00:00So Mohit Joshi, CEO of Tech Mahindra, so wonderful to be sitting with you here at the World Government Summit
00:06here in Dubai.
00:07Thanks for joining us.
00:08Thank you, Sean. Lovely to be here.
00:09So I wanted to start off with AI, of course, which has very much moved into this experimental phase all
00:15the way through to execution.
00:18What are some of the biggest issues and what's the biggest impact that you're seeing within some of your clients,
00:24especially maybe in Europe as well?
00:26What's happening over there?
00:27Yes. So look, I think AI truly is a transformational technology.
00:30And like you rightly said, it's been about two plus years since with ChatGPT, the world was reintroduced to AI.
00:37AI was always there in the form of machine learning or even deep learning.
00:42But I think ChatGPT really reintroduced AI to the world in a much more spectacular fashion.
00:47I feel that over the last year, there has been much more focus on how AI can be moved from,
00:55you know, from use cases or from pilots to actual production.
00:59And that is hard.
01:00That is hard because it requires your application estate to be largely in the cloud.
01:05It requires your data estate to be ready to be able to utilize AI, requires a level of training, requires
01:12a level of ecosystem partnerships.
01:13So we are seeing a slow maturing of AI and we're talking about very large companies, right?
01:19Large global companies, typically more than $10 billion in revenues.
01:22They're still working on their plans to get AI into production environments and get the benefits of that.
01:29Over the past one year, most of the use cases have really been in the shape of how can we
01:34transform our customer experience?
01:36How do we enable contact centers to be using this technology effectively?
01:41How do we look at developer productivity and develop applications more quickly?
01:46Those have been the use cases.
01:47Going forward, I suspect more of the use cases will be much more revenue focused.
01:51You know, how do we get AI to drive greater revenue tailwind for businesses?
01:57Because I think there was a figure that I read that 95% of businesses that have implemented AI have
02:03failed.
02:04They haven't had any ROI.
02:06And I think there was a report that was done last year, in fact.
02:09What's your sort of take on that?
02:10Well, this was an MIT study that was very, very widely quoted about 95% of pilots failing.
02:16And I think without, you know, being able to appoint whether the number is spot on or not,
02:23the fact of the matter is that a number of pilots have failed because, A, there was never the use
02:29case for expanding them into production.
02:31People are much more nervous about moving things into production, right?
02:33They might be okay with doing it in a sandbox.
02:35When they move into production, they have to make sure their data quality is in place.
02:39They have to make sure their cybersecurity is in place.
02:41That guardrails are in place so that there is no issue of bias or model drift.
02:46So, we really have to address all of these things, right?
02:49And so, our own within Tech Mahindra focus is on AI delivered right, which is how do you deliver innovation?
02:54How do you deliver transformation?
02:56How do you deliver productivity?
02:57But to deliver it safely.
02:59So, I feel that what it really takes to move from a failed pilot to a successful implementation on production
03:06systems
03:06is really a lot of getting the data estate right, getting the application simplified, and putting the guardrails.
03:15The size of the prize is very significant if people get it right.
03:18But if you haven't thought about these issues, then you end up with really just a failed pilot.
03:25Additionally, I mean, as you mentioned, it's all about data quality at the end of the day as well.
03:28That's a huge element.
03:30But there's also a lot of anxiety around AI, especially when it comes to skills, and especially when it comes
03:36to trust as well.
03:37What are the biggest sort of challenges that you're witnessing at the moment?
03:40I feel that a lot of the narrative around AI, unfortunately, has been way too focused on productivity
03:46and has been way too focused on white-collar job losses, right?
03:50And candidly, you know, I was in a conference, and this person said this very eloquently,
03:54that if all we think we're going to get out of AI is a few lost jobs in the back
04:00office
04:00and a few lost jobs in the contact center, it's not worth it.
04:05The narrative around AI really has to be about how we can enable maybe, you know,
04:097 billion people on the planet to get exceptionally high-quality health care for $10 a year, right?
04:15That is an aspiration worth having.
04:18But a lot of the narrative has been around job losses.
04:20I feel that narrative is wildly overstated.
04:23I feel that for our industry, which is really at the cutting edge of AI,
04:27this will provide an important tailwind because large companies will spend much more on technology,
04:32and every single technology shift has meant job creation.
04:36I don't think it should be different.
04:38But the narrative really needs to change, right?
04:40If too much of the narrative is around white-collar job losses,
04:44I feel there will be a huge blowback against it.
04:48Because a lot of people say, you know, AI isn't going to take your job.
04:52It's people that can master AI is going to say they're going to take your job.
04:56And I suppose it's upgrading at the same time and developing those skill sets that are needed.
05:01But I wanted to talk a little bit more about Tech Mahindra.
05:04Europe is a very important market for you.
05:07Tell us a little bit more about your expansion plans and why Europe is such a target for you.
05:13Sure.
05:14So Europe is almost like a home market for us, right?
05:16Because when the company started, the company really started as Mahindra British Telecom,
05:21a joint venture between the Mahindra Group, a multi-business conglomerate in India,
05:26and British Telecom, right?
05:28So we've been present in Europe in that sense since the late 80s.
05:32And over time, we have grown to the point where now we have 17,000 people locally in Europe.
05:38And obviously, you know, several thousand more supporting that business from India,
05:42from the Philippines, from China.
05:43We've got centers everywhere.
05:45We've got a thousand-person center in Riga and all the way to Lisbon,
05:49where we have a 500-person BPS presence.
05:52So really a presence that spans the continent.
05:55It is between 25 to 30% of our revenues, Europe as a market.
06:01And we see an incredible amount of vitality, right?
06:04Especially over the past couple of years in Europe.
06:06I think the technology challenge that is there before European companies,
06:11the data sovereignty and the AI sovereignty challenge that is there before the governments
06:16will mean a huge investment in technology, which is obviously a strong positive for us.
06:22From a personal perspective, I've been living in London for the past 16 years,
06:25so personally invested as well in seeing that the region does well.
06:29So another reason to celebrate as well, of course, is this historic free trade agreement
06:35between Europe and India.
06:37That was only implemented in January this year.
06:39What is that going to do for the technology sector and that Indian market?
06:44I think it is very positive.
06:45I think it is very positive for a couple of reasons.
06:47One is I think it changes the mood music.
06:50The mood music in Europe for too long had been about sort of job losses from emerging markets.
06:57And the mood music in India was for a very long time about Europe forcing open market access.
07:03I feel that this trade agreement really shows that it can be a win-win.
07:07It will be a win-win, a strong partnership.
07:10From our perspective, I think it means that European companies can be much more confident
07:15about utilizing talent from India,
07:18about working with Indian companies.
07:20There is a very significant quota, right?
07:21Let's say 250,000 cars for export from Europe to India.
07:26There will equally be a very significant market for farm equipment,
07:30for autos, for engineering goods and services in Europe.
07:36So I do think it is truly a win-win
07:38between two regions that have very similar democratic principles,
07:44very similar sort of open society outlooks.
07:47Well, we're not in Europe today.
07:48We're here in Dubai, the UAE, the Middle East.
07:51Tell us a little bit more about this market for you as well.
07:54Well, the UAE also is a very significant market for us.
07:56The Middle East is a very significant market.
07:58We've been here for over two decades.
08:00Just in the UAE locally, we have about 1,700 people.
08:04We obviously work with governments across the region,
08:07but a very strong presence in certain sectors,
08:10for instance, telecom, real estate, retail, energy, financial services.
08:15These are important businesses for us.
08:17And our regional president for India, Middle East and Africa,
08:22Sahil, is actually based in Dubai,
08:24which reflects the centrality that the UAE has for our business across the region.
08:30We do see very significant double-digit growth in this market,
08:34really happening across sectors, right?
08:36I mean, you've been around, Sharon.
08:38Everything is booming, right?
08:39Everything is booming.
08:40The whole world seems to want to move over here.
08:43There's a huge amount of enthusiasm about growth.
08:45And equally, because you don't have so much of a legacy infrastructure,
08:49either in terms of hardware or in terms of software
08:53or even roads, ports and buildings, right?
08:56There's the opportunity to really leapfrog,
08:58which people are embracing very avidly.
09:01Well, thank you so much for your time today.
09:03And enjoy the rest of the World Government Summit.
09:06Thank you, Shah.
09:06Wonderful seeing you.
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