The traditional landscape of enterprise IT services is currently facing a seismic shift as the era of manual, labor-intensive outsourcing gives way to the precision of artificial intelligence. At the heart of this transformation is Vishal Sikka, a seasoned visionary whose career spans twelve years at SAP and a leadership stint at Infosys, now steering a new venture called Hang Ten Systems. This interview explores the departure from headcount-based scaling toward a model defined by agentic code generation and reusable AI skills. We delve into how the industry is grappling with a potential $400 billion market shift, the significance of a $32 million seed round backed by tech heavyweights, and the tension between legacy firms and AI-native startups.
The legacy IT services model has long been tied to a linear relationship where growth is dictated by hiring more people to manage software tasks. How does the emergence of an AI-native approach fundamentally break this headcount-dependent cycle?
The shift we are seeing is a move away from the “bodies in seats” philosophy that has dominated the industry for decades. For a long time, if a company wanted to scale its software maintenance or integration, it had to hire thousands of engineers, leading to a massive, often bloated workforce. Hang Ten Systems is challenging this by focusing on leverage that grows with every project rather than every new hire. By utilizing AI-driven development and automation, the goal is to create a system where software can be built and modified continuously without the traditional drag of human overhead. It feels like a clean break from the past, where the expertise is baked into the AI agents rather than just the people operating them.
With a $32 million seed round led by Mayfield and a leadership team comprising veterans from SAP and Infosys, what does this level of backing suggest about the market’s appetite for AI-driven project delivery?
The pedigree here is quite remarkable and signals a deep confidence in Sikka’s ability to disrupt a sector he knows intimately. Securing $32 million right out of the gate, with strategic participation from Aramco Ventures and a board that includes Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, shows that investors are looking for safe hands to lead a very risky transition. The fact that the company already has major customers like Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Fresenius just a month after its public start proves that enterprises are desperate for these efficiencies. These large corporations are no longer content with the slow, manual pace of traditional IT; they want to “hang ten” on this massive wave of innovation. It is a visceral reaction to the limitations of old-school outsourcing, and the speed of adoption is a clear indicator that the market is ready for a blueprint that favors automation over manual labor.
There is some curiosity regarding how this new venture differs from the founder’s previous work with VianAI. Could you explain the technical distinction between enterprise AI for decision-making and this new focus on agentic code generation?
While VianAI was a significant undertaking that raised $140 million in its 2021 SoftBank-led round, its core mission was centered on analytics and decision-making tools to help businesses understand their data. Hang Ten Systems is a different beast altogether because it targets the actual construction and maintenance of the software itself. We are talking about agentic code generation, which means the AI isn’t just suggesting code; it is actively participating in the engineering and deployment process. This model relies on reusable AI skills and domain expertise to automate the “boring” parts of IT services that previously required thousands of human hours. It is the difference between having an AI that tells you what the problem is and an AI that actually picks up the tools to fix it.
As traditional giants see their share prices fluctuate—with some dropping as much as 35% this year—the industry is debating if AI is a threat or an opportunity. How do you view the projected $300 billion to $400 billion market for AI-first services by 2030 in relation to these legacy firms?
There is a palpable tension in the air as firms like Infosys try to reposition themselves before they are completely eclipsed by smaller, more agile startups. The projection that AI-first services could reach a staggering $400 billion by 2030 suggests that the addressable market is expanding, but the players who capture that value will likely look very different from the giants of today. Traditional firms are racing to partner with entities like OpenAI and Anthropic, yet they are still weighed down by the economics of their existing labor models. A 35% drop in share value is a gut-punch that reflects investor anxiety about whether these incumbents can pivot fast enough. The real challenge is whether a company built on billing for hours can survive in a world where AI completes the same task in seconds.
What is your forecast for the IT services industry?
I believe we are entering a period of “creative destruction” where the traditional outsourcing giants will either undergo a painful, radical transformation or slowly fade into obsolescence. In the next five years, the value of a tech service firm will be measured by its proprietary AI agents and its library of reusable code skills rather than its global headcount. We will see a surge of smaller, high-margin firms that can handle massive enterprise projects with a fraction of the staff, utilizing the $300 billion to $400 billion AI-native market to their advantage. For the readers, the takeaway is clear: the era of throwing more people at a technical problem is over. Efficiency is no longer just a goal; it is the only way to remain relevant in a world where agentic AI is becoming the primary architect of our digital infrastructure.
