How has your business been performing and what is the outlook?
We clocked revenue growth of around 38 percent last year. From being a roughly $400 million company in FY’18, will be a One-billion-dollar-plus IT services firm in the current financial year. We are now focused on carving out an accelerated growth path to the $2 billion revenue milestone.
Coforge is one of India’s strongest IT services turnaround stories. The change in leadership since FY’18 has helped establish a new performance ethic within the organization. The change in organizational structure and the complete recreation of the company’s tech stack offerings have helped us drive steady, stable, and profitable growth. As a company, we are very focused on growth – growth of our people, growth of our customers in their businesses and growth for our shareholders and investors. We continue to focus on our strategic pillars as we look forward to the $2 billion roadmap.
What are your top priorities right now?
We continue to prioritize our time-tested and proven strategic pillars that have delivered ongoing value to our clients.
First, as a tech services firm, we are extremely focused on building deep, diverse functional expertise in the select industries in which we work. This allows us to contextualize new and emerging technologies that can drive transformative outcomes for our clients. Over the past five years, we have almost exclusively focused on three core business verticals ie BFS (Banking and Finance), Insurance, and Travel, Transportation and Hospitality. In the next few years, we will explore and emphasize our presence in Public Sector, Hi-Tech and Healthcare.
The second focus area aligns with our vision as an organization to “Engage Emerging” technologies to drive real-world impact for our clients. We continue to innovate the organization’s technology stack with a focus on product engineering, data and analytics, cloud, AI, blockchain, low code application development, cybersecurity, and Metaverse. During this journey, we have established strong partnership networks with the world’s leading companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Pegasystems, ServiceNow, and Duck Creek among many others.
The third and possibly most important factor is our continued focus on our people. We have been a Great Place to Work certified organization for two consecutive years and maintain the highest employee retention in the IT services industry. Our talent development policies and exercises are employee-centric, helping each of our employees grow their skills and career at Coforge.
Which are your main key markets for growth, and why?
North America and Europe are and will continue to be the main focus markets until we reach the $2 billion target. In Q1FY23, the company generated 51.3 percent revenue from the Americas, 36.9 percent from EMEA, and 11.9 percent from the rest of the world. We serve 61 clients from the Forbes Global 1000 list of companies worldwide and continue to grow the list in our base. We pride ourselves on our delivery execution. The trust placed by our clients is the fuel that drives us to innovate more on their behalf.
What emerging technologies does Coforge use, and how?
We operate across the product engineering and application services continuum. Our differentiated value proposition is driven by our strong capabilities in product engineering and digital transformation services including capabilities such as data and analytics, cognitive, AI/ML, cloud, digital process automation, and business process management (BPM) services.
Additionally, our innovation group is primarily focused on emerging technologies in Metaverse areas including mixed reality, web3 including blockchain, AI, and cognitive services such as video analytics, advanced natural processing language, advanced and interactive user interface, etc. We recently launched a Center of Excellence (CoE) at Metaverse and are building an ecosystem of capabilities through our partnerships. We recently held our own TechCon using Metaverse with over 1000 attendees trained through masterclasses. We also offer services across the entire low-code application lifecycle, from product advisory to implementation to integration to ongoing management and operations.
How would you say Indian IT companies have fared, compared to global competitors over the past few years, and what does the future of Indian IT look like?
In recent times, Coforge and general Indian IT companies have witnessed growth despite pandemic situations, driving rapid digitalization and innovative models to clients. Most of the domestic mid-tier and large IT companies operating in both the IT services and engineering services space have won large deals and increased their businesses from existing clients. This changing trend indicates a bright future for Indian IT companies. When it comes to the work environment, Indian IT companies are committed to providing an open and agile work culture combined with business opportunities that build company reputation and employer branding. Therefore, attracting the right talent is more conducive to the growth of the company. India is still considered a hotbed for STEM talent and today the talent is converting to STEAM (STEM+Arts). To further develop STEAM, we just announced that we will train over 1000 consultants in Metaverse, Web3 and related technologies. We believe this scale is only available in India.
While there is a softness in the Rest of the World, the Indian engine continues to fire on all cylinders with a healthy and vibrant array of innovative startups. India has emerged as the 3rd largest ecosystem for startups globally with over 77,000 officially recognized startups (according to Invest India). In 2016-17, India used to produce 1 unicorn every year, now India is home to 107 unicorns.
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