The performance and strategic shifts of Cloud23, a South African IT consulting firm, are the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.
Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Ram Ramakrishnan, the founder and CEO of Cloud23.
Ramakrishnan discusses the company’s evolution from a purely Salesforce-focused consultancy to a broader software engineering partner, their strong growth metrics, and his perspective on the adoption of AI within the financial services sector.
The company reported 35% year-on-year growth and has expanded its team to 230–235 people, with a significant presence in Johannesburg.
Growth is driven by a split between stable existing customer contracts and the new custom application business, which now accounts for about 20%–22% of revenue.
About 80% of Cloud23’s effort is dedicated to the financial services industry with clients in banking, insurance and investment management.
Ramakrishnan explains that they prefer this sector because the strict regulations provide “certainty” and stability.
He says knowing the rules of the game allows them to build precise, compliant solutions, likening it to building a Formula 1 car within known dimensions.
On AI, Cloud23 has seen massive productivity gains internally, with developers becoming 50%–70% more productive using tools such as Copilot.
The tech founder notes that while the “hype” has settled, the industry is still figuring out where to start and where to end with AI implementation.
Through the discussion Ramakrishnan outlines the company’s evolution, being a software engineering partner, growth metrics and adoption of AI.
Join the discussion:
Producer: Demi Buzo
Business Day Spotlight is an Arena Podcasts Production.
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