Can help Indian govt replicate digital public goods in other EMs: IBM CEO

The pandemic definitely accelerated digital delivery in India - Aadhaar, UPI, how securities are working and mobile banking being some examples - says Arvind Krishna

On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, IBM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna tells Pranjal Sharma that a company like his can help the Indian government in replicating its digital public goods in other emerging economies. Edited excerpts:

Q. The restructuring of IBM with Kyndryl is an important development. How do you see that maturing in the next few years at a global level?

A. The pieces around the Kyndryl spin-off are complete. It’s done and behind us. The implication is it has allowed IBM to become much more focused on the two areas of consulting and software as opposed to infrastructure management. We put 100 per cent of our expense and capital behind those two areas.

That has shown results in the last four quarters in the form of improved growth, much better client NPS (net promoter score, indicating customer loyalty and satisfaction), and higher engagement from our own employees and stakeholders.

I always say that there is a lot of work ahead of us. But the early signals are very good in tangible outcomes.

Q. From an India perspective, we are using technology at scale—last mile delivery to hundreds and millions of people in nearly every sector. What role do you see IBM playing in both supporting the private sector and any government initiatives?

A. I think India has made remarkable progress. Many measures were put in place before the pandemic. The pandemic definitely accelerated digital delivery—whether you look at Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), how securities are working or mobile banking. We want to play as big a role as possible.

It’s a competitive market, so we are very pleased with the work we have done with the State Bank of India on the YONO app. It is something that IBM helped the bank build and we are very pleased with its success.

We are also very pleased with the leveraging of open source (in India). We may not always directly commercially benefit, but sometimes we will. I’ve heard Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also say that India will not just consume open source, but also provide it.

We are very pleased with some of the government policies and legislation and I hope those will continue, in terms of flexibility in labour laws, economic zones, as well as the government encouraging companies to base operations within India. I’m hopeful that we’re reaching the end of the license Raj. You no longer need permission from hundreds of bureaucrats to do things and I have observed that things have gotten much faster in the last few years.

Q. I think technology is being used for faster decision-making...

A. I think the Government e Marketplace (GEM), the goods and services tax, etc, are important. But the bigger point is that technology improves transparency. Many people say sunlight is the best antiseptic, so it’s very hard to keep things opaque.

Q. The government and private sector’s vision is that digital public goods are not just for India, but could create a template for other emerging economies...

A. I think that is a work in progress. You can create a model, but it will only go so far. With due respect, that is the role maybe of the World Economic Forum, the UN, or the G20. That’s not a role for companies.

Now, if we actually want to replicate the model, that may be a role that companies like ours can play because we often help our government clients in other countries. We can deploy banking systems, payment systems, social security, retirement, benefits, real-time payments—there’s a lot of aspects where there is work to be done. It will come down to intellectual property. What are the licensing constraints? Is the government open?

Others must also make profits along the way, because otherwise why would anyone put their capital at risk? Those are the questions to be answered. I don’t mean that to be negative. I’m actually hopeful that this is going to be possible.