The year 2026 has been an Annus Horribilis for KPIT Technologies. KPIT lost its co-founder and chairman, Ravi Pandit. KPIT faced its most difficult period in recent years after losing a couple of projects following cutbacks announced by its top OEM clients. KPIT had to announce a downward revision in revenue and profit for the first half of FY27, and brokerages followed by downgrading the stock.
KPIT’s leadership team of Kishor Patil, Sachin Tikekar, Chinmay Pandit and Nirmala Pandit are regrouping and working on fresh strategies to build a resilient and nimble organisation that can handle these challenges in future. “One of the biggest learnings of the last few years is that uncertainty has become a permanent feature of business. There is unlikely to be a period of complete stability,” Patil said.
Leadership Development
The company appointed Nirmala Pandit as an additional non-independent non-executive director. As a promoter and significant shareholder, Pandit said she will strengthen continuity and support the company. Ravi Pandit built the company with people he trusted and relied on, and for him, it was never about one individual; he never projected himself as the hero behind the company, she said. “Many promoter-led organisations become identified with a single individual, but that was never his style. The institution, the values and the leadership team have always been stronger than any one person,” Pandit said. Leadership development has been a long-term focus and multiple leaders have grown within the system over many years, she adds.
Patil said they had not anticipated the speed and combination of events that unfolded. The China challenge, geopolitical developments and disruptions that affected automotive OEMs’ profitability and spending. Had these developments occurred six months later, we would probably have been in a better position to absorb them, Patil adds. The KPIT leadership team is confident of recovering in the second half of FY27.
Expanding Beyond Traditional SDVs
KPIT has been preparing for broader-based growth across regions and segments and has been investing in diversification for some time. Being a niche mobility and software-defined vehicle company was one of the biggest reasons for its success over the last five years. But now the company is looking to maintain the right balance. “You want strong specialisation but also enough breadth to pursue adjacent opportunities,” he said.
“We have also moved beyond traditional SDV programs and are increasingly focused on AI-enabled software-defined systems and software-defined machines. AI is becoming an important capability that strengthens our existing offerings rather than replacing them,” he said.
Chinmay Pandit, who handles the US market, said the US will remain an important market as KPIT’s relationships deepen here. “The North American companies have to use the tariff window to make investments to compete against China, and KPIT will be one of their better partners,” he said.
Tikekar said there will be greater focus on India and Southeast Asia, where it sees significant growth potential. They had been working on the truck and off-highway segments for four years, and micro mobility is another growth area. Tikekar views these as natural adjacencies for KPIT. “Any domain involving intelligent, connected and autonomous systems can potentially become relevant. Areas under evaluation include various deep-tech opportunities where capabilities in propulsion, cybersecurity, diagnostics and autonomous systems can be leveraged,” he said.
Ravi Pandit was particularly passionate about investment in future technologies. Even when commercial opportunities were not immediate, he consistently pushed to invest ahead of the curve. The team will continue with this approach as it focuses on returning to the growth path.
