The Power Of One

Karan Bajwa, Managing Director of Ibm India, Is Transforming the Tech Major to Bring Its Diverse Capabilities Together as One Ibm. Can It Well Be a Game-changer for the Company? In a Wide-ranging Interview, Bajwa Discusses His Hopes for Ibm’s Future, His Business Mantras, and What Kind of a Dad He Is to His Daughter.
 

- Priyanka Banerjee

When Karan Bajwa joined IBM India as its managing director in January, 2017, his mandate was clear: to make IBM the number one cloud and cognitive solutions company in India and South Asia. He had taken up the top job at IBM after a long 9-year stint with Microsoft India, including 3 years as its MD. He says he chose the new role over a position he was well settled in particularly because: He wanted to leverage his learnings of implementing digital transformation at enterprises on a much larger scale and in a more complex environment. IBM, with its hardware, software, consulting and digital infrastructure pieces, perfectly fit the bill. His mission at IBM now is to bring its different business lines together as ‘One IBM’ to give the customer (enterprises) a single point of reference across all products and services. To be precise, digital transformation within enterprises, in the wake of new technologies such as cloud, cognitive, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things, blockchain and so on, is fast opening up new business opportunities, and Bajwa’s goal is to be the frontrunner in tapping these opportunities.After joining IBM, one of Bajwa’s foremost steps has been to set the key priorities in place for IBM India and push the envelope further with new strategies, when the industry as a whole is going through a paradigm shift.

“As we continue to transform and bring to the fore, the 'New IBM', we have a 3-pronged strategy for IBM in India. One, to mainstream cognitive and cloud, and win the ecosystem. Two, to achieve breakthroughs in the Indian market with digital transformation, blockchain and security. And three, to expand our presence in the market with new client acquisitions and transforming our partner ecosystem,” explain Bajwa.