ESDS aims to launch AI-powered autonomous cloud platform; hire 300 AI/ML engineers

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to become a cornerstone of ESDS Software Solutions' future strategy. The data center and cloud services company, established in 2010, is poised to launch an AI-powered autonomous cloud platform, Piyush Somani, the founder and CEO told TechCircle in an interview.

“Today's cloud infrastructure often requires manual intervention for deployment and management. An autonomous cloud platform powered by AI could revolutionise this process,” said Somani adding that users could simply select an architecture, deploy it, and then let the system handle everything else. The platform would enable automatic data growth, vertical and horizontal autoscaling, operating system management, and application management. 

To this end, the company is planning a significant focus on building its AI prowess, including hiring up to 300 AI and machine learning (ML) engineers in the next six months. The current workforce strength is over 1,000 employees, spread across offices in Nashik, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mohali. Somani said that the business is majorly focused on India, although the company is receiving significant interest from the Middle East and the UK. 

While the company expanded to other Indian cities and globally, it retained Nashik as the headquarters where it established its first data center. “When we started, we were bootstrapped and did not have sufficient capital. Establishing ESDS in Nashik made economic sense but it was a challenge when it came to approaching potential customers. However, times have changed with the advent of edge and container data centers, turning tier-2,3 cities into lucrative destinations for data center investments.”

Edge data centers are smaller, locally-located facilities that can process time-sensitive data closer to end users and devices. Container data centers, as the name suggests, are miniaturised, self-contained data centers housed within a shipping container. The global edge data center market is projected to grow from $11.02 billion in 2023 to $41.60 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 20.9%, a report from Fortune Business Insights has shown. 

To be sure, company’s clients include Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), SIDBI Bank, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India Capital, and more than 400 cooperative banks. Embassy Group, Vadilal, and Unibic are some of its other enterprise clients. ESDS now also offers cloud computing services and is empanelled under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).

Speaking further on trends, Somani said that post-Covid, there has been a significant shift in enterprises’ attitudes towards digitisation and adoption of cloud technologies. “Covid has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies. The deal closing time has been reduced from years to months and even weeks, with digitalisation becoming a compulsion rather than an option.”

Beyond AI, Somani feels excited about low code, no code, and app modernisation. “App modernisation is accelerating rapidly as people replace and upgrade first-generation applications to meet today's technological advancements and needs. This surge in modernisation has also sparked increased interest in low-code/no-code platforms. When combined with AI, LCNC is poised to be a disruptive technology,” Somani concluded. 

(The author was in Nashik on the invitation of ESDS Software Solutions)