Over the years, the company has became one of India’s first pure-play data analytics companies to be listed on the stock market. The shift from a bootstrap startup into a publicly listed company brought greater visibility among clients, investors and talent.
Moving beyond tech firms
Technology remains a significant contributor to LatentView’s business but Rajan Sethuraman, CEO, points out that BFSI was the fastest-growing vertical during the last financial year. A key turning point came in 2019 when LatentView reorganised its business around industry verticals instead of geographies, marking a move from execution partner to build deeper domain expertise. The company strengthened its capabilities through acquisitions and investments. Its acquisition of Decision Point, a global analytics company, expanded presence in the consumer goods sector. The recent investment of about USD 3 million in US-based Healthon, signals a stronger push into healthcare and life sciences. “Healthcare and life sciences are very big users of data analytics and AI. The potential is immense,” points out Sethuraman. The company sees opportunities across clinical research, drug discovery, health insurance and revenue cycle management.
New frontiers of growth
Sethuraman believes that AI discussions should not be limited to automation and job losses as it helps access a much deeper level of business information and insights. “Our hypothesis is that the pie will grow because of the details and there will be a need for human intuition, intelligence and decision-making,” he points out. That ability to convert insights into business decisions will become increasingly important for enterprises ultimately opening new opportunities for analytics and AI-led services firms. At the same time, technology services industry is entering a period of change. “The biggest stumbling block for large IT services companies is that today their revenue is largely predicated on effort. That model is now being questioned in a significant way,” stresses Sethuraman. AI is likely to reduce dependence on traditional effort-based models and increase the importance of specialised expertise and business outcomes.
Utilising the opportunities
The growing GCC ecosystem in India, increasingly focused on innovation and AI-led transformation, is expected to drive growth. LatentView generated about USD 2 million in revenue from India-based decision makers last year and expects that figure to double this year. Despite the opportunities, Sethuraman believes the AI industry is still in a phase of rapid change and uncertainty. The company is therefore continuing to invest in capability building and skilling as technologies evolve at a rapid pace. “The next year or so is going to be fairly turbulent. Every week is going to bring some news which will sway things in one direction or the other,” cautions Sethuraman