CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to Seelan Nayagam, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at DXC Technology, to learn more about how Agentic AI can streamline complex processes, the need for businesses to start small, but think ‘big’ when it comes to validating their AI use-cases, the need for robust AI governance – and why the company is ultra-committed to hiring local talent following the opening of their new office in Riyadh.
Seelan Nayagam is a seasoned technology executive and business leader with a strong reputation for transforming large multinational organisations.
He spent 10 years at US technology behemoth IBM, before joining DXC Technology in 2017.
Over the last 8 years he has helped expand the presence of DXC Technology across multiple regions, and in 2023, Nayagam was appointed President, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.
In a candid conversation with CNME Editor Mark Forker, the pair explored a range of topics, and began the conversation by focusing on the rise of Agentic AI.
LLMs represent the foundational elements of Gen AI, but the general consensus amongst tech analysts and experts is that Agentic AI can really unleash the power of Gen AI to transform traditional business processes.
Nayagam said he sees a lot of similarities with Agentic AI and cloud technology when it first started to take off.
“Agentic AI is essentially multiple AI agents working together to solve complex problems. They work off massive data sets, but are able to follow a structured path without any human intervention in order to find the answer to those complex problems, and if you can extrapolate all of that then that will inevitably lead to greater efficiency, and a drastic reduction in operating costs. It’s still very early days, but I see a lot of similarity around the excitement and potential of Agentic AI, and that of cloud technology back in the day,” said Nayagam.
Whilst he admitted that Agentic AI is very much in its nascent stages, the DXC Technology executive has seen the power of it.
He highlighted how a financial agency operating under government auspices in the Middle East region transformed a process that traditionally took 12 weeks, to less than a week.
“I know of a financial government agency in the Middle East region. Now, they faced a big challenge when it came to users applying for grants, in terms of how they processed it in relation to validation, and identifying that the individual is who he says he is. Now, that process traditionally took 12 weeks. However, thanks to the implementation of Agentic AI the process has been completely turned on its head, and through a POC, that protracted and clunky process that took 3 months, can now be done within a week. It’s quite difficult to quantify just how much business value that process transformation through Agentic AI yielded for the entity in question, but the productivity, time saved, and efficiency is incredible. So, even though I said Agentic AI is in its early stages, it is definitely real,” said Nayagam.
The example provided by Nayagam is a powerful one, and that moved the dial of the conversation towards the topic of validation around AI use-cases.
Business leaders are under increasing pressure to adopt an AI strategy, or launch an AI service, or product that is designed to help them transform a specific pain point in their organisation.
Again, Nayagam drew similarities between the pressure to adopt an AI strategy, with the pressure executives where on to embark on a cloud journey.
“If you look back to when cloud started off, then it was pretty evident that boards were putting enormous pressure on the executive team to create a cloud strategy. Everybody had to commit to some sort of cloud journey. I remember reading press releases at the time that made statements such as 100% of our workload is going to be in to be in cloud. Some said that 90% of all their production was going to be in the cloud, and look, all of those companies had to walk those statements back. It’s not that cloud was bad in any way, shape, or form, but a hybrid option emerged, so you didn’t have to go one specific direction. At the end of the day, the question will always come back to how do you get the best value out of a business case. When it comes to Gen AI and Agentic AI, I see a very similar trend to when cloud was gaining traction, the same pressure is being applied, and that pressure can lead to costly mistakes. If you’re an CEO, or a C-Level executive, and you can’t talk about AI then there is immediate question marks raised. Undoubtedly many business leaders are under pressure when it comes to AI, but there also needs to be a realisation that AI is not going to solve every problem,” said Nayagam.
Nayagam warned against businesses becoming burdened by monolithic AI projects, and encouraged them to ‘think big’, but start small.
“Look, you’ve got to start somewhere, and the business case is critical. You have to determine what is the problem you are looking to solve as a business. There are 1000’s of use cases, and we have implemented well over 2,500 different use cases that we have in multiple client sets, and each problem is slightly different. So you you go into it with your eyes open, but you need to start small. You can definitely think big, but you have to start small. If you start small and you build a business case and there’s failure, well that’s fine, if you have started small then you have scope for failure. You can change quickly, but if you become embroiled in a monolithic project then you’re invested in it, and some tasks may take forever, and you don’t have that safety net when it comes to failure. My advice to businesses is very clear, start small, prove the POC and get the use-cases to work,” said Nayagam.
At the recent AI Action Summit in Paris, the decision by both the US and UK governments to refuse to sign up to a framework that was designed to promote the ethical and responsible use of AI was seen as a real blow, considering 60 other nations had signed the document.
Whilst there are many differing viewpoints on AI in terms of the technology itself, generally, there is an acceptance from the technology community that there needs to be strong guardrails and governance around AI, to ensure the technology is used ethically and responsibly.
Nayagam outlined the approach adopted by DXC Technology when it comes to their own AI frameworks and governance, highlighting the role played by their AI Office.
“There’s no doubt that it is a major challenge. I mean, right now, there is no global framework, or a globally agreed standard that exists. Then you come back to each country, they all have their own unique view around what they want to do, and so forth. And again, even at the country level, you don’t really have a fully fledged framework, yet everybody is learning this as they go along. What we have done at DXC Technology is applicable to any other organization. There are a number of factors at play, such as the ethical side of things, bias, security, so with that in mind you need to come up with the framework that works for your organization within those boundaries that are important for leveraging this technology. We created an office called AI Office. Their number one objective is to define the policies and the framework that the whole organization can employ as a whole. Having a framework is one thing, and the policies and everything else around it, but you have to embed that back into the business in order for it to be fully operational, because that’s where the real use happens, of course, and that’s where these mistakes and so forth, could potentially happen. So operationally, embedding it into your operation is absolutely critical. In summary, we have the AI office, and then the AI governance, and that governance board verifies every solution that we create in a bid to make sure it falls within the framework that was accepted by DXC Technology as an organization, which has ethics, security and everything else embedded into it,” said Nayagam.
DXC Technology operate in an ultra-competitive environment, but when pressed on what he believed fundamentally differentiated the company from its market rivals, Nagagam highlighted the fact the engineering was intrinsic in their DNA, and that they have a proven track record of solving complex problems.
“We’ve been in the technology services business in different forms over last 60 years. In terms of what differentiates us, I think it’s two-fold. We are known as an engineering company, and as a technology organisation that can solve complex problems. We manage complex systems around the world for large airlines, making sure that the airlines are flying, and the crews are getting to the right place at the right time. We run the production systems for automotive companies such as BMW and Mercedes. They have AI technologies infused in them and are intelligent systems, and all the technology and software in those vehicles are developed by DXC Technology, so that gives you a flavour of the engineering depth that we have, and those are the types of experiences and solutions that we provide for our customers. I do think that what makes us really unique is our engineering DNA,” said Nayagam.
Nayagam concluded an excellent conversation by highlighting the significance of its decision to open new offices in Riyadh, and reiterated that DXC Technology was committed to hiring local talent in the UAE and the KSA, and cited their graduate programs as a way to bridge the skills gap that currently exists in the market.
“It’s such an exciting time to be in the region. I spend 50% of my time in Dubai, and the other 50% in Riyadh, due to the opportunities emerging there. It’s such a unique region, and it is driven by the leadership at the very top, and that filters down and touches everything, they know what their vision is and where they want to go. You can feel the technology adoption here, and it’s amazing. Obviously there is huge opportunities in both the UAE and the KSA, but we’re also looking at the role DXC Technology can play in helping these ambitious countries achieve their aspirations. We are playing an important role in terms of contributing locally and building that tech community and ecosystem. We have a Graduate program in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. We want to bring the local talent into our workforce, and we want to give them a clear pathway to succeed in the technology sector. At the end of the day, this industry is driven by skill, and we need to build up that skill set and create opportunities for the next-generation of talent here in the region, and we are committed to playing a key role in making that a reality,” said Nayagam.