Big Apple Beckons Once Again

If February is about Mumbai then end-May is New York when we station ourselves (30th May, this year) to engage in a two-way conversation with global leaders, at the NASSCOM C – Summit (3rd edition). Having hosted the NTLF earlier, a stronger sense of direction prevails as we delve deeper into disruptive tech trends, leadership opportunities (including challenges) and tectonic shifts that are likely to come by in the next 12 – 18 months. The US is our largest market and has been so for the last three decades. And it really can’t get any bigger than NY. In an earlier era marked by linear growth, business models and customer relationships panned out in a certain manner. Today, in times of non-linear growth driven by an avalanche of tech advancement, it is necessary that we look towards building partnerships in an altogether different light or risk being swamped.

Data explosion has its impact everywhere. Voice, non-voice, image, text, video and a click (even its absence) are all examples of data. With 7.3 billion humans on this planet and at least 60% of them having access to the internet and telecommunications, it comes as no surprise then, the volume of unstructured data is doubling every two years. Either we use it to our advantage or we can misuse it. Both ways, the consequences will be extreme. Technologies such as Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning have proved to be almost miraculous as they help us cull out deep customer insights which was not possible earlier. Precisely, that’s what is re-defining competitive advantage.

Technologies which are famously housed under the deep tech cohort, need two things in common – massive amounts of data and incredible computing power that can keep pace. Moore’s Law has ensured the latter. Back in 1965, only 64 transistors could fit inside the world’s most complex computer chip. Did you know, today that number is 10 billion? From sixty-four to ten billion in little over half-a-century, the mind overwhelms when we re-imagine what the next fifty years will look like. We have data, we have immense processing power and we have huge storage capacity as well – cloud has ensured that. Every industry today is being disrupted – albeit in varying degrees – and while doing so, new revenue streams are getting created as well.  

The Indian IT companies have spread their wings far and wide – 760 offshore destinations in 80-odd countries have seen them working with 75% of Fortune 500 companies in their digital transformational journeys, resulting in tremendous amount of value-add, shared learning and best practices. Currently, there are 8100 companies – out of 20k - offering digital solutions and the overall revenue in digital is growing at a high 22%. They have contributed to global clients by offering overall organizational strategy, solutions, capabilities and streamlining the latter’s go-to-market strategies. 

It is estimated this year, the NASSCOM C Summit in New York will witness a participation of nearly 300 people - an august company of global leaders, policy makers, social media influencers and end clients. Overall, there are four broad themes: Innovation, Culture, Emerging Challenges and Emerging Business Models. Under these individual canopies, we will look at enterprises, including their changing behavior, in great detail. An experience-led economy which is characterized by breakthrough innovation, has a very high component of collaboration built in. The value chain is rather complex and calls for very high level of niche skills at various points. Working in silos will soon be passé. It isn’t only about companies but nations as well, which will be required to work collaboratively to drive value. Arguably, co-creation is our best bet for a sustainable future. This is a powerful idea but in times when entities are caught up in the talent war, we have to keep on reinforcing it.

The Indian tech startup ecosystem is a robust one. With a size of 7200-odd companies and another ~1200 being added every year, they bring in a very high degree of capabilities in deep tech. Large and mid-sized companies have been exploring the partnership route with them to develop solutions for their end clients. It’s a two-way street – large companies get access to cutting-edge technology and startups, market access.

Indian IT employs about 4 million people of which 0.6 million are trained in emerging technology. This, by far, is the world’s largest pool of digital talent. We need in excess of 1.5 – 2 million digitally trained people in the next 3 – 4 years which will enable us to emerge as the global talent hub in digital technologies. A global audience presents an opportunity to explore how mobile talent can spread its wings across the globe to create value. It is quite possible that some leading nations may face a talent crunch and would require to fall back on collaboration, co-creation and the gig economy. Global summits like this one, may just prove to be an invaluable conduit.

For several decades, Indian IT has been a trusted partner and it continues to be so as it reinvents in the new wave. Primarily, there are six digital technologies which are driving growth – Intelligent Automation (one of the highest adoption rates, globally), Robotics, Cloud, IoT, Immersive Media & Blockchain. On all significant parameters like innovation, competitiveness, entrepreneurship and Talent, Indian IT has been north-bound on a steep gradient. During the period 2015 – 18, more than 4300 patents were filed by the Indian companies in the US – that should tell you something!

I hope to see you in New York later this month. In the meantime, you may like to access more details about the summit and what we have in store for you - https://www.nasscom.in/csummit/

See you there!