Blockchain talent in India on par with West Kanchan Ray Nagarro

In an extensive interaction with BW BusinessworldRohit Chintapali, Kanchan Ray (CTO of Nagarro) talked about the rise of low-code/no-code app development, prospects for traditional software development and blockchain development in India. Read on for excerpts from the interview.

Excerpt:

The process of software development has evolved a lot over time. Is Low Code/No Code the future of software development?

If I look at the current landscape, there is a drastic increase in the popularity of LCNC platforms that offer a fully customizable approach to app development. It’s no wonder that more and more businesses are looking for ways to bring application development capabilities into their organizations at a rapid pace.

LCNC tools enable users (even non-technical business users) to create, update, and access information without writing any code. These alternative application development methods are a good option for businesses that depend on efficient automation and streamlined process improvement, as well as for users who don’t have the time or expertise to build software from scratch. Thanks to LCNC platforms, anyone can build apps and automate processes without having to write code line by line. The demand for new applications, the lack of skilled developers, and the slow response to customer demands and sometimes a lack of collaboration between department managers and IT professionals – delay business transformations. By empowering citizen developers, LCNC platforms enable significant collaboration that leads to better communication, faster deployment times, less work for IT teams and new applications.

It is fascinating to see that in FY 2021, the Indian IT service providers and startups generated over USD 400 million in revenue from LCNC solutions, of which 70 percent came from global markets. In fact, according to a recent study by NASSCOM, the market is projected to scale to $4 billion by 2025, and Gartner also reported that LC application development will account for more than 65 percent of application development by 2024. So I think there is a huge opportunity for LCNC to make an impact in the software development arena, and companies are moving slowly and steadily towards realizing its true potential.

How does AI factor into the LCNC discussion?

From data mining to machine learning (ML), AI has gained traction over the past decade, moving from a niche tool for select use cases to mainstream solutions. With the various advances in AI, there is a phenomenal expansion in the other aspects of development and includes far more tools to help developers accelerate their solution processes. On the other hand, LCNC platforms are becoming hugely popular in all industries, as they allow software developers to build applications without having to code/test/scale all the application code. While this may sound wonderful, it is also complicated, as it requires the right skills of experienced professionals. The rise of AI/ML has created opportunities for companies willing to use LCNC technologies. This technology has been used in many industries and fits well with Software as a Service (SaaS), giving companies the ability to be more agile and competitive in this new era.

Also, LCNC platforms leverage ML to offer continuous, predictive guidance to developers as they work. Numerous use cases/projects are analyzed for patterns that indicate potential problems, allowing the platform to make decisions about whether or not to use automated tools. AI models, powered by ML and NLP can take a developer’s code and analyze it for patterns to identify what a developer should change to be more efficient. These suggestions can be pulled into an online platform where they can be reviewed or accepted by the developer, leading to easier development, faster time-to-market and better quality code.

What would happen to traditional development practices?

The fundamentals will remain the same – we will continue to develop software using agile methodologies, encouraging people to work and co-innovate together. But where one spends most of one’s time is going to be different. With Low Code/No Code (LCNC), we will no longer be required to spend time on basic coding-related tasks. Many developers even today think about how their code would work if it had to scale up. For example, if I’m developing an app now that only has about a thousand people using it – how would it work if tomorrow it had to scale up to a million users? Likewise – how will the app behave on different mobile phones and mobile operating systems? With many of these LCNC platforms, one doesn’t really have to worry too much about scaling and similar aspects. The focus should rather be more on how a better experience can be created, how better insight can be provided, how a more connected and automated workflow can be created, and so on.

Managing data is poised to be changed with blockchain. What is your observation on blockchain development in India?

Blockchain came with a lot of promise to decentralize data and ensure that the questions of data ownership were answered. However, much of the attention was somehow divided and went towards cryptos, NFTs. Also, blockchain should not be seen as a solution to all data ownership problems. It should only be used in cases where data needs to be decentralized and current technologies are not able to provide sufficient functions. The disappointment that the blockchain is not flourishing as much as the promise it showed in the early days is because it was used heavily in some cases where it was not needed.

Blockchain is still relevant, and time and time again the technology has shown its importance. However, the use cases must be chosen very carefully. For example, even today I would not require my bank to keep my financial records on a decentralized blockchain with shared ownership, given that I have been associated with my bank for the past 20 years and there is no lack of trust yet. We really need to stick to the strength of blockchain and implement it after due consideration.

Where does India compare to the West when it comes to blockchain talent?

I feel the blockchain talent in India is on par with the West, and in some cases even better than most places. India benefited a lot from the popularization of blockchain in its early days. Many people gravitated towards it, learned the technology, built proof of concepts, etc. and in today’s age, we see many Indian startups utilizing blockchain effectively.

Having witnessed several blockchain conferences and blockchain-based hackathons in India as well as in the West, I can confidently say that we are not lagging behind in terms of talent at all – we just need to apply it to the right problem.

Web3 will be a lot about the metaverse and the blockchain. How will these two areas come together in Web3? Can you explain to our readers?

One of the underlying design principles of the metaverse is its decentralized nature – a single entity will not own all the assets in the metaverse. Due to its underlying design being decentralized, blockchain is going to play a big role. Web 3.0 is an extension of that design principle and is going to be democratic in that sense. As decentralized apps (DApps) become more popular and smart contracts gain momentum, we will see blockchain take a much more central role in building Web 3.0. So yes, these two will certainly be a core building block in the metaverse.

Can you tell us a bit about your projects in the metaverse and blockchain space?

At Nagarro, we have used blockchain to use cases where data needed to be decentralized or smart contracts were needed. We have found that it is particularly widespread in cases where there is a lack of trust between the stakeholders in the use cases. A good example of this would be supplier-supplier relationships, where we have several buyers and suppliers with complex contracts.

Metaverse on the other hand is extremely interesting. We work with our customers to create metaverse-based games, traffic generation, customer onboarding and acquisition, brand awareness, facilitating events in the metaverse, etc. We expect expansion in creating engaging experience zones. For example, when you’re talking to a customer support manager and they make you wait for something – that idle interaction time can be recorded in Metaverse. Now, instead of waiting on the phone and listening to the boring tone, imagine waiting in an immersive and interactive metaverse and even learn something new. Another use case is interacting with live avatars instead of chatbots that can provide 24×7 support in the metaverse. This has the potential to revolutionize traditional customer service cases.

We also train our colleagues through a number of learning platforms to get to know better what the metaverse means and how it can be exploited. We actively talk to our customers on these fronts as well. We aim to become a major influencer in this area, together with the customers we work with. I think this is going to be an interesting field and we’re going to be doing a lot more in the years to come.