Global IT spending to touch $4.6 trillion in 2023: Gartner

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.6 trillion in 2023, an increase of 5.5% from 2022, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. Despite continued global economic turbulence, all regions worldwide are projected to achieve IT spending growth in 2023.

“Macroeconomic headwinds are not slowing digital transformation,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “IT spending will remain strong, even as many countries are projected to have near-flat gross domestic product (GDP) growth and high inflation in 2023. Prioritisation will be critical as CIOs look to optimise spend while using digital technology to transform the company’s value proposition, revenue and client interactions.”

The software segment will see double-digit growth this year as enterprises prioritize spending to capture competitive advantages through increased productivity, automation and other software-driven transformation initiatives. Conversely, the devices segment will decline nearly 5% in 2023, as consumers defer device purchases due to declining purchasing power and a lack of incentive to buy.

In India, IT spending is projected to total $108.5 billion in 2023, which is slightly higher than last quarter’s update. For the remainder of the year, Indian CIOs will remain cautious, targeting their spend on IT modernisation and growth initiatives. Growth initiatives, which typically involve business-led investments in applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS), will drive software spending growth in 2023.

Many Indian CIOs are embarking on cost optimization and efficiency programs which are resulting in a decline in data centre systems spending. The acceleration in cloud migration, coupled with the IT skills shortage, is projected to fuel IT services spending in India, which is on pace to reach 21.9 billion in 2023.

KFin Technologies acquires WebileApps

KFin Technologies Limited has acquired WebileApps Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based enterprise product development and design company specialising in artificial intelligence, machine learning, mobility solutions, UI / UX, and other product development for the banking and financial services industry.

Post this investment, WebileApps shall become a wholly-owned subsidiary of KFintech. The acquisition will integrate KFintech’s domain knowledge with WebileApps’s technical expertise. According to the company, the acquisition offers several advantages, including accelerated product development in SaaS and PaaS models, bringing in the additional cloud, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and design expertise.

Walmart Global Tech India showcases AI innovations for commerce

Walmart Global Tech, the technology arm of retail giant Walmart showcased the various innovations at its recently held AI @ Walmart conference in Bengaluru which focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver superior commerce experiences.

Some use cases of AI innovations at Walmart include Be Your Own Model, Smart Substitution, Smart Delivery Tags, AskSam, Vizpick and Inventory Scan.

Hari Vasudev, SVP of Retail Tech Platforms and Country Head, Walmart Global Tech, spoke about the evolution of AI, “Walmart is innovating for the future of retail. We’ve identified core technologies, such as AI, that we believe will have a profound and transformative impact on people and businesses. For instance, our conversational AI capability ‘Converse’, is lighting up multiple use cases within Walmart, such as our chatbot for customers and ‘AskSam’ for our associates. AI @ Walmart is a platform for us to share our learnings with the community as well as hear from other thought leaders across the industry on the latest AI developments.”