Vishal Sikka's new enterprise AI startup, Hang Ten Systems, has emerged from stealth with $32 million in seed funding. The round was led by Mayfield, with a strategic investment from Aramco Ventures and participation from angel investors. The company aims to help businesses apply AI for fundamental transformation, not just incremental efficiency gains.
The startup's name draws from the surfing manoeuvre "hang ten," where a surfer rides a wave with all ten toes over the front of the board. Sikka told The Times of India the challenge for enterprises is to avoid being overwhelmed. "Instead of getting submerged by it or getting destroyed by it, how do you ride it?" he said.
Bridging the AI strategy gap
Hang Ten positions itself as an enterprise AI transformation partner, advising CEOs on AI strategy before helping reimagine functions like product development, finance, manufacturing, HR, and supply chains. Early customers include German healthcare company Fresenius and Siemens Energy. For executives building their own AI transformation playbooks, AI for Executives & Strategy resources can provide structured guidance.
From two weeks to two minutes
Sikka argued that AI's impact goes far beyond double-digit productivity improvements. "It is not that you get 20% or 30% productivity gain," he said. "You can get thousands of times productivity gain. You can do things that are not possible to do." He cited a finance workflow at one enterprise that previously took nearly two weeks and now completes in minutes through AI-powered data harmonisation and analytics. In software engineering, projects that once required hundreds of engineers can be delivered with a fraction of the effort.
At the same time, Sikka cautioned against treating enterprise AI like consumer-facing tools. "People make mistakes with AI. People who don't understand what to do with it cannot get the benefits of it," he said. Enterprises still face challenges around hallucinations, security, privacy, governance, and the rapid evolution of AI models before deploying at scale. Hang Ten aims to bridge that gap through strategic advisory and implementation.
AI rewrites software and services
Sikka believes AI is fundamentally altering the software industry. "The 'how' comes from AI," he said, noting that while businesses increasingly know what they want to build, AI increasingly knows how to build it. This shift blurs the traditional divide between software products and IT services. Software companies-including established vendors and SaaS firms-will be reshaped as AI changes how applications are created, customised, and operated. "What once took years to build can now be developed in days or even hours with the right tools," he said.
Much of the fresh funding will go toward hiring. The company plans to recruit around 250 engineers and technical specialists, while investing in model fine-tuning and expanding its proprietary Hobie AI framework. Sikka sees India not as a back office or a global capability centre, but as a place to build real capability. "India is not a back office or a GCC for us; it's a place to build real, impactful capability that can innovate and guide others," he said. He believes India is uniquely positioned to benefit from the AI era by applying AI at scale across industries, rather than chasing the next frontier model.
Why this matters for Executives and Strategy
AI's enterprise value lies not in marginal efficiency gains but in enabling entirely new capabilities. For executives, the message is clear: invest in AI strategy and talent, not just technology. Sikka's emphasis on human expertise-"People trust people," he said-remains a critical factor. While AI can amplify individual output, judgment, experience, and trust cannot be replaced. Leaders must build organisations that combine AI-driven speed with human oversight, addressing governance, security, and model reliability head-on. For those developing their own AI transformation roadmap, the AI Learning Path for CEOs provides a framework for strategic understanding. The companies that succeed will treat AI as a strategic wave to ride, not a force to fear.
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