Quantum computing can potentially change our world: Sandip Patel, MD, IBM India

IBM today is a significantly different company, says Sandip Patel, managing director, IBM India. “We are more strategically focused, more technologically capable, and more financially sound. We are bringing the power of the hybrid cloud and AI technologies to clients worldwide.” In a wide-ranging interview with Sudhir Chowdhary, he says, “We have shifted our portfolio to drive sustainable revenue growth and 70% of our revenue will come from software and consulting businesses.” Excerpts:

How is IBM India aligned to IBM globally and what is your strategy for 2022?
IBM India is a microcosm of IBM and the core of IBM’s growth strategy, be it for clients or talent. In 2022, we will continue accelerating our business growth in India with expansion and hiring in cities beyond metros, building on our collaboration with leading educational institutes, and investing in skilling our employees. We will continue contributing to the Skill India and Digital India missions, extending our technology prowess to help the government build technology platforms at scale, and strengthening our ecosystem focus.

Arvind Krishna recently spoke about the technology talent shortage. What is IBM doing to address this gap?
IBM India is aligned with the government’s Skill India Mission to bridge the skills gap shortage in the coming years. We continue to align our initiatives to help improve India’s employability index. Our chairman & CEO Arvind Krishna mentioned recently, 100% of IBM India’s CSR activities will now go into workforce development and skilling. Today, we reach over 10 million learners in India through our good tech initiatives, skilling engagements, collaborations with clients and partners. Through our SkillsBuild Platform initiative, we placed over 7800 learners in jobs in 2021.

At IBM we are ‘Investing for Good’ through skilling across the value chain—by collaborating with academia, government, and industry bodies through various initiatives such as STEM for Girls, SkillsBuild platform, and Quantum Skilling with various educational institutes like IITs. We intend to train 500,000 people in India over the next five years in cybersecurity skills. Further, we are aligned to IBM’s commitment to skill 30 million people globally by 2030.

In recent years, quantum computing has been a big focus for IBM globally. How is IBM India contributing to the company’s quantum agenda?
As quantum computing starts approaching a phase of commercialisation, it can potentially change our world. From drug discovery to complex financial modelling—the applications of this technology are huge in India. Our commitment is to grow a quantum-ready workforce and build an ecosystem to nurture the quantum community here. We are collaborating with leading educational institutions to provide quantum computing education and give over-the-cloud access to our quantum systems to top-tier institutions like the IITs, IISc, Indian Statistical Institute, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research for India to accelerate advanced training and research in quantum computing.

What is IBM doing in the security space?
Today, in the age of hyper digitalisation, cybersecurity is fast becoming a board-level issue—and something that every organisation, large or small, cannot afford to ignore. As organisations look to a zero-trust approach, the need for an open security architecture has never been clearer. IBM Security offers one of the most advanced and integrated portfolios of enterprise security products and services. For example, with IBM Security QRadar XDR, the first open and connected extended detection and response (XDR) cybersecurity suite, we are providing companies with comprehensive visibility across security tools and data sources, whether in the cloud or on-premises, equipping security teams with the insights they need to act quickly.

How are IBM labs in India contributing to your strategy around AI and hybrid cloud?
IBM’s culture of scientific research is integral to the company’s history of innovation. Our labs and global missions in India continue to lead, build and be the global centres of excellence for innovation, leading the ‘Make in India, for India and the World’ vision. We’re focused on advancing the state-of-the-art in AI and hybrid cloud and defining the future of quantum computing. For example, IBM Research – India played a pivotal role in building the new Carbon Performance Engine and Climate aware applications including forecasting, which are now a part of the Environmental Intelligence Suite. Similarly, a lot of the core innovation and technology work for the IBM POWER10 processor, which plays a key role in our hybrid cloud strategy, was designed in India by our IBM Systems Development Labs.