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Druva Unveils 'Dru,' First AI Copilot for Backup

Druva unveils 'Druva,' the industry’s first AI copilot for backup.

• By John K. Waters
• 10/29/2023

Cloud data protection and management software provider Druva has unveiled the industry’s first AI copilot for backup. Dubbed "Dru," it was developed to allow both IT and business users to engage with their data protection solutions through a conversational interface.

"Unlike most AI 'innovations,' Dru is not another chatbot," said Ranga Rajagopalan, Druva's chief marketing officer, in a blog post. "This development opens the door to AI-powered counsel, making data protection processes more streamlined and effective."

Druva bills itself as the provider of the first and only at-scale SaaS platform for data resiliency. With the introduction of Dru, the company is providing IT teams with "a new way to access information and drive actions through simple conversations to further increase productivity."

"User interfaces are the bridge between humans and software, and their effectiveness significantly influences user experience and productivity," Rajagopalan said. "Traditional UIs, with their static and rigid nature, often force users to adapt to the software, triggering inefficiencies and frustration. We believe in a world where technology adapts to you, not the other way around. To solve these challenges, we’ve introduced our new AI-powered user experience."

Dru was designed to equip its users with the insight, "and foresight," the company says, to make data protection more autonomous. The list of Dru’s generative AI capabilities includes:

• Interactive reporting: Dru delivers streamlined data access and reporting with an interactive and highly visual design. Dru enables users to request real-time, custom reports, ask follow-up questions to refine report variables, and act on AI-powered suggestions to remediate backup failures within user reports.
• Assisted troubleshooting: With simple written prompts, Dru can analyze logs, and troubleshoot errors – helping users understand and improve their backup and security postures. The conversational interface makes it easier for IT teams to interact, analyze and find the information they’re looking for.
• Intelligent responses: Dru proactively prompts users with recommendations and best practices customized to their specific environments. It also advises users how to leverage new and advanced functionality to get the most value out of the platform.
• Simplified admin operations: Dru will assist with everyday administrative tasks by executing simple protection tasks for users. From creating new backup policies to triggering new backups of specific workloads, Dru will drive enhanced productivity for every user.
• Customized navigation: Dru is architected with simplicity in mind, allowing users to navigate their custom data protection environments with an easy-to-use conversational interface.

"We believe that the future is autonomous, and Druva is committed to pushing the forefront of innovation," said Druva CEO Jaspreet Singh, in a statement. "We are listening closely to customer pain points and being thoughtful with how we build and incorporate Dru into our platform to ensure we’re solving real-world problems. Our customers are already leveraging the efficiency benefits of our 100% SaaS, fully managed platform, and now with generative AI integrated directly into the solution, they can further expedite decision-making across their environment."

Dru is available now to select customers and will be on display at booth #650 at AWS re:Invent 2023, taking place from November 27 to November 30, 2023.