Former Infosys chief has a new startup that wants to challenge the IT services world

Sikka's New Venture Targets IT Services Core

Vishal Sikka, the former CEO of Infosys, has launched a new startup, Hang Ten Systems, securing a $32 million seed round to directly challenge the traditional IT services model. The company aims to use AI to automate the customization, integration, and maintenance of enterprise software—tasks that have generated billions for consulting firms for decades. The move comes as legacy players, including Infosys itself, are racing to integrate generative AI through partnerships with firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, signaling a critical inflection point for the entire industry.

Technology and Financial Backing

The seed funding was led by Mayfield, with strategic participation from Aramco Ventures and prominent angel investors, placing Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang on the board. Hang Ten Systems describes its platform as an enterprise AI services company built on agentic code generation and reusable AI skills. This model is designed to scale differently from traditional services, where growth is tied directly to headcount. The startup is already working with initial customers, including Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Fresenius, and is actively hiring to expand its global delivery capabilities. Sikka's core team includes long-time collaborators from his tenures at SAP, Infosys, and his previous startup, VianAI.

• Total Funding: $32 million (Seed)
• Lead Investor: Mayfield
• Key Technology: Agentic code generation, reusable AI skills
• Founders: Vishal Sikka, Navin Budhiraja, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Tao Liu
• Board Members: Includes Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo)

Disruption or Expansion?

Hang Ten’s launch intensifies the debate over AI's long-term impact on the IT services sector. While analysts at Jefferies have identified the industry as ripe for disruption, established leaders like Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani argue that AI will expand the total addressable market. The investment thesis from Mayfield supports the disruption argument, betting that Hang Ten’s leverage will grow with every project, creating a more scalable and efficient model. This divergence in outlook is reflected in the market, with shares of traditional firms like Infosys under pressure as investors re-evaluate business models dependent on large-scale human capital.

The launch of Hang Ten Systems represents a direct challenge to the fundamental economic model of IT services. Instead of scaling revenue linearly with employee headcount, its AI-native approach aims for compounding leverage, where the value of its AI agents and reusable skills grows with each new customer engagement, threatening the core business logic of incumbents.