UST, the global IT services company, is aiming to top $2 billion in revenue next year with a new round of acquisitions in sight.
“We see a very strong momentum going into 2025,” UST CFO Vijay Padmanabhan said, as evidenced by the company’s sales pipeline.
“We are really hopeful for 2025 and beyond,” he told the Business Journal on Nov. 21.
“We are closer to $2 billion now,” Padmanabhan said. “Next year it will be much more than $2 billion.”
The company’s annual revenue has been steadily climbing since the $1.1 billion it reported in 2019 as the company continues to set ambitious growth targets.
The Aliso Viejo-based firm’s client list consists mostly of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies.
“Acquisitions will be part of our strategy on an ongoing basis,” according to the CFO. He said that would include “new geographies” without specifying where.
He noted that the IT sector faced some difficulties this year and last year.
2024 Acquisitions, Expansion
Acquisitions announced this year included the automation unit of Information Services Group; the Endeavor Consulting Group supply chain specialists and consultants; and Leonardo, a provider of business process improvement, automation and integration services in the Australia and New Zealand region.
Padmanabhan’s wide-ranging role includes global finance, tax, accounting, compliance and investor relations.
He has a degree in accounting from Kerala University near the southwestern tip of India and graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Program.
The company counts around 33,000 employees in more than 30 countries.
Its strategic technology partners include AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud, while business applications partners include Salesforce and SAP, according to the UST website. Adobe and Oracle are among the enterprise application partners.
UST said Nov. 13 that it’s expanding its operational SAP partnership into the Ukrainian market, making it the 11th country where UST and SAP collaborate Padmanabhan, a Laguna Niguel resident, has been with UST for some 25 years and he praises the local business climate.
OC: Right Talent, Visiting Customers
“Orange County has been a good place. The right talent is available,” while a lot of customers visit the company’s headquarters.
“We are very happy, and we expect to expand here,” the CFO said.
Padmanabhan said OC “doesn’t have the craziness of a big city.”
“At the same time, you have all the facilities and benefits of some big cities,” he added.
The company is making a major push in artificial intelligence for its customers.
“The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on the global stage is undeniable,” UST CEO Krishna Sudheendra told the Business Journal on Sept. 16.
The company is keeping up with the AI developments internally as well.
UST says it’s trained at least 80% of its workforce in AI skills and knowledge, while AI has been integrated into the company’s workings.
