Infy’s Sikka looking beyond traditional business models

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka wants employees to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning technologies at a faster pace to make a quicker transition from the cost-arbitrage business model.

In an internal email, Sikka pointed out that certain initiatives that he had introduced since taking over at the helm in August 2014 are yet to make significant impact. “The zero-distance initiative is almost two years old and is very encouraging but often it is very small in terms of innovation delivered and is only chasing small improvements.”

Zero distance means bringing innovation in every project by everybody rather than it being confined to select employees. The note also touches upon the fact that by and large employees in Infosys and the IT industry in general do what they are instructed. Sikka has repeatedly said that employees should go beyond taking orders to proactively designing systems and bring innovation to their work.

These concerns are coming at a time when Infosys has had a lacklustre second quarter performance; additionally, the stock has more or less been flat in the ₹1,000-1,100 range in the last three months. India’s second-largest exporter is set to report its third-quarter numbers on January 13.

Sikka’s ambition is to take the company beyond the traditional body-shopping business into newer areas with the help of new technologies at a time when protectionism is rising in developed markets.

“We will not survive if we remain in the constricted space of doing what we are told, depending solely on cost arbitrage and working as reactive problem solvers. By standing still instead of moving forward decisively, we will face the brunt of these disruptive forces as our industry has already started to see,” he says.

It is here that technologies like AI can do a lot of work wherein humans along with machines can bring better value for clients all over the world, Sikka believes. Infosys had launched Mana, its AI software wherein the machine learns user behaviour by analysing data. “We must understand Mana deeply,” he said in the note adding that the technology is being used by 20 customers.

In line with taking Mana to more clients, Infosys has come up with two sets of courses. The first is a seven-day course weaving in real-world examples to experience machine learning; the second one enables employees to opt for the two-day exploratory training on machine learning.

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