We aim to reach $1B in revenue by 2030: Visionet Systems' Sandeep Agarwal

Visionet Systems, a mid-sized IT services firm that offers mortgage banking, data capture solutions, finance and accounting, and hospitality services, is growing at a CAGR of 40-45% over the last four years and is aiming to reach $1B in revenue by 2030. In an interview with TechCircle, Sandeep Agarwal, India MD & Global CTO, of Visionet Systems, discusses the company’s key focus on areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and sustainable innovation to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency, as well as automate business workflows. Edited excerpts.

Which areas in technology will be your focus this year and why?

This year, our strategy is on three key technology areas: GenAI, cybersecurity, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). With the global surge in AI adoption, it is transforming existing technologies through a new human-machine interface. Visionet aims to innovate and deliver tech-based solutions that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency, as well as automate business workflows. Our context-aware agentic AI for business workflows exemplifies this, reducing critical workflow times from days to minutes. As AI adoption accelerates, cybersecurity risks have intensified, making it essential for organizations to invest in solutions that enhance AI governance, privacy, and security. Visionet has allocated 15% of its R&D budget to AI-driven threat detection and Zero Trust frameworks and has partnered with Presidency University, Bengaluru, to create a Centre of Excellence for cybersecurity research. Collaborations with US startups like Horizon3.ai and Seceon further expand our capabilities in advanced cybersecurity. Additionally, our ESG focus aims to develop technology solutions that assist enterprises in ESG planning, reporting, and achieving carbon neutrality.

What kind of innovation are you bringing with technologies such as AI, GenAI and data analytics?

We leverage AI, GenAI, and data analytics to simplify operations and enhance product offerings. Our recently launched AI studio features over 30 enterprise use cases designed for rapid implementation. For example, we created a conversational AI system for a US professional services firm to streamline proposal writing and developed an agentic AI for a laser treatment company to provide immediate technical support. We also integrated an AI-powered assistant for a luxury jewellery brand to improve document retrieval efficiency by 60-65%.

Are current Gen AI/ agentic AI solutions providing a return on investment? What's the future?

Generative AI and agentic AI are transformative technologies that require careful use-case selection for effective implementation. Visionet conducts discovery workshops to help clients identify suitable use cases and perform cost-benefit analyses, ensuring a positive return on investment. As technology evolves, enhancing infrastructure, governance, and cyber-risk management will be crucial for maximizing ROI.

How much does your team contribute to tech innovation? Do you have any hiring plans in the next 12 months?

Two per cent of Visionet’s profits are reinvested in R&D and innovation. To make this possible, we conduct VisionTechFest annually, enabling effective collaboration between enterprises, academics, and startups. Through this collaboration, we aim to bring better and faster solutions to the tech world. For instance, TechInnovate, an internal solution accelerator program under VisionTechFest, has developed over 30 solutions in the last two years, with 10 incorporated into our technology offerings. These include GenAI-powered enterprise platforms, integrated AI-driven cybersecurity platforms, and AI-powered test automation engines. Also, there are dedicated teams within the organization who are focused on building next-gen platforms and rapid AI solutions. Visionet currently has a strong workforce in India. By 2027, we are planning to double the team size and reach a combined strength of 5000 in Bengaluru and tier-2 cities such as Coimbatore.

Considering advanced cyber-attacks in companies, what kind of measures has the company taken?

To combat advanced cyber threats Visionet has set up a robust cybersecurity posture, investing in tools to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. Our global offices are SOC 1/SOC 2 certified, and we employ Zero Trust Systems. We offer virtual CISO services for mid-sized enterprises and SaaS solutions for SMBs, along with various security certifications, including ISO 9001, ISO 22301, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS compliance.

Any recent technology initiative that has led to an increase in RoI/customer experience or any other success?

Visionet has invested in rapid application development platforms through partnerships with startups such as LambdaTest, a leading testing tool platform; Crest, deeptech AI platform that offers automated inventory planning tools; and Zino, a GenAI-based low-code platform, which has indeed shown an increase in RoIs. For example, we have created a strong AI-based delivery platform, Visi AiQ, which enables self-healing testing for applications. Also, our AI-powered delivery PRECISION platform and data engineering productivity platform have significantly improved operational efficiency for clients. Apart from the startup collaborations, adopting new technologies like Microsoft Co-pilot, and AWS’ Amazon Q, Salesforce’s Agentforce services have enhanced the customer experience.

How should businesses prepare to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape?

Businesses should start democratizing AI. They should train their non-IT employees in prompt engineering. It is also significant for companies to allocate at least 10% of their IT budgets to AI-driven cyber defence. However, the democratization of AI and the enhancement of cybersecurity are not just enough. Organizations should adopt ESG as a code and embed sustainability metrics into DevOps pipelines to stay competitive in this new era of technology.

When looking at competitor benchmarking, which key technology areas do you see a need to improve?

The new technology landscape has opened up equal opportunities to big IT firms, mid-size IT firms as well as startups. The key is not competitive benchmarking but to reskill the employees, disrupt the business, adopt new technologies at a much faster pace and deliver the right solutions at the right time and right price to the customers. Hence, rather than chasing competitors, Visionet prioritizes building disruptive technologies. While legacy firms struggle with technical debt, our Microservices-as-a-Service platform modernized a UK-based leading insurance core system in less than a year (where the industry average is 3 years for a similar project). Startups bring speed, and by collaborating with them, Visionet provides rapid solutions. For instance, fifty per cent of our GenAI projects are deployed in less than 90 days.

What is your tech roadmap including expansion, and acquisition plans for the next 2-3 years?

Visionet is one of the fastest-growing mid-size IT firms with a CAGR of 40-45% over the last 4 years and is targeting to reach $1B in revenue by 2030. Recently, Visionet has acquired Rödl Dynamics GmbH, a German digital transformation company, to expand the company's European presence and consulting capabilities. Also, we are establishing delivery centres in Germany, Canada, and Egypt as well as strengthening our offices in India, the US and UK. We will continue to maintain this growth momentum and also look for opportunities to grow inorganically as long as we get the right culture to match our DNA.