The year ahead: 23 Kyndryls forecast 2023

2023 Outlook Jan. 30, 2023

Toward the end of 2022, Pantone unveiled Viva Magenta as its 2023 color of the year. The color was described as a bright, crimson red—a balance of boldness and fun.

 

A similar spirit of boldness and fun flowed through conversations around Kyndryl when we asked 23 of our resident gurus what’s top of mind for 2023.

 

Their comments covered industries and geographies, business and technology.­­ ­

Scroll to read what they said.

Question #1

 

What company inspired you in 2022? Why?

Christian Klezl, Managing Partner, Germany
Sarah B. Nelson, Chief Design Officer, Kyndryl Vital, New York
Eimear Gunn, Director, UKI Digital Workplace Practice Leader, Ireland
Guy Tallent, Vice President, Global Lead for Digital Strategy & Integration, Kyndryl Consult, United States
Sergio da Motta, Director, Kyndryl Consult, Brazil
Mayumi Kawakami, Network & Edge Practice Leader, Japan
Flick March, Global Vice President, Security & Resilience, England
Warrick Cramer, Global Director of Innovation Strategy, Australia

Question #2

What question do you anticipate your customers will ask in 2023? How will you respond?

“What would you recommend I do with my mainframe infrastructure?”

My answer: place the right workload on the right platform. Sometimes that's the mainframe, sometimes it’s not. You need to evaluate each workload and determine what is the best action.

Frank DeMarco, Vice President, Core Enterprise and zCloud Global Delivery, United States

I anticipate discussions focused around how to ensure security across our government services, with awesome experiences and quick wins. More and more governments are realizing that the big monolithic projects are not the way to go. So how do we give regular and incremental outcomes?

Friedel Thurman, General Manager, Kyndryl US Federal, United States

“What do experience level agreements measure?”

XLAs are meant to align IT to the business goals. While they are a metric of experience, there is an assumption that a good experience has a translation to business value. XLAs and ESG are the two most powerful changes to IT that will enable it from being historically considered overhead, to the central IT functions being essential to business. We see this happening through the fact that as technologists, we are speaking more to customer HR and lines of business to enable their goals.

Dennis Perpetua, CTO, Digital Workplace Services, United States

“What are the most important technologies or strategies for new business growth in 2023?”

The number of cryptocurrency owners is growing faster than the number of users in the early days of the internet. It is important to develop new business that can be offered to customers around the world through web3 strategies and rapid service development in each industry.

Masashi Kono, General Manager, Kyndryl Vital, Japan

“What can I do to remove people from hazardous situations and minimize their exposure to unsafe environments?”

AI, analytics, and IoT have promise to take over hazardous tasks that are traditionally done by human beings. For example, using a digital twin with the help of cameras, sensors, and drones is inherently safer than having human beings walk the floor and climb onto structures. Instead of exposing operators to hours of driving,  increasing likelihood of an accident, use connectivity in remote sites to transmit important data. Implementing dynamic go/no-go zones based on weather changes, are some of the ways operations can be made safer.

Farrukh Akram, General Manager, Energy and Utilities, Canada

“How to create an IT strategy to minimize the impact of global events on the evolution of the business?”

Business increasingly depends on technology. The shortage of electronic components, the dependence on a single manufacturer, the increase in the prices of IT inputs, and long delivery times for equipment have shown that the IT strategy must be redesigned to sustain the business during these events. There is no point in having unlimited CAPEX or OPEX if the solution is not available for delivery.

José Felipe Ruppenthal, Associate Partner, Next Generation Network Services, Brazil

“How can I adapt to the changing risk landscape?”

Every day we continue to see new adverse conditions that threaten organizations’ ability to operate. I suggest to clients that they first understand the risks they face and then create plans so they can respond and quickly recover from any issues they might have.

Flick March, Global Vice President, Security & Resilience, England

Question #3

 

What technology development are you excited to watch in 2023?

Question #4

 

What question do you hope no one has to ask in 2023?

“How can I cut my IT cost?”

I believe customers should ask how they can innovate and transform their IT to make it more efficient and better respond to business needs. Cost cutting should not be the starting point, but the likely output.

Andrea Busnelli, Country Leader, Kyndryl Consult, Italy

“Why can’t we go back to the way things used to be?”

I truly hope a basic level of understanding has cemented itself in our minds, and we all understand we must move forward on a brand new voyage.

Tony Black, Business Development Partner, Kyndryl Federal, United States

“How quickly can you help us recover from our ransomware attack and data breach, and get our systems up and running as quickly as possible?”

The healthcare industry continues to be a significant target for cybercrime—particularly ransomware and data breaches. Healthcare records continue to be the most value data on the black market. While it may be a bit idealistic, it would be terrific if no clients (across all industries, not just healthcare) ever had to ask that question.

Rich Varos, Managing Partner, United States

“How should society and country government control the evolution and growth of social media, marketplaces, and technology innovation?”

Society needs to impose ethical limits, but government should not limit creativity and transformation to protect
less efficient and productive ways of doing business. Imagine if we have regulated rail or automotive industries
to protect the use of horses. Shall we regulate fin-techs or crypto currencies to protect the financial industry?

Sergio da Motta, Director, Kyndryl Consult, Brazil

“How do I start my transformation to digitalization or my journey to the cloud?”

My wish is that everyone has already started. Latin American companies must realize that the world is changing, moving towards new possibilities and opportunities to go further. Organizations must be aware of the importance and
need to move and manage their burdens towards a digital environment, to optimize their operations and keep pace with the speed at which the world and societies are advancing.

Gustavo Espinoza, Head of Kyndryl Consult, Mexico  

“How do I reset my password?” 

We have driven employee experience to such a place that they can self-serve. The technology and platforms are in place to self-heal, anticipate issues before they occur and correct, and we can finally exploit all the data and insights that we have from each device and system.

Eimear Gunn, Director, UKI Digital Workplace Practice Leader, Ireland

Question #5

 

Fill in the blank. 2023 will be the year of ______ . Explain why.

Carole Roumié, Strategic Clients Director, France
Darryl Wilson, Kyndryl Consult, Global Digital Workplace Services, Canada
Rich Varos, Managing Partner, United States
Sarah B. Nelson, Chief Design Officer, Kyndryl Vital, United States
Dennis Perpetua, CTO, Digital Workplace Services, United States
Mayumi Kawakami, Network & Edge Practice Leader, Japan
Farrukh Akram, General Manager, Energy & Utilities, Canada
Friedel Thurman, General Manager, Kyndryl US Federal, United States