An AI wave aimed straight at the IT services machine
Hang Ten Systems is an AI-native enterprise services startup founded by former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka to replace traditional, labor-heavy IT services work with AI-augmented consulting that builds, changes, and runs large-company software more efficiently than the outsourcing model it targets. That is the uncomfortable truth at the heart of this launch: the man who once defended the old model is now betting against it. Sikka has announced the launch of Hang Ten Systems as a new enterprise AI company aimed at helping large organizations make meaningful use of AI as a force multiplier, not as scattered pilots. The company raised USD 32 million (approx. RM148 million) in seed funding led by Mayfield, with a strategic investment from Aramco Ventures and participation from angel investors. This is not another slideware ‘AI transformation’ shop; it is pointed squarely at the software work that used to guarantee billable hours for big IT firms.
From OpenAI backer to AI-native insurgent
What makes Hang Ten Systems newsworthy is who is swinging the bat. Vishal Sikka once ran Infosys, a flagship of the IT services world, and he was at the helm when the company gave a grant to help OpenAI get off the ground. He has lived at the intersection of enterprise IT and frontier AI longer than most founders now pitching AI enterprise services. After stepping down from Infosys in 2017 following a public fallout with a co-founder, Sikka spent years building his enterprise AI convictions through another venture and board roles across industries. Hang Ten appears as a clean break: a new venture, a familiar core team, and a clear thesis that AI can perform much of the software customisation, integration, and maintenance work that IT services firms have billed enterprises for over decades. In other words, Sikka is now productizing the very automation that once threatened his old revenue base.
A $250 billion market with shaky assumptions
Hang Ten Systems is not shy about its target: the software work that global companies have long handed to firms such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro. Economic Times coverage has described the Indian software services industry as a roughly USD 250 billion-plus (approx. RM1.16 trillion) market already under AI pressure. That pressure is not theoretical; public-market investors are asking whether AI tools that automate coding, testing, documentation, and support will erode the economics of the old model. The vulnerable assumption is the labor-arbitrage narrative: that complex enterprise software projects naturally require armies of engineers and long implementation cycles. Hang Ten is betting that AI changes those unit economics before the big firms can fully defend them. One quotable line from this story is: “Hang Ten enters a market under intense scrutiny, with analysts debating whether AI will disrupt traditional IT services or expand them.” If that debate tilts toward disruption, this startup’s timing looks far from accidental.
Inside Hang Ten’s AI-native consulting model
Where legacy IT firms bolt AI onto existing delivery, Hang Ten Systems is trying to make AI the engine of the work. The company describes its model as agentic code generation, a reusable skills library, and an expert forward-deployed engineering bench focused on enterprise transformations, finance, HR, and new product development. Put simply, the machines write more of the code, while human experts curate, supervise, and tackle the edge cases. Hang Ten is already working with large customers including Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Fresenius on AI-native project delivery. According to one source, Mayfield’s managing partner highlighted that Hang Ten had paying customers within a month of launch and that its AI-native model scales through accumulated project leverage rather than headcount growth. That phrase matters: this is a deliberate pivot away from the traditional consulting playbook, where revenue grows in lockstep with the number of engineers on the bench.
Will incumbents surf the wave or be hit by it?
Hang Ten Systems is fresh and funded, but the incumbents are not passive. Chairs and founders of large IT firms are already telling shareholders that AI will amplify their companies instead of replacing them, and one has pointed to a USD 300 billion to USD 400 billion (approx. RM1.39–RM1.86 trillion) AI-first services opportunity by 2030. They have client relationships, compliance machinery, and delivery footprints that Hang Ten cannot match with USD 32 million (approx. RM148 million) in seed capital alone. Still, the symbolism is stark: a former guardian of the old services model is now launching an AI-native consulting challenger designed to chip away at its foundations. Hang Ten is betting that enterprises will trade armies of billable engineers for AI enterprise services that promise faster delivery and continuous change. If Sikka’s new wave catches momentum, the IT services disruption investors fear could be led by someone who once embodied the status quo.
