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In November 2021, IBM spun-off its Global Technology Services division into a separate company, Kyndryl. 

According to Lingraju Sawkar, President, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed Kyndryl provides infrastructure services and is present in about 80 countries, has 4,600 clients and about 90,000 employees. 

“We are the custodians of the vital systems of our clients, and it has an end-user impact” says Lingraju in an interaction with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YS. 

As a separate entity, “We have our own trajectory, our own growth path, and our own freedom of action to choose as we go ahead now,” he adds. Kyndryl provides services and solutions to help its customers in the digitisation journey. 

“It’s a great time – having the opportunity to take our clients into a digital transformation journey that’s happening right now, which the pandemic accelerated,” notes Lingraju. 

The company offers cloud, data and artificial intelligence (AI), network and edge, advisory and implementation services.  

From manager to entrepreneur

For Lingraju, who has worked with IBM for 13 years, the role changes from a managerial position to that of an entrepreneur. 

“For me personally, from a leadership perspective, taking the organisation, which has a history of 100-year-old-stabilised organisation, into the flexibility and speed and agility of a startup,” he says. “And hence, we are discovering and building our own culture around the teams and for us to take it through.” 

Employees as ambassadors

“How do we align and how do we get the best of them (employees) is where the opportunity lies,” says Lingraju. 

On how customers see Kyndryl as a company, he emphasises on the importance of employees. “Our employees and people are the brand ambassadors of the brand, and they live the brand.” 

How? All the people working at the company, first and foremost, need to understand what’s the connection to the end point. Understanding how Kyndryl’s customers use it is crucial – whether it is Mother Dairy that ships out milk, or Dr. Lal Path Labs that delivers medical reports. 

“So, establishing that connection between the recipient, which is the end consumer, and what we do is the first connection that empowers people to really think about the brand and what they represent,” says Lingraju.

The “Kyn” in Kyndryl is representative of “kin” and of the bonds and relationship among the people and with the clients. The “dryl” comes from  “tendril,” signifying new growth and connections, like a small plant. 

Fighting the talent war

The newly listed company is hopeful and optimistic about sustaining talent at a time when there is a huge technology hiring frenzy in the industry. 

“We come from a $19 billion stable organisation. So, it’s like, you’ve got the stability of a large base, but you also have the flexibility and agility to work as a startup,” Lingraju says.

He is also hopeful that its large customer base across industries and technologies would be able to pull new talent and retain older ones too. 

“It is like a university. You sit in one place, and you can work and build skills, either in the industry or within various domains, and you can learn a lot,” says Lingraju. The diversified peer group with trained engineers and scientists would also provide a great environment to grow, he adds.

Advice to young generation

Speaking about the time he started out in IBM after business school, Lingraju says, “The task which I had was to ensure that our prices went out at the same time to everybody, so there’s no distributor undercutting in the market. He recalls how he went around loading fax machines at midnight and running up to press the start button at the same time. 

“As a young professional, don’t say no to anything that comes your way. Because something good will always come out of it,” he says.

Staying ahead in the industry

For enterprises to stay ahead in the cutting-edge technology space, Lingraju emphasises on the importance of partnerships with other players to satisfy what customers want and what matters to them the most. 

“Building an ecosystem as a partner, and finding complementing capabilities that both of them bring will ensure that if you don’t have it, you can always partner with someone and then other people are good in that area.”

He agrees enterprises need to bring in diverse talent on board. “With diversity comes a fair degree of differential thinking that can give you a difference,” he says. 

For the next twelve months, Kyndryl aims to stabilise the organisation from a customer perspective and deliver results. It is also aiming to be the most sought-after place for people to work. Currently, it is getting its offices ready and working on setting up office policies around people and culture. 

For Lingaraju, what is exciting is, “The opportunity to build a brand, the opportunity to create something in a manner that can leave a lasting impression for everyone.”