The IT services company is building underlying tech for connected cars
Wipro is building the underlying software for electronics that go into connected cars for three out of the four global manufacturers. With this, the information technology (IT) services firm is making a shift from offering traditional services to value-added technology works.
The connected car concept is for vehicles to communicate over wireless, sense traffic lights, parking lots and also navigate on remote roads using maps. The next phase to this would be driverless cars, which companies such as Google and Apple are building.
“Today, there are four big manufacturers in the world who supply electronics for connected cars. We have developed the underlying technology for three out of them,” chief executive officer (CEO) T K Kurien told Business Standard.
Analysts say this would be a natural bet for firms such as Wipro that are investing in newer technologies like automation and artificial intelligence.
“Automation and artificial intelligence are critical building blocks for an organisation’s journey toward the as-a-service economy. As such, all IT service providers are investing in those capabilities. Extending these capabilities to physical robots and the most recent hype around driverless cars is in many ways a logical evolution,” said Tom Reuner, managing director for IT outsourcing research at HFS.
“However, organisations like Wipro stand out as they have a heritage in product engineering that they can blend with their artificial intelligence investments.”
Wipro has been betting on Holmes, its cognitive artificial intelligence platform, which it is pitching to customers globally to automate routine jobs. It is also focusing beyond the technology sector to offer this platform to manufacturing, where machines can talk to each other to improve process.
“We’ve got a research and development team that continuously keeps upgrading the Holmes platform. We are already doing 12 projects, last quarter it was seven projects. We’ve got one successful production going on now for a large global bank in the know-your-customer space,” said Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO designate for Wipro.
The shift also means many of the mundane tasks done by Wipro engineers would be irrelevant. This also provides an opportunity for them to train in newer areas such as digital technologies, a segment that the traditional firms are struggling to adapt.
“People were worried at first. Now everyone wants to get released because they’re getting trained in digital. So, it’s a part of change management, that’s how it happens,” said Neemuchwala.
“As growth slows in enterprise IT, Wipro is looking to reinvigorate this space,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group.
