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Ashutosh Sharma gives a glimpse of how India’s deep talent expertise in AI and engineering is driving core innovation for the US-based application cybersecurity firm.In 2006, application security might not have been as popular as it is today. But for Maty Silman, a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces’ Mamram computer and networks unit and a programmer, the early cracks on how software was being protected were already visible.
Nearly two decades later, Checkmarx was born.
The company is popularly known for detecting technical vulnerabilities in popular technologies, software, applications, and IoT devices.
Now a global leader in application security, the firm counts more than 1,800 enterprises, including 40 per cent of the Fortune 100, including Siemens, Visa, Salesforce, Carlsberg, and Adidas.
With more than 900 employees and backing from private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, Checkmarx has expanded its global footprint steadily.
But the real growth was driven by the company’s bet on India, reveals Ashutosh Sharma, Managing Director and Head, Checkmarx India Development Centre.
“India has a vast talent pool. We have the scaling capability and the trust that we have achieved from our past success stories. That was one of the factors which led Checkmarx to move to India,” Sharma told ETGCCWorld.
Product-led development
The US-headquartered firm specialises in offering enterprise application security solutions in static application security testing (SAST).
Checkmarx inaugurated its new office in Pune last year, which is primarily driving efforts in product development, customer success, and research efforts in cybersecurity technologies.
The 4,000 sq. ft facility serves as a critical base for building code-to-cloud application security (AppSec) services driven by the company’s cloud-native enterprise platform, Checkmarx One.
Complementing its existing Mumbai operations, the Pune centre was built to directly support global enterprises, financial institutions, and private banks, many of which already run their offshore delivery from India.
Closer proximity to global clients also played a huge part in these efforts, says Sharma.
“We have been working with the global clients and all their offshore centers are in India. So why can’t we be in close proximity to them?,” he pointed out.
“What we have started is not just by being the back office, but being the actual development center from India. That gives us a lot of factors which made us believe India can deliver… Currently, we are driving some of the core R&D work. Our innovation footprint and product development… everything has been done and driven from our center,” he added.
At present, the firm makes the best use of artificial intelligence to automate and enhance application security testing (AppSec) throughout the software development lifecycle. Checkmarx One helps identify and remediate vulnerabilities in code, even the ones that are written by other AI tools.
India has become the launchpad for these product-led efforts, with local teams building core innovations to support their global customer base.
Speaking on the AI efforts from the India center, Sharma explains, “We’ve been working on agentic AIs, which are becoming very popular in the cybersecurity world. They are truly the need of the hour. We have both the development and support capabilities for this coming out of India itself, ” he said.
Tapping India’s talent
The best of technological innovation is never complete without the right talent driving it. Driving the same efforts for Checkmarx is India’s deep talent pool, which has become critical to scale both its AI research and its customer delivery for global clients.
When Checkmarx decided to set its footprint in India, it faced the same challenge that most cybersecurity firms do: a shortage of industry-ready and sector-based expertise. Instead of waiting for that pipeline to fix on its own, the company decided to intervene in advance.
Its proprietary learning platform, Codebashing, is offered free with licenses to students, which helps them to sharpen the skills needed to fix vulnerabilities and write code that is secured.
Academia has also been of top priority for Checkmarx India, by working closely with leading institutions and serving on advisory boards to help shape curriculum and bridge skill gaps.
“We’ve been working closely with universities to prepare professionals and help them get into the industry. The idea is that instead of coming in at zero, they enter with one level of expertise. That’s how we’ve been building knowledge in the area of cybersecurity,” Sharma said.
- Published On Sep 24, 2025 at 10:25 AM IST
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