all sizes and verticals are targeted. “A lot of these concerns, which we used to think were Fortune 50 problems, are now everybody’s problems,” says Manley.

Proactive data resilience, Manley says, hinges on thoroughly testing your recovery solutions and “understanding the mapping between identity and data.” By knowing who accesses critical data, more stringent controls can be applied, enabling a more strategic and efficient response to inevitable incidents.

Watch the full video above to learn more about the evolution of data protection, the impact of human error and natural disasters on data loss, and how to anticipate disruptions.

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