Kyndryl Inc. listed on New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, boasting of $19 billion in annual revenue and an addressable market opportunity of $510 billion by 2024.
“We were a sizable part of IBM in India, as global technology services, and we are starting with almost double the market share of the next player (in India). Traditionally we were looking at the market from an IBM technology lens but now we see the opportunity to partner with application system integrators and startups,” Kyndryl’s India President Lingraju Sawkar told ET.
The company is organised into six global practices: Cloud; core enterprise and zCloud; applications, data and Artificial Intelligence; digital workplace; security and resiliency; and network and edge solutions. Kyndryl starts with a 90,000-strong global employee base, including a significant headcount in India.
“India is a very significant talent and innovation base for Kyndryl. Apart from India being a significant market opportunity for which we are market leaders, there’s a significant amount of research and innovation base that happens for keeping globally from India, servicing clients across (the world),” said Sawkar, who was previously general manager of IBM Global Technology Services for India/South Asia.
The company will focus on high value areas such as security, cloud, disaster-recovery capabilities and data protection, which it says would help it derive increased turnover and higher margins.
“Whatever industrial transformation happened in the last 100 years, the next 10 years is just too little to get them done and that’s the pace at which clients want to move. The second area is within that space itself on accelerated automation,” said Sawkar. “I see the whole mix of these capabilities and the technology play as well as market visibility being the main growth driver for revenue and margin.”
Kyndryl will inherit the IBM business including customers such as Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Honda Cars, State Bank of India besides its recent win of Bangalore International Airport Ltd.
Kyndryl has an integrated global practice for customers, combining managed services, advisory services and implementation where it competes with other global IT service providers like Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro. “The addressable market we now see is close to $510 billion by 2024. This is coming from a combination of things … cloud and hyperscalers, partnerships with application service providers and working with startups,” he added.
Even for the Indian small and medium enterprises market opportunity, Kyndryl is extending partnerships with the startup ecosystem and niche application players, helping them go to market, he said.
“We would partner with organisations who can give them that capability and bring it across in a manner that is effective,” he said. Cloud migration, data grid and security are among the strong tailwinds that Kyndryl hopes to leverage in the competition for new business.
Sawkar stated that as Kyndryl, the company has moved to a flat organisation structure eliminating multiple decision points. It is also hiring extensively.
“The exciting opportunity that we can provide to a talent is multiple technologies, industries, client complexities and platforms. And the peer group of master inventors, distinguished engineers, technologists, and for all of that India is one of our biggest pieces of technology,” said Sawkar.
About 70% of Kyndryl’s talent base is in the areas of automation, cloud capabilities of analytics and digital technology. “We are a $19 billion growing startup,” he said. “I’ve had a great career in IBM and I want to make sure that at Kyndryl India I’m able to provide great career opportunities.”
