There was a big gap between what we do and how we look: Srinivas Kandula

We are also looking to hire more talents in India with niche skills in digital area such as pega, hybris, blockchain, data science, he added

By 2018, every employee in India will be touched by one or more training programmes in emerging digital skills, Srinivas Kandula tells Sangeeta Tanwar
 
Indian IT is now big on reskilling. What is Capgemini’s approach to reskilling?
 
Capgemini in India is today a 100,000-people organisation and is the delivery backbone of the group. As we grow in India, it is important for us to identify and train young potential leaders for the future. We are investing heavily in re-skilling our current workforce with new and emerging technologies for building a future ready organisation. Last year over 50,000 employees underwent upskilling and in 2017, we have trained over 60,000 employees in India so far. We believe that by 2018, every employee in India will be touched by one or more training programmes in emerging digital skills.

 

We are also looking to hire more talents in India with niche skills in digital area such as pega, hybris, blockchain, data science, etc.
 
You have identified digital, cloud and automation as the key investment areas. What are the major solutions and products that you are working on in these areas?
 
Capgemini has the assets to continue on a successful path among industry leaders: a rich portfolio of innovative offerings in which it continues to invest, sector expertise, and leading global production capabilities will help us grow further.
 
We have progressed well in 2017 and have strengthened our cloud and digital offers, combining the strength of our various businesses, our ecosystem of partners, and our areas of expertise. In addition to significant investments in building capabilities in the focus areas, several key acquisitions in 2016 and 2017 have helped in realising our business goals. These include the acquisition of leading innovation consulting capabilities firm Fahrenheit 212 in 2016 followed by Idean, a global strategy and design firm, and Itelios, an e-commerce company, and Lyons Consulting, a digital commerce firm, among others last year.

 
With the focus to become increasingly competitive, agile, responsive and customer-centric as we move forward, we have launched the Applied Innovation Exchange (AIE). The AIE leverages a framework for action, a network of exchange locations, and a high-performance engagement experience. This enables a globally curated ecosystem to proactively plan for shifts in technology. The new facility will serve as a gateway between clients and the global ecosystem. Clients are provided access to our unique curated ecosystem of start-ups, accelerators, incubators, strategic technology and business partners, internal experts to infuse innovation into everyday business.
 
What are the key industries driving revenue for the company in India? And what are the potential growth areas?

 
India is primarily the delivery arm of the Group and supports Capgemini’s global customers across the regions and domains in meeting business needs.
 
The domestic business in India is driven by Capgemini Local Business Services (LBS) and brings together the Capgemini’s domain expertise, patented methodologies and technology agnostic solutions to domestic market. Some of the industry verticals that LBS focuses on in India are consumer products and retail, manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, energy and utilities and media and entertainment. Capgemini’s deep industry understanding has helped the unit establish a strong foothold in the local market with end-to-end capabilities, offering the right mix of technology and a deeper engagement with the local customers. Going forward, digital and cloud will important focus areas for LBS in India.

 
Capgemini has embraced a new visual identity which represents three pillars symbolising dynamism, precision and people. How do these translate into business strategy for the company?
 
We launched our brand identity 13 years back. We felt a lot has changed since then — not just the size, shape and scope of our business, but the entire market has shifted.
 
In this landmark year of Capgemini’s 50th anniversary, we decided to challenge the way we look and express ourselves in response to these changes.