Rakesh Datta, Microsoft's Network Security leader, awarded with India's top honour Indian Achievers Award 2023

Rakesh Datta, senior technical leader, Microsoft, Redmond, USA

The Indian Achievers' Forum successfully concluded its 36th National Summit and Awards in Dubai, UAE, and the 64th National Summit and Awards in New Delhi, India. These prestigious awards were presented by esteemed chief guests, Dr Mohammed Saeed Al Kindi, former Minister of Environment and Water, UAE, and SPS Baghel, Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, respectively. The Indian Achievers' Award, an illustrious honour for the past 24 years, stands as one of India's most prestigious and highest national awards, recognising eminent personalities across various domains who have achieved professional excellence both nationally and internationally.

One of the highlights of the 2023 summit was the felicitation of Rakesh Datta, a prominent figure in the Technology industry. Serving as Microsoft's Cybersecurity Leader at its headquarters in Redmond, USA, Datta leads the product development for various significant networking products. Datta was felicitated with the Indian Achievers' award in the International Achiever's category for his exemplary contributions to the science and technology industry and remarkable achievements over the years.

Datta, a Silicon Valley industry veteran, is globally celebrated for his outstanding contributions to science, technology, and nation-building. As a leading Indian-origin Network Security Expert, he has pioneered groundbreaking developments worldwide. Notably, Datta gained fame in the network security space at a young age by uncovering a significant vulnerability in Facebook, saving the company billions. A key figure behind Microsoft's Secure Service Edge portfolio, his innovative networking and security solutions are embraced by global giants like CISCO, Avaya, and Dell. His visionary approaches to countering cyber threats and advancing defence mechanisms have significantly raised the standard of cybersecurity. Internationally acclaimed, his pioneering research on open-hardware network security solutions was funded by the esteemed National Science Foundation (NSF) of the USA.

Datta passionately advocates for the future of network security as a guest speaker at various international conferences. He mentors underprivileged children and also the students in various universities across India and the USA, demonstrating his belief in contributing to the nation by funding various student scholarships and technology conferences.

Datta was honoured alongside an esteemed cohort of recipients of the Indian Achievers' Award. Notable among them were Ms. Shalu Jindal, Chairperson of JSPL Foundation and an accomplished Kuchipudi danseuse, Tejas Chopra, an engineering leader at Netflix, among others.

The Indian Achievers' Award to Datta is a testament to his unwavering dedication to the technology sphere. In 2023, he was featured as one of the emerging global leaders in Fox Interviewer’s '40 under 40' list, sharing acknowledgement with technology stalwarts like OpenAI founder Sam Altman.