01:05 So while customers are embarking on programs, but it also means they need to
01:08 significantly transform and evolve their data landscapes.
01:09 So that is again a big opportunity area.
01:11 And we see some opportunities in that space.
01:13 So while the overall
01:14 discretionary spend environment would be similar, there are some pockets where we believe there is strength.
01:16 And we are focusing on that.
01:18 And then the biggest opportunity continues to be a hyper automated,
01:20 delivering hyper
01:26 automation,
01:27 efficiency,
01:27 productivity
01:28 benefits to
01:28 clients.
01:29 And that is a big
01:31 theme which is continuing to play out in vendor
01:33 consolidation and
01:34 cost takeout
01:35 opportunities.
01:35 I don't want to
01:37 comment on
01:37 others, but
01:38 if you look at
01:39 our bookings
01:40 and revenue,
01:41 there is a
01:42 very strong
01:43 correlation
01:43 between
01:43 cost
01:44 takeout
01:44 and
01:45 efficiency.
01:45 So
01:46 that is
01:46 a big
01:47 opportunity
01:47 for
01:47 customers
01:48 to
01:48 take
01:48 advantage
01:48 of.
01:49 And
01:49 when you
01:50 look at
01:51 revenue,
01:51 there is a
01:52 very strong
01:52 correlation.
01:53 Like last
01:53 quarter,
01:54 we had a
01:54 historically
01:55 high booking
01:56 close to
01:56 $4 billion.
01:57 We see it
01:58 translate to
01:59 revenue this
01:59 quarter.
02:00 So I
02:00 think we've
02:01 done our
02:02 internal
02:02 analysis.
02:02 And the
02:03 way we
02:04 classify
02:04 booking,
02:05 it's all
02:05 net new
02:06 booking.
02:06 And that
02:07 has a
02:07 very high
02:08 correlation
02:08 to the
02:09 revenue.
02:09 Disruptive
02:10 service
02:10 provider
02:10 in the
02:11 BFSI
02:11 space.
02:12 And of
02:12 course, this
02:13 quarter was
02:13 impacted by
02:14 furloughs.
02:14 I don't
02:15 think
02:15 that's
02:15 a
02:15 big
02:16 opportunity
02:16 for
02:16 us.
02:17 And I
02:17 think the
02:18 reason we
02:18 were able to
02:19 get a lot of
02:21 revenue this
02:21 quarter was
02:22 impacted by
02:22 furloughs.
02:23 I do believe our prospects in BFSI continues to be strong.
02:25 We've grown 12.9% year on year.
02:27 That's the highest probably anybody's BFSI business is growing.
02:29 I think it's, again, led by efficiency, hyper automation, and some specific programs around data and cyber security. And those are the opportunities in financial services that we are looking at.
02:32 I think it's, again, led by efficiency, hyper automation, and some specific programs around data and cyber security. And those are the opportunities in financial services that we are looking at.
02:37 >> I think we're seeing a lot of programs. Most of them are pilots which are being implemented. We're seeing some very good success out of the pilots that we've implemented. In fact, this quarter we had, as I mentioned, 30-plus gen AI-specific orders that we've won, which are all under execution. And I think that's a big opportunity for us to grow. I think it's, again, led by efficiency, hyper automation, and some specific programs around data and cyber security. And those are the opportunities in financial services that we're looking at.
02:44 >> I think we're seeing a lot of programs. Most of them are pilots which are being implemented. We're seeing some very good success out of the pilots that we've implemented. In fact, this quarter we had, as I mentioned, 30-plus gen AI-specific orders that we've won, which are all under execution.
03:08 >> While the real scale-up will happen over a period of time, but more than gen AI, the need to kind of adopt gen AI in a very effective manner is driving significant spend in the data landscape, both data modernization, cloud migration. Some customers are trying a private stack for their own LLMs.
03:33 So it's the surround spend which enables gen AI that's where the biggest opportunity is. And as a kind of holistic service provider with hyperscaler partnerships, hybrid cloud, private cloud capabilities, and strong presence in data, all of that, we think in the next two, three quarters we will see some sizable programs, which is kind of driven by the aspiration of what gen AI can do for an industry.
04:02 It's not just what gen AI can do for an enterprise, but it's really getting all the foundational blocks in place. So I think it will take a couple of more quarters in our assessment.
04:16 >> So I think that's definitely the concern. And some of the macro aspects and geopolitical aspects are continuing to put strain on our clients' P&L. So they are going to continue to look at every spend with a stronger ROI kind of an outlook. I mean, that's primarily the challenge.
04:37 Opportunities, of course, there are a lot of bright spots, as I said, cybersecurity, SAP, modernization, data, and getting your landscape ready to get the full benefit of gen AI. I think there's going to be a lot of foundational investments that are being made. So I think those are the opportunities at this point.
05:00 >> Outlook for mega deals, I mean, at this point, we have a strong pipeline, and it's got a mix of small, mid-sized, and large deals. So we expect some of the deals to get converted in the Q4 and even next year. So pipeline is strong with different flavor of deals across the spectrum.
05:21 At this point, we don't -- I mean, most of the efficiency-led opportunities, we don't see any delays. However, if there is a transformation project, which the customer envisaged to kick start it or to kind of get going, there has been some delays. So cost takeout deals, I think it's been pretty brisk.
05:43 >> Outlook for 24, at this point, we are guiding for financial year 24, which ends in March, where we expect to do a revenue growth of 5 to 5.5%. We're not giving any color on the next year at this point. I would wait for it. We will do that in April. In terms of the EBIT margins on software business.
06:11 >> January is -- generally, the furloughs are higher in the December quarter, but we do have some furloughs in January as well, especially in the Asia-Pac market, there are clients who come back from the summer vacations a little late. So that's again a possibility that January also there are some furloughs.
06:35 >> As far as the guidance goes, like we said, the guidance continues to be 18 to 19% for us for this fiscal year. And 19.8% is obviously a great number to have, but that's one quarter out of four. And our number for the full year would be in that range, 18 to 19. It's a seasonally good quarter.
07:03 >> Unfortunately, that's not true for the rest of the three quarters.
