A LETTER TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS
As I write this letter to you - our Shareholders, I am reminded of what Charles Dickens
made famous - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring
of hope, it was the winter of despair." This struggle with polar extremes seems to
summarize what we as an industry and indeed the globe is confronted with. Just as we seem
to have recovered from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, other events seem to have
overtaken the return to normalcy. These developments include geopolitical conflicts in
Europe and other parts of the world, disruption of global supply chains, an attempt to
reexamine global energy security needs, and a potential funding winter for hi-tech
start-ups.
Much as this may have created cynicism and a restive attitude, as chairperson of your
Company I believe there is room to be hopeful about the human spirit of resilience which
we internalize as the 'Can-Do' spirit. The industry seems to do away with anything called
normal and NASSCOM dubs this as the 'No-Normal' era. As a company that has navigated
through multiple headwinds and turbulence arising from structural changes in the industry
and the rapid evolution of technology, we seem to possess the means to ride one more
storm. What enables us as a company to do this is that we are small enough to adapt and
learn and large enough to invest and grow. Our human capital has demonstrated the
commitment to remain agile and work with inspiration which indeed is one of our core
differentiators.
Having been one of the first to enable the work-from- anywhere model, we continue to
fine-tune and offer flexibility to all Sasians to work from an optimum location. We see a
hybrid work model being a permanent part of an enterprise's fabric in the years to come.
In the current year, we have made a number of changes keeping in mind our core objectives
of being Tech-First, World-Class, and upholding Intellectual Integrity.
We have inducted our alumni who are delighted to join their alma mater in its quest to
be a differentiated and leading provider of product engineering and digital services.
Abhijit Kabra, our Chief Executive Officer, returns to your Company after a successful
track record in the product engineering and digital space. He has been able to induct key
talent in the areas of technology, sales & marketing leadership. We have also
strengthened our board of directors with the addition of two new independent directors-Mr.
Raja Ramana Macha & Mr. Sunil Sachan. They bring immense experience in areas such as
innovation, management of technology, and mergers & acquisitions in the high-tech
industry. These additions to your Company are a testimony to the trust and confidence
stakeholders place in your Company.
As in the previous year, we continue to focus on business growth and sales, building a
world-class team that delivers on business goals and flawless execution with a focus on
end results. Our organizational focus as in the previous fiscal years remains on being a
provider of a comprehensive bouquet of services addressing the product engineering and
digital needs of equipment manufacturers and service providers. The sectoral focus
includes automotive, industrials, communications & devices, telecommunication
networks, satellite, and semiconductors. I will highlight each of the sectors we serve.
On the automotive front, we focus on winning and executing business from both tier-1s
and OEMs. Some of the notable highlights in the automotive arena include the work we do
for leading electric vehicle manufacturers in their quest to address the growing market
for autonomous vehicles.
We have also worked with tier-1s to scope and build next-generation telematics systems.
In addition, we have enhanced connectivity, human-machine interface, and rapid charging
solutions for leading EV manufacturers who have incorporated software delivered by your
Company in vehicles that have taken the market by storm. With the increased proliferation
of the Android platform into the core of automobiles, we are encouraged to see an uptick
in demand for services across all functional areas we address. An addition this year has
been our single-minded focus to build an intelligent test automation suite to help tier-1s
and auto OEMs reduce the cycle time for testing, identifying and resolving bugs faster,
and reducing the overall cost and time for the development of next-gen features.
Communication networks and devices have played a central role in providing highly
reliable and high available bandwidth connections supporting sophisticated communication
needs across the globe. We work across a wide variety of areas including the development,
testing, enhancement, and maintenance of Internet protocol-based virtual private networks
solutions, and radio-defined networks in both terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
Our work in 4G LTE and 5G addresses the needs of both wireless carriers as well as
non-terrestrial network providers such as the next-generation satellite broadband
companies. We have successfully completed the delivery of critical milestones for our
ongoing satellite program including the delivery of innovative testing solutions to help
accelerate field deployment. We continue to provide mission-critical support to enterprise
devices built on the Android operating systems platform both in terms of operating system
upgrades and security management releases.
In the industrial business segment, our focus has been on helping customers build
secure enterprise devices and work at the cusp of the PHY-D (Physical to Digital)
interface. One area of significant contribution by your Company has been in delivering a
complex platform running several million lines of code that supports highly complex
process-intensive industries. Engagements such as this validate our ability to offer a
differentiated proposition that we have labeled Chip to Cognition. We make this assertion
as we enable the entire chain of events from data sensing to data-driven decisionmaking.
Another instance of the work we do in the industrial realm is to support manufacturers of
modular industrial welding solutions and elevator manufacturers to address the need for
incorporating embedded solutions in their product design.
The semiconductor industry has rightfully been declared a strategic asset given the
disruptions of the global supply chains. The looming uncertainty has had its impact on the
quantum & velocity of outsourcing from key players in the industry. Our scope of
offerings continues to be focused on development and testing services for semiconductor
platforms primarily addressing the smart device, communication networks, and automotive
segments.
Our digital services are a horizontal layer that complements our core product
engineering offering or on a standalone basis focuses on the digitization of products and
digitalization of production. Some notable work we have executed in this sector includes
the building of digital services for railway track laying machines that are
mission-critical in building and maintaining high-speed railroad networks. In addition, we
have executed highly innovative projects in the area of leveraging technologies such as
blockchain, AI, and ML in the area of highly integrated supply chain management. Finally,
we make steady progress in delivering cutting-edge solutions for multi-transport operators
by helping them digitize and hence integrate their operations. Thereby helping them to
bring both efficiencies in operations and be more responsive to their customer's needs.
Zinnov, a leading consultancy firm, in their annual rigorous evaluation of the top
ER&D service providers, has rated us in the leadership zone for small and medium
service providers. This is testimony to Sasken's expansive coverage of verticals and
customer spread including a high degree of specialization, process & practice
maturity, innovation, and ecosystem linkages. Sasken has also been rated in the leadership
zone in the automotive, semiconductor, and telecommunications verticals.
DIVIDEND DATA
During the year, your Company paid an interim dividend of Rs.12 per equity share in
October 2022; and (b) recommended a final dividend of Rs.13 per equity share. The total
dividend for the year ended March 31, 2023 would be Rs.25 per equity share of Rs.10 each.
My management team and I wish to thank you for the continued confidence that you have
placed in us over the last three decades and look forward to better times ahead.
Rajiv C. Mody
Chairman & Managing Director.