HCL Tech working on autonomous car platform, IoT to drive engineering and R&D

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The engineering and R&D services segment, which Rao heads, grew 6.3% in constant currency terms in the September quarter

In conversation with Moneycontrol, GH Rao, President of Engineering and R&D (ERD) Services at HCL Technologies, spoke about the efforts and investments the company is making in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicles, including a platform developed in collaboration with IIT-Madras.

Q: Nasscom says ERD is among the fastest-growing segments in the industry this year. Is the momentum still there?

A: Definitely. There are good technology trends where products have to be re-engineered. This is more broad-based rather than just one specific segment. Because of our depth in whatever technologies and service lines, we have been able to catch the services as well as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) segment.

Q: Are there any particular areas you’re focusing on within ERD?

A: The focus is IoT (Internet-of-things) driven, in the sense that we have to make products more intelligent, capable of more communication and more analytics. Products are literally dumb so they can get connected to the ecosystem so they are more autonomous. This is definitely the trend.

More software content is coming into products. If you take a car, tomorrow’s car will have a lot more software. With upgrades coming over the air, I think that means a massive amount of software has to be developed. Some of it is engineering software. We are latching on to this trend and it is giving us good growth.

Q: What about the autonomous car project you have with IIT-Madras?

A: I wouldn’t say it is a car that you can take to the street, but we developed this platform to develop specific technologies. We are not a car company. We are looking to develop some technologies, getting to know what it takes to develop an autonomous car.

It gives us an edge and help us better market it to the customers, we are better developing some algorithms, mostly as a technology demonstration. Overall in a limited sense, it works without a driver.

Q: Increasingly there is a lot of discussion around the issue of ethics in AI (artificial intelligence). How are companies like HCL looking at this? 

A: I was part of one of the (government) committees on AI but couldn’t continue.

The challenge in AI is security. When you have intelligent devices and they are connected then security becomes a big issue. We are helping lot of customers in this area- how do we make these connected and intelligent devices more secure.

Ethics is a little bit longer-term problem where the devices become more autonomous, and with a small trigger, can be deployed. When they become so intelligent and so autonomous, can they be driven in such a way that is is against humanity? Yes. It is a huge problem but development is not impacted by this fear.

If you see the positive trends in every field like healthcare, the impact is phenomenal. Even doctors can take phenomenal help from such

Society will do some corrections in the thought process. As of now, there are no regulations on AI. As you move on there could be more regulations. Even though autonomous car technology is there, and even though today’s technology of autonomous cars may be reasonably safe, it still not deployed because of regulatory issues. Something similar will happen in other fields.

Its too far fetched but a good discussion to have.

Q: Geography-wise, where do you see ERD developing the strongest?

A: I think traditionally it is US which is the strongest. Europe and Japan are the other two. Japan is one of the top three R&D spenders, but language is a barrier. We are the largest ERD provider in Japan.

Q: What is HCL’s presence in Japan? How do you deal with language and cultural issues, and is trust a barrier?

A: In Japan, they need more time to change. They have a fixed ways of working, so culturally how we connect with them is a barrier apart from language.

I have worked very closely with the Japanese and I don’t think trust is a problem. If you are able to establish a relationship, I think they are very trusting and supporting people.

Q: Are there any other promising geographies you see in the ERD business?

A: These are the top three. China is there and increasing its spend in engineering. We do have centres in China for engineering services but I would say it is more strategic investment in China rather than being big revenue for us.