A candid chat with Abhijeet Singh Rathore, Director of Business Development at Arna Softech.
After 15+ years in enterprise technology sales, Abhijeet knows how business leaders think about AI, data and cloud, and what separates a smart investment from an expensive trend. Recently we sat down with him for an open conversation, asking tough questions that most industry leaders are asking today. Here’s how the conversation went.
Every company seems to have an AI agenda right now. How can a leadership team tell whether they’re chasing a real opportunity or just keeping up with everyone else?
After 15 years in IT business development, I’ve noticed that the conversation usually starts in the wrong place. Leaders ask, “How can we use AI?”
I’d flip it. Ask, “What’s a business problem we could solve better, faster, or more profitably with AI?” That one change filters out a lot of noise. AI makes sense when there’s a real business problem it can help solve.
How should a leadership team choose between an opportunity that pays off now and one that builds capability for the future?
We came across this situation with a mid-sized fintech client not long ago. Their leadership was weighing two options. One was a quick win. Automating the reconciliation work their finance team spent days on every month. The other was a big investment in a modern data and cloud platform, so they could eventually use AI for fraud detection and credit risk.
We suggested doing both, in order. Start with the quick win, because it was low risk and easy to measure. Then use that result to justify building the platform in phases. The quick win changed the conversation. The bigger investment stopped feeling like a leap of faith, because the near-term value was already paying for it.
Read more: How we built a custom AI-driven trading platform.
With 18 months to turn an AI and data strategy into something tangible, where should leaders focus their time and investment?
18 months is enough time to make meaningful progress, provided you don’t try to do everything at once. I’d focus on three things –
- 1.Data quality
- 2. Scalable cloud and data foundation
- 3. 2 to 3 high-value AI use cases where you can clearly measure the results
I’d avoid committing to large-scale AI investments before those use cases have been validated. Prove what works first. Then use that evidence to guide the next round of investment.
What’s a pattern you’ve noticed in how successful businesses approach major technology decisions?
The most successful businesses I’ve worked with don’t treat technology as a line item to be trimmed. They treat it as a way to grow. Every major investment is linked to a business outcome, and the measure of success is agreed upfront. The business team and the technology team work through these decisions together from the beginning. One brings the business needs to the table and the other helps figure out what’s feasible.
How do you spot a valuable technology opportunity before a company has even defined what it needs?
In my experience working with enterprise clients, it starts with understanding the business.
I start by looking at these 3 things –
1. What is the company aiming for in the next few years?
2. Which processes are costing the business time, effort or money?
3. What stands between the company and its next stage of growth?
When you get clear answers to these, the opportunities start to show up. Then it’s a matter of connecting those problems to practical technology solutions.
If there’s one thing business leaders should keep in mind when making technology decisions over the next few years what would it be?
I’d keep coming back to one principle. Think about business needs before the technology.
Look at where technology can give you a real competitive edge, help you make better decisions, or deliver more value to customers. And before making a large investment, prove that it works. Let the evidence decide how far and how fast you go, not the excitement around the technology.
What’s one question you’d like to put to the business leaders and technology innovators you meet at BTS?
Here’s the question I’d put to them –
AI is reshaping industries, so what’s one challenge in your own business that technology could solve today, but you haven’t gotten to yet?
Simply talking about a challenge might help someone see it differently.
Let’s take this discussion beyond the page. Find time to talk with Abhijeet at BTS.
Set up a meeting with him – https://arnasoftech.com/bengaluru-tech-summit-2026/
