As automation and artificial intelligence gain ground in enterprise software development, DevOps is evolving from manual, tool-based workflows to integrated, intelligence-driven processes. The shift is prompting companies to rethink how they build, test and deploy software at scale while maintaining security and compliance.
For Copado, a Salesforce-focused DevOps platform, India — and particularly Jaipur — has become a key part of that strategy. The company has one of the largest developer communities in the region and is looking to expand its engagement through training and certification programmes.
“India is one of our most active markets,” Gaurav Kheterpal, Chief Evangelist – India & APAC at Copado, told TechObserver.in‘s Mohd Ujaley. “We are working to deepen our presence through community initiatives and enablement programmes focused on AI-driven DevOps.”
He said the goal is to help teams move beyond manual processes and adopt integrated DevOps models where governance and speed can coexist.
Edited Excerpts:
You have joined Copado as Chief Evangelist. In enterprise DevOps, what does that mean and what are your top priorities?
Copado is a DevOps platform which, although multi-platform and working with different enterprise platforms as well, has Salesforce as a big focus area. Copado is by far the biggest and leading Salesforce DevOps platform.
I have been working on Copado since its early days. I am also very active in the community. I used to run the Copado user group in Jaipur, the city where I am based.
Copado also has a Champions Programme. They pick people from the community who are experts in Copado, who have been evangelising it or who have been contributing to the community by sharing their knowledge, giving talks, hosting webinars and writing articles. I have been doing all of that for quite a while now.
I had been discussing this with Copado for a long time. The Copado community has more than 100,000 members and there is a strong need to step up and make the best use of that opportunity. The reason I joined Copado in this role is to drive community initiatives not just in India but across the broader APAC ecosystem.
That essentially translates into running quality webinars, conducting training, interacting with customers and partners and helping bring more awareness to Copado’s products, whether that’s core CI/CD, robotic testing or newer AI-enabled products.
Copado is scaling in India and APAC. What opportunities and challenges do you see?
Like any developer community, India is a very important market for many enterprise platform players and Copado is no exception. To give you a sense, Salesforce has one of the largest developer communities globally and Copado too has one of the biggest communities of developers in India. Other countries are important as well but they are not even close when it comes to numbers.
While Copado had some community programmes earlier, there was nobody running these initiatives on the ground in India. With me coming on board, we are starting a series of initiatives as early as next week around certifications and enablement. You will see a lot more momentum. We want to expand this community and make sure people have the opportunity to learn what AI-enabled DevOps is. So we will provide those opportunities to the broader community.
For CIOs and CISOs, how should speed, automation and governance be balanced in modern DevOps?
You are absolutely right. It is a trade-off between speed, quality, timelines and cost. One of the good things about how the DevOps ecosystem is maturing is that there’s now a lot more automation and greater acceptance of AI.
Gone are the days when you had to do everything manually, set up pipelines, trigger builds manually and so on. Now, with automation and AI, it is possible to attain the true state of continuous integration and continuous deployment. Your pipelines are set up, changes can move upstream or downstream securely.
Security has often not been given due importance. But if you follow the market, Salesforce recently had some data breaches and you realise platforms like Copado are not just about tools but also about processes that ensure there are no gaps in your deployment process. That becomes very important.
So to answer your question, if you are a CISO, CIO or executive leader, DevOps is no longer optional. It is one of the core engineering focus areas for most companies. If companies are not doing it right, it leads to data breaches, inefficient deployments and increased manual costs.
Where is AI already easing DevOps pain points and where does enterprise-grade work still lag?
The good thing is that it is maturing really fast. On the development side, it is more prominent because you hear about modern IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) like Copilot, Cursor and so on. On the DevOps side, there is still a lot of innovation happening, though it is not as widely publicised as core development. But there is no doubt that a lot of DevOps players, including Copado, are innovating heavily.
The idea is to remove manual dependencies, what we call “the human in the loop,” to eliminate bottlenecks and streamline the process. For example, if I need to set up my pipelines, which is a fundamental part of DevOps, I no longer have to configure everything manually. With AI-enabled, wizard-style interfaces, the system does it for me.
What still needs improvement is enterprise-grade adoption, around SLAs, compliance and security. That is an emerging space. Within the next six to twelve months, I am sure there will be more adoption of AI-enabled DevOps in enterprises and Copado is very well positioned for that.
Can a ChatGPT-like experience realistically exist inside the enterprise, given data silos?
It depends on the use case. A lot of companies, including Copado, are already doing this. They have built AI-enabled agents, one for testing, one for deployments, one for builds. What you are describing is more about development and data flow but in the software development lifecycle — build, deploy, test — there are specialised agents for each.
Copado has these offerings already. I think they have been around for about six months and I am privy to some of the progress being made. It is very exciting to see how these agents are shaping up and how they will assist release engineers and managers once they are production-ready.
How do you measure ROI for evangelism at a technology organisation like Copado?
It is difficult to put into exact numbers. If I had to quantify it, it could be based on metrics like training hours or certifications achieved. But that does not fully capture the impact, such as how people are understanding Copado concepts or how comfortable they are with different products.
For example, Copado has a product aimed at small and medium businesses called Copado Essentials. Awareness of it exists but is limited. One of my charters is to ensure not just the broader community but also the partner and customer ecosystems know about such products. These are hard to quantify. But yes, measurable metrics include the number of credentials, training hours and people enabled on the Copado platform.
From India’s vantage point, how do you align Copado’s roadmap with real developer needs?
The good thing is that Copado is an ISV partner. ISV partners build solutions on top of Salesforce. I have been pleasantly surprised by how closely Copado works with Salesforce, on specific opportunities, product roadmaps and other initiatives. There is very tight integration between Salesforce and Copado, so the platform already aligns well with real-world needs.
Of course, those needs evolve over time with AI advancements and Copado is continuously innovating to make the platform future-ready, not just for now but for two, five or even ten years down the line.
How do you look at India’s digital transformation and AI push?
I am very proud of how the AI and digital landscape is shaping up in India. The central government is promoting several initiatives. People are not just building wrappers on top of existing LLMs, they are building foundational models here in India. That is very satisfying.
Companies like Sarvam AI, IndiaAI Initiative and others are doing great work. NITI Aayog and NASSCOM are also very active. The intent and execution are largely right. The area for improvement is accessibility, making AI more accessible for builders. Most people know how to use ChatGPT but building AI solutions still needs more structured support. We are entering an AI-first era, so that support will be crucial.
What has building from Jaipur taught you about tier-2 and tier-3 tech hubs?
I strongly believe tier-2 and tier-3 cities are the future of India’s technology ecosystem. I am a big proponent of Jaipur’s tech landscape and I am proud to have contributed to making Jaipur known as the Salesforce Capital of India, with over 100 Salesforce partners here.
We host numerous industry events — AI, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Microsoft — and many big companies hold offsites here. The ecosystem is quite mature. We also enjoy advantages like less traffic, less pollution and good government support. There is a new initiative called Rising Rajasthan that is helping the IT ecosystem as well.
It is a trade-off. In cities like Bangalore, you deal with traffic and high costs. In tier-2 cities, life is more peaceful, salaries are competitive and careers are equally strong. That shift is refreshing.
Are investors backing tier-2 founders at scale?
We actually have a fairly mature ecosystem. Rajasthan Angels is a prominent VC group based in Jaipur, as is Marwari Capital. There are also many angel investors and big VCs operating here.
Startups like CarDekho, which has achieved massive valuation, have their roots in Jaipur. Razorpay originated here before moving to Bangalore. Many smaller startups also began in Jaipur before scaling up and relocating, though most still maintain operations here. So the ecosystem is strong, though of course, we can always do more as a city.
