AI Governance for Multi-Cloud Data Compliance: A Comparative Analysis of India and the USA

Abstract

Multinational companies that manage data across jurisdictional boundaries are having trouble integrating artificial intelligence systems with multi-cloud architectures. This is especially true since over 90% of businesses use multiple cloud providers and deal with complicated AI governance frameworks. This paper examines how well AI governance frameworks in India and the US deal with multi-cloud data residency compliance issues through a systematic literature evaluation based on PRISMA standards and thematic analysis of 26 publications, including academic articles, government policy papers, and industry reports published between 2020 and 2025. The study points out significant cross-border regulatory coordination problems and examines whether existing bilateral strategies need more ways to work together. The thematic analysis identified trends in regulatory frameworks and compliance problems, revealing "regulatory incommensurability" as a central theme—meaning that following one jurisdiction's rules goes against the basic ideas behind another's procedures. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act in India has a permission-by-default approach, which is very different from the USA's restriction-by-default approach. This leads to impossible compliance situations instead of coordination problems. Organizations face systemic inefficiencies because of duplicate infrastructure and multiple governance systems that do not provide the same level of AI safety or data security. For example, 35% of data breaches include "shadow data" not covered by existing frameworks. The results show that traditional working methods cannot settle significant disagreements between AI governance frameworks. This means that new theoretical approaches are needed that acknowledge valid regulatory differences while making it easier for multinational companies to use AI systems in both jurisdictions.

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Yashvardhan Rathi. (2025). AI Governance for Multi-Cloud Data Compliance: A Comparative Analysis of India and the USA. The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research, 7(8), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.37547/tajiir/Volume07Issue08-03
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Abstract

Multinational companies that manage data across jurisdictional boundaries are having trouble integrating artificial intelligence systems with multi-cloud architectures. This is especially true since over 90% of businesses use multiple cloud providers and deal with complicated AI governance frameworks. This paper examines how well AI governance frameworks in India and the US deal with multi-cloud data residency compliance issues through a systematic literature evaluation based on PRISMA standards and thematic analysis of 26 publications, including academic articles, government policy papers, and industry reports published between 2020 and 2025. The study points out significant cross-border regulatory coordination problems and examines whether existing bilateral strategies need more ways to work together. The thematic analysis identified trends in regulatory frameworks and compliance problems, revealing "regulatory incommensurability" as a central theme—meaning that following one jurisdiction's rules goes against the basic ideas behind another's procedures. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act in India has a permission-by-default approach, which is very different from the USA's restriction-by-default approach. This leads to impossible compliance situations instead of coordination problems. Organizations face systemic inefficiencies because of duplicate infrastructure and multiple governance systems that do not provide the same level of AI safety or data security. For example, 35% of data breaches include "shadow data" not covered by existing frameworks. The results show that traditional working methods cannot settle significant disagreements between AI governance frameworks. This means that new theoretical approaches are needed that acknowledge valid regulatory differences while making it easier for multinational companies to use AI systems in both jurisdictions.


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The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research

32

https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajiir

Type

Original Research

PAGE NO.

32-42

DOI

10.37547/tajiir/Volume07Issue08-03


OPEN ACCESS

SUBMITED

17 July 2025

ACCEPTED

24 July 2025

PUBLISHED

06 August 2025

VOLUME

Vol.07 Issue 08 2025

CITATION

Yashvardhan Rathi. (2025). AI Governance for Multi-Cloud Data Compliance:
A Comparative Analysis of India and the USA. The American Journal of
Interdisciplinary

Innovations

and

Research,

7(8),

32

42.

https://doi.org/10.37547/tajiir/Volume07Issue08-03

COPYRIGHT

© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.

Investi
AI Governance for Multi-
Cloud Data Compliance: A
Comparative Analysis of
India and the USA

Yashvardhan Rathi

Truist Financial Services, USA

Abstract

- Multinational companies that manage data

across jurisdictional boundaries are having trouble
integrating artificial intelligence systems with multi-
cloud architectures. This is especially true since over
90% of businesses use multiple cloud providers and deal
with complicated AI governance frameworks. This paper
examines how well AI governance frameworks in India
and the US deal with multi-cloud data residency
compliance issues through a systematic literature
evaluation based on PRISMA standards and thematic
analysis of 26 publications, including academic articles,
government policy papers, and industry reports
published between 2020 and 2025. The study points out
significant

cross-border

regulatory

coordination

problems and examines whether existing bilateral
strategies need more ways to work together. The
thematic analysis identified trends in regulatory
frameworks and compliance problems, revealing
"regulatory incommensurability" as a central theme

meaning that following one jurisdiction's rules goes
against the basic ideas behind another's procedures. The
Digital Personal Data Protection Act in India has a
permission-by-default approach, which is very different
from the USA's restriction-by-default approach. This
leads to impossible compliance situations instead of
coordination problems. Organizations face systemic
inefficiencies because of duplicate infrastructure and
multiple governance systems that do not provide the
same level of AI safety or data security. For example,
35% of data breaches include "shadow data" not
covered by existing frameworks. The results show that
traditional working methods cannot settle significant
disagreements between AI governance frameworks.


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This means that new theoretical approaches are needed
that acknowledge valid regulatory differences while
making it easier for multinational companies to use AI
systems in both jurisdictions.

Keywords:

AI Governance, Data Sovereignty, Multi-

Cloud Compliance, Digital Personal Data Protection Act
(DPDPA)

,NIST AI RMF, India-USA Regulatory

Comparison, Regulatory incommensurability

1.

Introduction

Using AI systems and multiple cloud architectures has
completely changed how multinational businesses send
and receive data across borders. Things have become
more difficult in the middle of technological growth and
following the rules. Over 90% of companies now use
more than one cloud provider. It is becoming even more
important for governments worldwide to set up AI
oversight systems and comprehensive data security
rules (Tata Communications, 2024) for multi-cloud data
residency.

Two significant places have different rules about how to
handle these new tools. This shows how hard it is to
follow the rules when not in the same place. Two
important laws that affect how companies handle AI
systems and data across borders are India's Digital
Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) of 2023 and the
US's new AI governance framework based on the NIST AI
Risk Management Framework (Bahl et al., 2024; Cloud
Security Alliance, 2021). India and the US are working
together more on technology while these changes to the
rules are happening. This makes it even more important
for companies from different countries to work together
on their rules.

However, the current AI governance frameworks make
it hard for companies that use multi-cloud architectures
in different countries to follow the rules and run their
businesses, even with these unified policy efforts.
International companies have different breach notice
rules based on where the data is stored, where the
company is based, and where the client lives (Mathew,
2024). A study shows that these companies have
"overlapping notification duties." It is hard for
companies that do business between India and the US
to be sure of anything because AI control methods
differ. 31% of data leaders say that cross-cloud security
boundaries are a big worry regarding applications (Atlan,
2023).

This is made worse by problems with technology. This

practical complexity shows that there is even less
written on this subject. Many studies have been done on
the rules for AI governance in different countries and on
cloud compliance rules in general. However, we still do
not fully understand how AI governance works with
multi-cloud data residency compliance when it goes
both ways (Roberts et al., 2024). It is essential to fill this
study gap because the current ways of governing AI and
ensuring that cloud data is safe are not enough to handle
the complicated issues businesses face when doing
business in multiple places.

This study looks at how AI governance frameworks in
India and the US handle the issue of multi-cloud data
residency compliance. It also finds specific gaps or
conflicts in cross-border regulatory coordination. It
decides if new ways are needed to ensure that
companies that run AI systems in both countries follow
the same rules. The results come at a good time because
international efforts are still being made to make clear
rules for AI control. It helps with academic research and
policy-making, where good governance is needed to
keep an eye on the rules and encourage international
cooperation in technology.

2.

Literature Review

2.1.

Fragmented

National

AI

Governance

Approaches

The academic literature reveals significant concern
about the fragmented nature of global AI governance
and its implications for cross-border operations.
Research demonstrates that "the centrality of AI to
interstate competition, dysfunctional international
institutions, and disagreement over policy priorities
problematizes substantive cooperation" in global AI
governance (Shulan & Mengting, 2024). This
fragmentation is particularly evident in comparative
studies highlighting contrasting regulatory approaches

across key regions (Alibašić, 2025).

The India-USA divergence represents more than policy
variation

it reflects fundamentally contradictory

philosophical approaches to AI governance that create
irreconcilable compliance conflicts for multinational
organizations. India's regulatory philosophy emphasizes
pragmatic adaptation, with policymakers arguing that
"existing laws can address many of the anticipated risks
of AI, and a gap analysis is required to identify areas
where new rules are required" (Mohanty & Sahu, 2024;
Joshi, 2024). This "light touch approach" contradicts


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emerging US approaches that increasingly favor
prescriptive, risk-categorized frameworks.

The most significant contradiction emerges in
approaches to AI system accountability and liability.
While India's framework emphasizes organizational self-
assessment and compliance through existing legal
structures, the US approaches seek to impose specific
"duty of care" requirements on AI developers with
mandatory safety protocols (CCPA, 2024; Electronics &
Information Technology, 2023). This fundamental
disagreement over whether AI governance should be
adaptive and organization-led versus prescriptive and
government-mandated

creates

"compliance

impossibility" scenarios for organizations operating
across both jurisdictions.

2.1.1.

Synthesis Implication

This philosophical contradiction suggests that bilateral
harmonization efforts focusing on technical standards
will be insufficient. Instead, successful India-USA AI
governance coordination requires addressing the
underlying disagreement about the appropriate roles of
government and industry in AI oversight.

2.2.

Multi-Cloud Data Governance Complexity

The literature extensively documents challenges
organizations face when implementing data governance
across multiple cloud environments, revealing the
inadequacy of current theoretical frameworks. Research
demonstrates that "given its intrinsic distributed nature,
regulations and laws may differ and customers and
cloud providers must find a way to balance increasing
compliance pressures with cloud computing benefits"
(Brandis et al., 2019; Al-Ruithe et al., 2019).

Tata

Consultancy

Services'

"Distributed

Data

Management Solution" exemplifies these issues. It was
designed to address the challenges of cross-border
compliance, stating that "there is no unified framework
for cross-border data flow," which "complicates the
implementation and enforcement of data privacy
policies" (TCS, 2024). IBM's 2024 Cost of a Data Breach
Report indicates that organizations facing compliance
challenges across borders incur an average expenditure
of $4.9 million on data breaches. 35% of breaches
pertain to "shadow data," defined as material not
encompassed by existing governance systems (IBM,
2024).

The technical issues extend beyond merely increasing
the workload; they also influence fundamental

architectural decisions. Cloud providers possess varying
compliance architectures not because of necessity, but
due to the prevailing ambiguity surrounding the
transnational movement of AI training data. 31% of data
executives identify data retention within its designated
cloud as a primary implementation challenge (Atlan,
2023).

2.2.1.

Synthesis Implication

The proliferation of jurisdiction-specific compliance
infrastructures represents systematic inefficiency in
global AI governance that undermines innovation and
security, suggesting that current approaches prioritize
regulatory sovereignty over effective governance
outcomes.

2.3.

Data Residency and Cross-Border Transfer
Divergence

The literature reveals stark differences in how India and
the United States approach cross-border data transfers,
exposing

fundamental

contradictions

in

their

conceptualization of data sovereignty. India's DPDPA
"adopts a blacklisting approach that enables cross-
border transfer of personal data from India without any
hurdles, unless the transfer is proposed to be made to a
territory or country that is 'blacklisted'" (Securiti, 2024).
This permissive framework operates on the principle
that data flows should be unrestricted unless explicitly
prohibited.

In direct contradiction, US approaches emphasize
restrictive, sector-specific controls, assuming data
transfers require explicit authorization rather than
general permission. FISMA requirements create a
presumption against cross-border data flows unless
specifically authorized (CISA, 2024). This fundamental
disagreement

permission-by-default

versus

restriction-by-default

creates

"regulatory

incommensurability" where compliance with one
framework structurally violates assumptions underlying
the other.

Recent analysis reveals that regulatory ambiguity
compounds these contradictions, as "the Act and Rules
are also silent on the implementation of any regulation
for 'Binding Corporate Rules'" and "lack specific details
on mechanisms for such assessments" (Lexology, 2025).

2.3.1.

Synthesis Implication

The contradiction between permission and restriction
illustrates conflicting theories of digital sovereignty,


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which cannot be resolved through technical means. This
necessitates new approaches to bilateral AI governance
that address the fundamental philosophical differences
regarding data flows and national sovereignty (Batool et
al., 2025).

2.4.

Research Gaps and Limitations

Current research fails to adequately address
fundamental incompatibilities between India and the
USA's approaches to AI governance and multi-cloud
compliance. Instead, regulatory differences are treated
as technical coordination challenges rather than
structural

conflicts

requiring

new

theoretical

frameworks. The literature's focus on technical
coordination solutions fails to address underlying
philosophical

contradictions

about

government

oversight roles, data sovereignty presumptions, and
fundamental approaches to AI risk management.

2.4.1.

Gap Statement

While existing studies focus on individual national AI
governance frameworks and general cross-border data
transfer challenges, they fail to address fundamental
regulatory incommensurabilities between India's
permission-by-default and the USA's restriction-by-
default approaches to cross-border AI data governance,
perpetuating policy solutions that address symptoms of
regulatory fragmentation while ignoring structural
causes

that

make

traditional

harmonization

mechanisms insufficient.

3.

Methodology

This study employs a secondary qualitative comparative
document analysis design utilizing systematic literature
review methodology following PRISMA guidelines to
ensure comprehensive and transparent document
selection and analysis. Document analysis is particularly
valid for this research as AI governance frameworks and
multi-cloud compliance requirements are primarily
codified in formal policy documents, regulatory texts,
and scholarly analyses representing authoritative
sources of regulatory intent and implementation
guidance.

A comprehensive search strategy was employed across
multiple databases, including Google Scholar, IEEE
Xplore, PubMed, and Web of Science, complemented by
government repositories and industry sources.
Following PRISMA guidelines, the systematic review
process began with 227 initial search results. After
removing 28 duplicates, 199 unique documents
underwent screening, excluding 164 documents outside
the 2020-2025 timeframe or lacking relevance to AI
governance or India-USA contexts. This yielded 35 full-
text articles for detailed review, of which 23 were
subsequently excluded due to insufficient detail on
regulatory frameworks or inadequate bilateral
relevance. The final corpus comprised 26 documents,
including 12 academic papers from peer-reviewed
journals, 3 government policy documents covering
India's DPDPA and USA frameworks, and 11 industry
reports from recognized organizations published
between 2020 and 2025 (Figure 1).


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Figure 1 - PRISMA Analysis of Documents

Documents were analyzed using thematic analysis
following Braun and Clarke (2006), focusing on
identifying convergences and divergences between
India and the USA approaches, compliance challenges
faced by multinational organizations, and harmonization
opportunities. The analysis employed a structured
coding approach that examined six primary thematic
categories: regulatory philosophy and approach
(encompassing governance philosophy, risk assessment
models, and accountability mechanisms), cross-border
data

transfer

frameworks

(including

transfer

permissions, data residency requirements, and
blacklisting versus whitelisting approaches), multi-cloud
compliance

challenges

(covering

technical

implementation barriers, operational complexity, and
shadow data issues), bilateral coordination mechanisms
(examining

existing

frameworks,

harmonization

opportunities, and structural conflicts), industry impact
assessment (analyzing compliance costs, innovation
effects, and competitive disadvantages), and regulatory
incommensurability

(identifying

philosophical

contradictions, implementation impossibilities, and

sovereignty conflicts). This coding framework enabled
systematic identification of text segments related to
each category, followed by iterative refinement to
capture emerging themes and sub-patterns within the
established analytical structure.

Quality assurance measures included systematic

documentation,

standardized

data

extraction

templates, and cross-referencing findings across
multiple document types to enhance validity through
triangulation.

The

methodology

acknowledges

limitations inherent in relying on secondary documents,
including gaps in understanding informal coordination
mechanisms

and

rapidly

evolving

regulatory

frameworks. Ethical considerations are minimal given
exclusive reliance on publicly available documents
without human participants or confidential information.

4.

Results

The systematic analysis of 26 documents revealed
significant regulatory divergences and operational
challenges in India-USA AI governance coordination,
organized around three primary themes: regulatory


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framework incompatibilities, multi-cloud compliance
complexities, and bilateral coordination gaps.

4.1.

Regulatory Framework Incompatibilities

The analysis revealed systematic contradictions

between India's DPDPA and the USA's AI governance
frameworks,

creating

irreconcilable

compliance

scenarios. Table 1 presents a comparative analysis of key
regulatory dimensions.

Table 1: Comparative Analysis of India DPDPA vs USA AI Governance Frameworks

Regulatory Dimension

India DPDPA 2023

USA Framework (NIST AI RMF

+ FISMA)

Data Transfer Approach

Permission-by-default

(blacklisting)

Restriction-by-default

(authorization required)

AI Oversight Philosophy

Self-assessment, gap analysis

Prescriptive risk

categorization

Compliance Mechanism

Organizational adaptation to

existing laws

Mandatory technical

safeguards

Enforcement Model

Reactive, penalty-based

Proactive, prevention-based

Cross-border Coordination

Bilateral blacklisting

agreements

Sector-specific authorization

Implementation Timeline

Phased rollout 2023-2025

Variable by sector and state

Penalty Structure

Up to ₹500 crore ($60M)

Varies by sector, loss of

federal contracts

Data Residency

Requirements

Permissive unless blacklisted

Restrictive for

government/critical sectors

Sources: Bahl et al. (2024), CISA (2024), Securiti (2024),

Electronics & Information Technology (2023)

The documentary evidence revealed that these
differences represent competing paradigms rather than
implementation variations. India's framework assumes
existing laws can address AI risks through gap analysis,
while the US approaches favor prescriptive, risk-
categorized frameworks with mandatory technical
implementations (Kohler, 2025).

4.2.

Multi-Cloud Compliance Operational

Challenges

The analysis identified systematic inefficiencies in
organizational responses to regulatory divergence, with
evidence of substantial infrastructure duplication and
administrative overhead. Figure 2 illustrates the
compliance challenge categories identified across
industry documentation.


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Figure 2 – Multi-cloud AI compliance challenges

Source: Synthesized from Atlan (2024), Matthew (2024), Tata Communications (2024)

Industry documentation revealed specific examples of
operational inefficiencies, including TCS's development
of distributed data management solutions specifically
addressing the reality that "there is no common
framework for cross-border data flow" (TCS, 2024).

IBM's analysis found 35% of breaches involve "shadow
data" existing outside formal governance frameworks,
with organizations facing average breach costs of $4.9
million, challenges particularly acute for multi-
jurisdictional AI deployments (IBM, 2024). The Cloud
Security Alliance documented that organizations face

pressure to implement "adaptable, modular compliance
strategies," yet 31% of data leaders cited securing cross-
cloud data boundaries as major implementation
concerns (Cloud Security Alliance, 2025).

4.3.

Bilateral Coordination Gaps

The analysis revealed systematic gaps in existing
bilateral coordination mechanisms, with evidence that
current harmonization efforts address technical
coordination rather than paradigmatic conflicts. Table 2
summarizes identified coordination gaps.

Table 2: Bilateral Coordination Gaps in India-USA AI Governance

Coordination Aspect

Current Status

Identified Gap

Operational Impact

Policy Alignment Forums

Ad hoc summits

No permanent mechanism

Reactive coordination

Technical Standards

Industry-led initiatives

No government endorsement

Limited enforcement

Data Transfer

Agreements

Sectoral

arrangements

No comprehensive

framework

Case-by-case

negotiations

Mutual Recognition

Limited pilots

No systematic process

Duplicated certification

Dispute Resolution

Traditional channels

No specialized mechanism

Lengthy timelines

Sources: Stimson Center (2025), ITU (2024), Mohanty & Sahu, 2024)

Literature analysis revealed that emerging bilateral
cooperation efforts remain limited in scope and
enforceability. The Cloud Security Alliance noted
emerging India-US technology collaborations focus on
harmonizing AI standards, but these initiatives lack
binding commitments or systematic implementation
mechanisms (Cloud Security Alliance, 2025).

4.4.

Regulatory

Incommensurability

and

Implementation Barriers

The

synthesis

revealed

"regulatory

incommensurability"

situations where compliance

with one jurisdiction's framework structurally violates
foundational assumptions of another's approach. Cross-
border compliance represents a "significant challenge


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for organizations operating globally," requiring
"comprehensive risk assessment" and "localization of
compliance programs" (TrustCloud, 2024). However,
evidence suggests such localization approaches
institutionalize regulatory fragmentation by creating
parallel governance systems that cannot achieve unified
risk management objectives.

The analysis found that traditional harmonization
mechanisms

prove

insufficient

for

addressing

philosophical

contradictions

about

appropriate

government

oversight

roles,

data

sovereignty

presumptions, and fundamental approaches to AI risk
management (Walter, 2024). Organizations have
developed automated systems to "identify regulatory
obligations and map legal requirements to risk
governance frameworks," but these technical solutions
cannot resolve underlying paradigmatic conflicts (IBM,
2025).

5.

Discussion

5.1.

Fundamental Regulatory Incommensurability

The results show that the AI governance frameworks in
India and the US are based on fundamentally different
philosophical ideas. This leads to "regulatory
incommensurability," which means that following one
jurisdiction's framework would structurally violate the
fundamental assumptions that underlie the other
jurisdiction's approach. This means global companies
must deal with impossible compliance situations instead
of complicated coordinating problems.

The obligations for notifying people about data
breaches are a clear example. India's DPDPA emphasizes
that organizations do their assessments and notify
people of harm. In contrast, new US approaches require
organizations to have specific technical safeguards and
set timetables, believing organizations cannot self-
govern. When multinational AI systems have security
problems in both countries, companies cannot
simultaneously follow India's harm-based self-
assessment and the US's prescriptive mandatory
reporting rules. This is because the two sets of rules
make different assumptions about how well
organizations can do their jobs and how much
government oversight they should have.

These conclusions differ from what other research has
said about regulatory discrepancies being coordination

problems that need technical harmonization. Our
research shows that these kinds of technical fixes cannot
solve deeper philosophical problems like how to balance
encouraging innovation with keeping people safe, or
giving organizations freedom while the government
controls them.

5.2.

Systemic

Inefficiencies

in

Multi-Cloud

Compliance

The findings indicate that organizational responses to
regulatory divergence create systematic inefficiencies
that undermine innovation and security objectives
rather than enhance protection or performance. This
suggests that current approaches create deadweight
losses

resources consumed in regulatory navigation

that produce no corresponding benefit in AI safety, data
protection, or operational efficiency.

The fact that big IT companies need to duplicate their
systems shows how inefficient this is. It is not that
companies keep their AI model training environments
and data governance systems separate for different
reasons, like different technology security needs. The
rules for data sovereignty and AI supervision do not
work well together. Investors are not making these
purchases because of real technical or security needs;
they are doing so because regulations are getting messy.

By showing that goals of regulatory sovereignty might
not always lead to good government, these new ideas
could change how policies are made in the future.
Policymakers might want to consider whether having
different national ways is good for the country or makes
it harder to develop new ideas and keep people safe.

5.3.

Limitations of Traditional Bilateral Cooperation

The results show that the current ways of working
together on two sides are not good enough to settle
profound

differences

between

AI

governance

frameworks because they only focus on making the
systems work together technically and not on ensuring
they agree on what is right. Traditional diplomatic
methods like mutual recognition deals and technical
working groups cannot fix problems built into the
system.

India and the US are working together on the idea that
different rules about AI are just different ways of doing
things, not deep disagreements about what the
government should do to control AI. There is a big


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difference between India's "permission-by-default"
policy and the US's "restriction-by-default" framework.
The two are based on different ideas about how new
technology affects national security.

They show that countries need to settle philosophical
differences about digital sovereignty, risk tolerance, and
the right amount of government control before they can
try to make technical changes. This could change how
countries work together in the future.

5.4.

Study Limitations

The study is limited by reliance on publicly available
documents, which may not capture the full complexity
of informal coordination mechanisms or internal
organizational decision-making processes. The rapidly
evolving nature of AI governance frameworks means
regulatory developments may outpace the publication
of analytical documents. The India-USA bilateral focus
may limit generalizability to other jurisdictional pairs
with different philosophical approaches to technology
governance.

5.4.1.

Future Research Directions

Future studies should examine the lived experiences of
compliance professionals through cross-jurisdictional
surveys to understand how theoretical regulatory
conflicts translate into practical decision-making
challenges. Research should investigate compliance
simulation studies modeling operational impacts of
different harmonization scenarios. Longitudinal studies
tracking organizational responses to regulatory changes
would provide insights into adaptation strategies.
Comparative analysis extending beyond India-USA
contexts

could

test

whether

regulatory

incommensurability applies to other jurisdictional pairs.

6.

Conclusion

This study examined how AI governance frameworks in
India and the US deal with problems with data residency
compliance in multiple clouds. It did this by looking at
the specific gaps and conflicts in cross-border regulatory
coordination that make it hard for multinational
companies to use AI systems in both countries. The
research aimed to determine if the current bilateral
approaches need new ways to make things more
consistent or standard practices for good AI governance
across borders. The study found a basic idea of
"regulatory incommensurability," which means that

following one jurisdiction's rules would structurally
break the basic assumptions of another's approach.
India's permission-by-default philosophy in the DPDPA is
the opposite of the USA's restriction-by-default
approach. This makes it impossible to follow the rules,
which makes coordination more difficult. This difference
in philosophy goes beyond how data is transferred to
include fundamental disagreements about the right
amount of government oversight, the right amount of
freedom for organizations to develop AI, and the right
balance

between

encouraging

innovation

and

preventing risk. The proof shows that multinational
companies have systematic inefficiencies and spend
much money managing regulatory differences by
duplicating infrastructure and setting up parallel
governance systems that do not make AI safer or better
protect data.

These results have important consequences for many
people trying to figure out how to deal with the changing
AI governance landscape. The study shows that cloud
providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud
must quickly redesign their architectural approaches to
deal with regulatory conflicts that are too big to be
solved with one-size-fits-all compliance solutions. Data
Protection Officers and compliance teams in
multinational companies should know that the current
ways of coordinating between two countries are not
enough to deal with the underlying philosophical
differences. This means that adaptive governance
frameworks need to be created that can handle
contradictory regulatory assumptions at the same time.
When technology startups try to grow their businesses
in India and the US, they face many problems because
they do not have the same resources as bigger
companies to keep up with two compliance rules. This
shows that they need new business models and
compliance strategies that consider that regulations are
not always compatible from the start, instead of trying
to fix things later.

The bigger picture includes the structure of global AI
governance itself. The study suggests that the current
path toward fragmented national AI governance
frameworks creates compliance burdens that are too
high to be sustainable and may ultimately hurt the
safety and innovation goals these frameworks are
meant to achieve. Both sets of policymakers should
consider whether keeping different philosophical


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The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research

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The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research

approaches to AI governance is in the best interests of
their countries or makes it harder to manage risks
effectively. The study shows that to make bilateral AI
governance work, we need new theoretical frameworks
for dealing with paradigm conflicts that consider the fact
that different countries have different ways of doing
things, making it easier for multinational companies to
do business.


Future research should focus on empirical studies that
look at the real-life experiences of compliance
professionals through surveys and interviews across
jurisdictions. This will help us understand how
theoretical regulatory conflicts turn into real-life
decision-making problems. Compliance simulation
studies that model the effects of different
harmonization scenarios on operations could see if
proposed bilateral cooperation mechanisms would
lower compliance costs or move them around. Also, a
comparative study examining more than just the India-
USA relationship could show whether regulatory
incommensurability is a common problem in global
technology governance or just something in this one
relationship. As both jurisdictions continue to improve
their AI governance methods, long-term studies
examining how organizations adapt will be important for
making future policies that balance regulatory
sovereignty and operational effectiveness in an AI
ecosystem that is becoming more connected worldwide.

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References

Alibašić, H. (2025). Harmonizing artificial intelligence (AI) governance: A comparative analysis of Singapore and France's AI policies and the influence of international organizations. Global Public Policy and Governance, 1-21.

Al-Ruithe, M., Benkhelifa, E., & Hameed, K. (2019). A systematic literature review of data governance and cloud data governance. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 23, 839-859.

Atlan. (2023, December 23). Multi-cloud data governance: Five rules for success. https://atlan.com/know/data-governance/multi-cloud-data-governance/

Bahl, R., Bagai, R., & Sumi, K. (2024, March 13). India: Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 part three – data transfers. AZB Partners. https://www.azbpartners.com/bank/india-digital-personal-data-protection-act-2023-part-three-data-transfers/

Batool, A., Zowghi, D., & Bano, M. (2025). AI governance: a systematic literature review. AI and Ethics, 1-15.

Brandis, K., Dzombeta, S., Colomo-Palacios, R., & Stantchev, V. (2019). Governance, risk, and compliance in cloud scenarios. Applied Sciences, 9(2), 320.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

CCPA. (2024). California Consumer Privacy Act. https://www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa

CISA. (2024). Federal Information Security Modernization Act. https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/federal-information-security-modernization-act

Cloud Security Alliance. (2025, April 22). AI and privacy: Shifting from 2024 to 2025. https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/blog/2025/04/22/ai-and-privacy-2024-to-2025-embracing-the-future-of-global-legal-developments

Electronics and Information Technology. (2023). Digital Personal Data Protection Act. https://www.dpdpa.in/

IBM. (2024). Cost of a data breach report 2024. IBM Security. https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach

IBM. (2025). IBM WatsonX Platform: Compliance obligations to controls mapping. https://www.ibm.com/products/blog/ibm-watsonx-platform-compliance-obligations-to-controls-mapping

ITU. (2024). Key findings on the state of global AI governance. https://www.itu.int/hub/2024/07/key-findings-on-the-state-of-global-ai-governance/

Joshi, D. (2024). AI governance in India – law, policy and political economy. Communication Research and Practice, 10(3), 328-339.

Kohler, S. (2025). Technology federalism: US states at the vanguard of AI governance. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Lexology. (2025, January 21). Cross border data transfers under India's proposed data protection regime. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d5715e1d-4b25-40b2-a817-38966662c69f

Mathew, A. (2024). Cloud data sovereignty governance and risk implications of cross-border cloud storage. Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Mohanty, A., & Sahu, S. (2024). India's advance on AI regulation. Carnegie India.

Roberts, H., Hine, E., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2024). Global AI governance: barriers and pathways forward. International Affairs, 100(3), 1275-1286.

Securiti. (2024, October 29). Cross-border data transfer requirements under India DPDPA. https://securiti.ai/cross-border-data-transfer-requirements-under-india-dpdpa/

Shulan, Y., & Mengting, L. (2024). Global AI governance: Progress, challenges, and prospects. China International Studies, 109, 48.

Stimson Center. (2025). Shaping inclusive AI governance – Reflections on Paris and opportunities for the India AI Summit. https://www.stimson.org/2025/shaping-inclusive-ai-governance-reflections-on-paris-and-opportunities-for-the-india-ai-summit/

Tata Communications. (2024). 7 best practices for multi-cloud governance & compliance. https://www.tatacommunications.com/knowledge-base/best-practices-for-multi-cloud-governance-and-compliance/

TCS. (2024). Data privacy management: Distributed data management solution. TCS White Paper.

TrustCloud. (2024). Cross-border compliance: Navigating globalization challenges in 2024. https://community.trustcloud.ai/article/cross-border-compliance-navigating-globalization-challenges-in-2024/

Walter, Y. (2024). Managing the race to the moon: Global policy and governance in artificial intelligence regulation—A contemporary overview and an analysis of socioeconomic consequences. Discover Artificial Intelligence, 4(1), 14.