Tech Mahindra is Reskilling and Creating New Age Delivery Models: CP Gurnani

India’s IT services industry could see laggards struggle to grow as technology shifts disrupt business, but it will also see winners emerge stronger and grow faster riding on the digital wave, says CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra, while sharing his insights on the year went by  and his company’s play

Excerpts

If you reflect on FY’18, what is your overall view of the performance of the Indian ICT industry, given the social-political changes in the US and Europe and the digital disruption?

The Indian IT sector has managed to perform well in FY’18 despite the market being volatile. The services industry is witnessing fast growth in the use of cutting-edge digital technologies such as Blockchain, 5G – Telecom of the Future, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Robotics, and Internet of Things. According to NASSCOM, a 7-9 per cent growth in the IT industry is forecast in 2018-19. Such growth numbers are encouraging, especially during this technology shift in context of the global economy where people are talking about 0.5 - 3 per cent growth.

Software services exporters are also experiencing a visible change in demand since clients in the US and Europe, the largest export markets are looking for more services at lesser budgets for IT. India’s IT services industry could see laggards struggle to grow as technology shifts disrupt business, but it will also see winners emerge stronger and grow faster riding on the digital wave. Overall IT budgets are looking better for the calendar year 2018, which indicates that going forward the industry is expected to perform well with next gen digital technologies being a key driver.

Per se, Tech Mahindra, what was your FY’18 strategy and how would you place FY 18 in terms of business and financial performance?

Tech Mahindra has done exceedingly well in FY’18 despite market volatilities. Continued focus on operational metrics has led to improved performance through the year. Growth in digital areas is particularly encouraging. The overall business growth trajectory for the FY’19 is on track. We have been undergoing a journey of digital transformation over the last few quarters.

How do you see FY’19 and what are your two key priorities?

FY’19 will be a year of digital transformation and growth. Our endeavor is to clock a major part of the overall revenue from digital over time. We expect within this financial year to do about five 5G trials. We aim to build robust revenue line from Blockchain technology as well. We are reskilling, and creating new age delivery models, while digitizing our service portfolio to manage the market challenges. In 2018, we are planning to up-skill and re-skill 10,000 of our employees on automation as we expect to become more competitive in this burgeoning area.

How is emerging tech changing the entire outsourcing industry and do you see traditional verticals upping the ante by adopting newer tech?

Digital technologies are set to revolutionize how businesses function in the next few years. Automation, connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital experience and real-time data would boost the industry to achieve greater operational efficiency and open up new revenue opportunities. Traditional outsourcing in technology is changing as much as it has at any time in its history. In future, no single organization will have all the technology skills necessary to run business operations. The world is shifting towards specialization and software is not just something to outsource; you need to have capabilities in-house and you will need a collaboration model.