Plano, Texas: Haiintel has appointed Karthik Sukumaran as its first chief executive officer (CEO), bringing on board the former Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Vice President and Business Unit Head to lead its enterprise software modernization and AI-driven services business.
Sukumaran spent 26 years at TCS, where he most recently served as Vice President and Business Unit Head.
Haiintel, a studio company of Vibrant Capital, is building its business around an AI-driven delivery model that combines small human teams with AI agents.
The company aims to modernize enterprise software by deploying two-person teams to direct AI agents and charging clients for agreed outcomes rather than the hours spent delivering services.
Shadman Zafar, CEO of Vibrant Capital, said Sukumaran had built his reputation with C-suite executives by being direct about delivery requirements and remaining accountable for results.
“AI is changing how enterprises buy technology services. For decades, they have paid by the hour. Now software can do the work, so they can pay for the outcome.
That is Services as Software, and Haiintel is building its business on it. Karthik has seen this shift firsthand and knows how to lead it.”
Karthik Sukumaran to Lead Haiintel’s AI-Driven Enterprise Transformation
Haiintel focuses on modernizing legacy enterprise applications by transitioning monolithic systems to microservices and cloud environments.
The company also develops new systems using its Hai agents, which are designed to support software development and enterprise technology delivery.
Traditionally, large technology programs relied on hundreds of people to execute complex projects. Agile methodologies subsequently introduced smaller teams, while Amazon’s “two-pizza” rule popularized the idea of keeping teams small enough to be fed by two pizzas.
Haiintel is taking this approach further through its 2H+AI Pod model, which brings together two human team members and a fleet of AI agents.
Under this model, AI agents receive the first opportunity to execute each task, while the two human team members make critical judgments and remain accountable for the results.
Through this approach, Karthik Sukumaran will lead a business seeking to change how enterprises execute software modernization and technology transformation projects.
Haiintel’s Outcome-as-a-Service Model
Haiintel operates through an Outcome-as-a-Service model in which clients pay for agreed outcomes measured against technology or business key performance indicators (KPIs), rather than simply paying for the time spent on a project.
For software modernization projects, these outcomes include retiring technical debt, deploying services into production, migrating workloads to the cloud and completing system cutovers without downtime.
The company said its early engagements across the fintech, retail and healthcare sectors have delivered software in approximately half the time and at approximately half the cost of a conventional Agile team working on the same scope.
The model combines AI-powered execution with outcome-based pricing, positioning software delivery around measurable results. Haiintel’s approach places AI agents at the centre of task execution while retaining human oversight for decision-making and accountability.
Karthik Sukumaran Brings 26 Years of TCS Experience
During his 26-year career at Tata Consultancy Services, Karthik Sukumaran developed transformation blueprints for Fortune 50 enterprises, working through successive technology platform shifts, from mobile computing to artificial intelligence.
He also built multimillion-dollar client businesses across the automotive, banking, financial services and insurance sectors. Before joining TCS, Sukumaran began his career as an R&D engineer at Lucas TVS.
Commenting on his appointment, Sukumaran said the size of delivery teams had historically influenced both the cost and pace of enterprise transformation projects.
“I’ve spent my career inside large enterprise transformations, and the size of the delivery team has always set the cost and the pace,” said Sukumaran.
“At Haiintel, two people and their agents do that work, and clients pay for results. I joined to bring that model to many more enterprises.”
His appointment comes as Haiintel builds its enterprise software modernization business around AI agents, small human teams and outcome-based commercial arrangements.
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