As the Asia Pacific and Japan region accelerates its embrace of artificial intelligence, experts are calling for a major shift in how organisations approach data protection. On World Backup Day 2025, Pure Storage’s Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific & Japan, Nathan Hall, stressed that restoring data—not just backing it up—is now crucial for business continuity in the AI age.
Speaking on the growing risks accompanying rapid digital innovation, Hall pointed to Singapore’s Enterprise Compute Initiative, a US$150 million programme aimed at driving AI development. “AI adoption across Asia Pacific & Japan is surging, driven by initiatives like Singapore’s S$150 million Enterprise Compute Initiative,” he said. However, he warned that this wave of progress also brings significant risk. Citing Kroll’s 2025 Financial Crime Report, he noted that 82% of senior management in the region expect an increase in financial crime this year—the highest figure globally.
According to Hall, data loss today is far more than a minor setback. “Data loss is not just an inconvenience — it can severely damage trust, cripple productivity, and compromise compliance,” he explained. In an AI-driven environment, where real-time insights are used to guide strategic decisions, the ability to recover data swiftly after a disruption has become a strategic necessity.
Restore is now a business-critical function
Traditionally, organisations have focused on simply having backup copies of their data. However, as Hall noted, this mindset is no longer sufficient. “Traditional backups are no longer enough. In the AI era, where real-time insights drive decisions, businesses must rethink data protection: restore is the new backup,” he said.
Many legacy systems fall short when it comes to recovery, hampered by slow and often complex procedures. These limitations can leave organisations vulnerable to extended periods of downtime, affecting operations and customer trust. As such, Hall argued that a rapid restore capability is no longer a luxury—it’s a competitive edge.
One solution Hall pointed to is Pure Storage’s SafeMode snapshots, which serve as a secure and reliable final defence against data loss. “Pure Storage SafeMode snapshots provide a last line of defence — immutable, undeletable, and ransomware-proof,” he said. These snapshots are protected with multi-factor authentication and can be restored up to 20 times faster than traditional backup systems, enabling businesses to resume operations with minimal disruption.
Flash storage replacing tape and disk backups
In addition to safer backup protocols, Pure Storage advocates for a shift away from outdated tape or disk-based systems. Flash storage, Hall said, is far more reliable and significantly reduces recovery times. “Organisations can further minimise downtime by shifting from tape or disk-based backups to flash storage, which enables near-instant recovery and significantly reduces failure rates,” he added.
The move to flash-based solutions not only improves speed and reliability but also supports the fast-paced demands of modern AI workloads. As businesses rely increasingly on automation and data analysis to remain competitive, any delay in access to critical data could have serious consequences.
Backing up is not enough—restore readiness is key
As World Backup Day 2025 serves as a reminder of the importance of data resilience, Hall urged businesses to look beyond traditional backup solutions. “On World Backup Day, the question isn’t whether you have a backup — it’s whether you can restore quickly enough to keep your business moving,” he said.
With AI transforming industries and raising the stakes on data protection, companies must adopt strategies that focus not only on securing data, but also on ensuring it can be recovered instantly when needed. Pure Storage believes that with the right approach, organisations can continue to innovate confidently, without compromising on resilience.
“With Pure Storage, organisations can ensure AI-driven innovation remains resilient, secure, and unstoppable,” Hall concluded.
