CitiusTech to pursue acquisitions, shifts hiring strategy on GenAI push

Healthtech firm CitiusTech is bullish at expanding its business in Europe and is looking at an acquisition route to go about it. Rajan Kohli, the chief executive officer of CitiusTech, told TechCircle that the company is specifically looking at companies working in the life sciences and medtech fields.

“Most of our business is concentrated in North America, where we collaborate with several global life sciences companies. We are now looking to expand into the European market, with a strong interest in the life sciences and medtech sectors, as Europe is home to several medtech companies,” Kohli said.
“Additionally, we are open to mergers and acquisitions with companies that have established clients in Europe, particularly in these fields.” 

Notably, he is a former Wipro executive, having spent nearly three decades with the IT services giant. He stepped down as the head of Wipro Digital and Consulting in April 2023.

The last major acquisitions for CitiusTech happened in 2022. Kohli says that after 18 months of a quieter phase, the market is seeing more action now. CitiusTech will be reviewing and acting on potential opportunities, possibly translating into acquisitions within this fiscal. “The deals will be subject to valuation, fitment, and chemistry with our organisation. But I can say that we are reviewing more deals now than we were doing a year back.” 

US-headquartered CitiusTech provides healthcare technology services and solutions in the payer, provider, medtech, and life sciences markets. It is currently serving 130 healthcare organisations in the world. Kohli said that the company has been able to capture 1% of the healthcare market in North America. “If we become 1.5% of that market we will become a billion-dollar company. We aim to achieve that in the next four years.”

Neither India or APAC region is a focus area for the company from a business expansion point of view, in immediate. However, India houses 75% of its talent base of 8,500 people. The headcount is expected to grow every quarter in FY25.

The company is also planning a shift in their talent acquisition strategy. CitiusTech, which has traditionally hired mid-career professionals, is now looking at acquiring more freshers. “Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has helped increase our productivity to a large extent. It makes us easier for us to know take in freshers and get them productive faster,” said Kohli. He also said that over 2,500 of developers at the firm have been trained in the technology and by the end of the calendar, all the developers will be trained. The company is also executing over 25 generative AI projects.

“Beyond GenAI — data, cloud, and analytics are the areas where we're seeing growth significantly above the average compared to our other practices. These are also the areas where clients are focusing their spending,” Kohli concluded.