'Tech trinity is key to Viksit Bharat aim'

‘The “technology trinity” of artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and quantum is key to India’s digital future and it becoming a developed country, says Sandip Patel, managing director for IBM India and South Asia.

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CXOs must educate themselves and apply technology contextually, he tells Pranjal Sharma in a video interview. Edited excerpts:

Which sectors are important to IBM in India?

I always think about IBM India as being the microcosm of the corporation. Our strategy is very singularly what the corporate strategy is, which is AI and hybrid Cloud. I think every dollar of investment that we make globally, as well as in India, goes into that dimension, including acquisitions.

We have always been predominant in the BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) sector, but also in a lot of essential services within India. Just to give you a couple of data points, 95 plus per cent of all banking transactions go through IBM systems and software — a 100 percent of credit card transactions go through IBM mainframes in India.

We like to think of ourselves as IBM being inside, sort of, the supply chains that run India — both on the financial as well as the citizen services space.

For example, a lot of milk production and distribution [processes] — for companies like Amul and others — happens on IBM systems and software and technology.

You talk about an emerging tech trinity. What do you mean by that?