Clients deferring IT budgets for next year: Cyient COO

Clients are deferring IT budgets for the next year, given the uncertain demand environment, said Karthikeyan Natarajan, Chief Operating Officer, Cyient, which works with aerospace, defence and transportation firms that have been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“By now, most clients would have frozen their budgets for next year. Now they are saying that they will not know till Christmas or even January because demand is very uncertain,” said Natarajan.

Though demand is on the up and IT companies are winning new deals, the outlook remains unclear for several sectors. As a result, companies are assessing their long-term investment plans. A second wave of lockdowns in Europe has added to this uncertainty, he said.


Cyient is now focusing on newer sectors like medical devices and semiconductors, which Natarajan believes will continue to grow even if they undergo some cyclical impact.

“In the last five years, what has driven the industry is software and digital. Now it is about how do we get ready for the next 10 years,” he said.

Cyient, which took a hit due to the outbreak, has put in place a three-phased strategy to revive the business over the next year.

“We have come out of the crisis better than anticipated in terms of revenue and profitability and now want to build the organisation for the future,” said Natarajan.

The company is in the process of building its leadership team, bringing in outside talent and training and reorienting existing employees to move into senior roles.

It will also put in place a large deals team to go after high growth areas.

Several sectors such as automobiles and aerospace are at a critical juncture and the mid-size IT services provider is now working with airports on how they can operate with fewer ground staff.

This includes creating solutions to simplify maintenance, airport lights, take-off and landing and using augmented reality and creating programmable displays.

The company believes this is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for airports and is working on increasing adoption of newer technologies by airports.