Remote working model presents huge opportunities to tap Indian talent: IBM CEO

BENGALURU: Tech giant IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna said on Wednesday that the sustained remote delivery model employed by firms globally can provide huge opportunities for sourcing talent across India. 

Krishna made the observation during a fireside chat at Nasscom's flagship Leadership Forum, 2021 that the hybrid model has enabled the firms to hire from various parts of the world and this presents a wonderful opportunity for India's talent base. 

"A remote delivery model is more acceptable now and within the same there are more opportunities for India than before," the tech veteran said.

Krishna said that for India to turn into an innovation hub there is a massive need to reskill people in emerging technologies, formulate a favourable regulatory environment as well as be ready for risk-taking. 

"The question is what role does India wants to play. The aspiration is massive. If the aspiration for India is to be the innovation hub, one needs not only to look at the positive side but also the risk. Innovation means only one in three ideas are likely to succeed. So two out of three, I don't call them failures, but they don't give economic returns in the near term. We need regulations and policies that allow for that failure to happen and that is risk-taking in business terms," the IBM CEO said.

He added that the evolution of technological innovation has presented multiple opportunities and hence it is imperative for key players to partner with each other for developing an ecosystem. 

"For instance on the cloud services front, I can say we have a great relationship with Microsoft, Amazon and we aren't just rivals. Many of our clients require unique innovations and can partner with multiple tech firms," Krishna said.

Earlier during a virtual press conference, Krishna said that the tech firm is bullish on its India expansion plans and that the recent announcement of spinning out a new company will not impact its workforce in India - the second highest after in the US - although the company is planning for a separate leadership team. 

He added that currently IBM is helping support the digital infrastructure of the country's public/private sector banks, telecom firms and has also partnered with indigenous IT firms.