VIJAY GUNTUR
THE TECHNOLOGY INTERVIEW
Watching a traybearing robot in a pizza parlour is equal parts fascinating and frustrating. A single stray chair can freeze the unit, requiring human intervention. While industrial physical AI on factory floors or oil rigs is far more sophisticated, these hesitation hurdles show that the technology is not quite there yet.
It is precisely this challenge that Vijay Guntur, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems and Practices at global technology firm HCLTech, is helping enterprises solve. Vijay explains that physical AI – systems that process real-time vision and sensor data to make physical decisions – is rapidly moving from niche experiment to core industrial infrastructure.
VIJAY GUNTUR
TITLE: CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AND HEAD OF ECOSYSTEMS AND PRACTICES
COMPANY: HCLTECH INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY
Vijay has been in the technology industry for 38 years. At HCLTech, he drives technology strategy across AI, cloud and engineering while building strategic partnerships with semiconductor leaders, OEMs and hyperscalers.
“ For AI to work, you need to have high-quality data”
Vijay Guntur Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems and Practices HCLTech
Exploring the potential of physical AI To understand how HCLTech is addressing these challenges, it helps to look at the enterprise framework driving their strategy.
With 38 years of experience within the HCL group, Vijay has seen technology cycles come and go, from the early days of microcomputers to the current era of generative and autonomous systems. His role today is multifaceted, focusing on incubating new technologies and building the partnerships necessary to scale them.
“ Practices is where we incubate new technology, new solutions and help our customers in their business objectives,” Vijay explains. This division is central to how the company approaches the modern enterprise, focusing on AI, physical AI and the critical task of modernising legacy IT estates.
The company’ s ecosystem strategy is equally vital, fostering relationships with semiconductor manufacturers, model providers like OpenAI and Anthropic, and major hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft and Google. These partnerships are essential for delivering scalable, multimillion-dollar solutions to global clients.
technologymagazine. com 27