The death of the Project Manager

With the advent of software scaling horizontally, automation, small teams—so small that Jeff Bezos called them 'Two Pizza Teams'—today's businesses are doing away with project management. Or at least project management as we knew it

Handling communication, managing leaves, mediating disputes—the Project Manager was the backbone of Indian IT

For the modern business, software isn’t an “enabler” like it was in the 90s. Today, it doesn’t matter which market or sector the company is in

Before, Indian IT deals started small and then grew in scope over the years as more people, requirements and budgets were tacked on. That's changing

Thanks to automation and AI, the number of programmers required to deliver on a project continues to fall over time

The Indian IT and ITeS (IT-enabled services) industries are big. Clocking in over $150 billion in annual revenue, they are estimated to contribute nearly 8% to India’s GDP. They are also employment magnets, collectively employing nearly 4 million people.

They are also not in the pink of health. These industries are grappling with slowing revenue growth, layoffs, rising protectionism in markets like the US, and the ignominy of being bested at their own outsourcing game by competitors like Accenture.

And yet, TCS, the largest of the Indian players, has announced deals worth nearly $6 billion in just over a month.

AUTHOR

Sidu Chonira

Sidu's worked in the Indian IT industry, both services and product, for 12 years. He has held two jobs and co-founded four startups in that period. He has worked as an engineer, product manager, salesperson, recruiter, marketer, CTO and CEO. He has failed more times than he can count. His most recent startup was acquired by GO-JEK, an Indonesian unicorn, in 2015. At GO-JEK, he serves on the Board of Directors, heads Technology Recruiting and also heads Data Engineering.

View Full Profile

Others tell you what. We tell you the ‘So What?’

Read articles that decode the most significant shifts happening around business, technology, startups and healthcare. 1000+ articles for subscribers of the India edition. 150+ articles for subscribers of the Southeast Asia edition. Plus premium newsletters that help you make sense of the world around you.

So much journalism in India is superficial.

Articles are generic, almost cookie-cutter in their approach. And they don’t provide enough context on the issues they cover. The Ken is different. I don’t always agree with everything they say but I appreciate their commitment to publishing deeply reported narratives and investigations. Their reporters find new ways to analyze tech among other industries. And that’s always worth a read.

Sid Talwar / Co-Founder and Partner / Lightbox Venture Capital

As entrepreneurs, we thrive on being in the know at all times.

A personal subscription to The Ken was a no brainer. But as startup founders, this isn't enough. Team members also need to be in the know, for everyone handles customer-facing responsibilities and an ecosystem change that impacts customers also impacts us

Kiran Jonnalagadda / Co-founder / HasGeek and Internet Freedom Foundation