ManageEngine, the IT management software division of India-based Zoho Corp., is expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help businesses manage their IT systems and protect against cyberattacks. The company has built tools that work with both self-hosted and bring-your-own AI models, making it easier for companies to keep their data secure and systems running smoothly.
“Alerts, monitoring, and behavior tracking have always been part of our products,” said Arun Kumar, regional vice president for the Asia Pacific at ManageEngine, during an interview with Back End News. “But generative AI has changed how we do these things.”
ManageEngine has been using AI in its security tools for years, but its role has grown as AI becomes more common in everyday business operations.
“We’ve built a platform where customers can connect with any large language model,” Kumar said. “If a company already has ChatGPT, Azure Copilot, Gemini, or Llama, they can use their own key, plug it into our system, and make sure data moves safely across all our tools.”
These AI upgrades give companies better visibility into their systems and help detect problems automatically. With more people working remotely or in hybrid setups, cyberattacks have become more frequent and complex. Hackers are now using AI to launch smarter phishing attacks and trick people more easily, even targeting AI models themselves to compromise data.
“AI also brings big benefits when used correctly,” Kumar said. “Many companies have small IT teams, so automation is key. AI helps them stay compliant, run more efficiently, and recover faster from problems.”
ManageEngine has invested in AI and machine learning (ML) since 2012–2013, originally to improve alerts, monitoring, and planning for IT capacity. Today, the company continues to develop AI models tailored for IT and security at no extra cost to customers.
The company offers different AI levels. Contextual AI builds on its existing tools. Conversational AI powers a virtual assistant called “Zia,” which can answer questions, make suggestions, and guide users. ManageEngine is also planning more advanced AI that can take actions on its own (agentic AI).
With these improvements, ManageEngine aims to help organizations in the Philippines and similar markets manage IT systems more easily, detect threats faster, and use AI responsibly to improve operations.
Kumar said AI is both a risk and a tool. The company allows customers to use their own AI models, developing strong in-house AI, and making advanced IT and cybersecurity tools easy for companies to use.