Prakash Balasubramanian, Executive Vice President, Engineering Management, Ascendion
Advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud computing, generative AI (GenAI) and blockchain are at the forefront of driving digital transformation across the information technology (IT), IT-enabled services (ITeS) and business process management (BPM) sectors. Prakash Balasubramanian, Executive Vice President, Engineering Management, Ascendion, shared their insights with tele.net on emerging digital trends, practical use cases, key challenges and the strategic outlook for the digital services landscape.
How have information and communication technology (ICT) needs evolved in the IT/ITeS and BPM spaces over the last few years?
ICT needs have shifted from basic automation and cost-efficiency to enabling intelligent, agile and customer-centric operations. There is a strong focus on cloud-native platforms, AI-driven insights and secure, scalable digital infrastructure. ICT has evolved from traditional AI to GenAI for content and insights, and now to Agentic AI, where autonomous agents take actions.
How are you leveraging new-age technologies such as 5G, AI, IoT, cloud and blockchain? What are their noteworthy use cases?
We are leveraging AI and cloud to modernise service delivery and enhance productivity, while IoT and 5G are enabling real-time monitoring in distributed operations. We continue to focus on initiatives that transform employee and customer experiences, including mobile applications and customer care modernisation with AI. Businesses are also prioritising hyper-personalisation and real-time decision-making enabled by advanced data analytics and integrated platforms.
For a leading communications firm, we have developed a mobile employee app with our engineering platform in 60 per cent lesser time. This has helped them transform their field engineer experience.
What major challenges have you experienced in terms of their adoption? How are you addressing those?
Key challenges include legacy integration, talent readiness and data security. Legacy modernisation is a priority, and we are driving this using our AI-powered engineering platform AVA+. We are also helping our clients with their data readiness for AI, including data security.
We are helping businesses modernise without disrupting operations, while reducing costs and unlocking new growth opportunities. For example, we are helping a leading communications firm in the US modernise their legacy application rapidly. The engineering process, driven by AI, has given them over 50 per cent productivity gains.
What top priorities are expected to shape your company’s digital roadmap over the next two-three years?
Our priorities include AI-first engineering, platform modernisation, enhanced digital experience for clients and employees, and driving operational excellence through automation and data intelligence. Engineering with AI drives faster go-to-market in this ever-competitive industry. As a leader in the GenAI space, we are also actively maximising value with
Agentic AI.
Which key digital trends are expected to impact the sector going forward?
AI-native platforms, autonomous operations, edge computing and hyper-personalised customer experiences will be major drivers. Additionally, sustainable tech adoption and industry-specific cloud solutions are gaining momentum.
