Sonata Software announced the appointment of Hariprasad Rebala as Chief AI Officer on August 17, 2026. In this role, Rebala will lead the company's end-to-end AI-led business transformation, shaping and executing its AI strategy across offerings, service delivery, platforms, capabilities, ecosystem, and partnerships. His focus will be on driving AI-led business outcomes and AI-native delivery, helping enterprises translate AI adoption into enterprise velocity and measurable business value.
Rebala brings more than three decades of experience spanning IT services, enterprise technology, and the startup ecosystem. Most recently, he served as Chief of AI Solutions and Growth at a deep-tech AI startup. Earlier in his career, he co-founded Forfend, where he helped build IoT and conversational AI platforms. He has also held senior leadership roles at Mindtree, Capgemini, and Wipro, where he scaled businesses, built industry practices, and led large transformation programs, particularly across Banking and Financial Services.
Strategic context
The appointment follows Sonata Software's Q1FY27 results, where consolidated revenue rose 10.6% YoY to ₹3,279.1 crore. During the analyst call held on August 7, 2026, management detailed its acceleration into an "AI-native" organisation. Rajsekhar Datta Roy, CEO of International Services, had previously announced the appointment of Rebala as Chief AI Officer to drive this transformation. The formal press release reinforces this strategic direction.
Rajsekhar Datta Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Sonata Software, said: "Transforming Sonata Software into an AI-native organization is foundational to our growth trajectory. Hari brings a unique combination of AI startup and IT services expertise, with deep context of enterprise-grade AI platforms and engineering, delivering to outcome-based models. His addition to our leadership significantly strengthens our executive team as we rapidly transform to an AI-native organization."
Hariprasad Rebala, Chief AI Officer, Sonata Software, added: "AI is rapidly moving from experimentation to becoming fundamental to how enterprises compete, operate and create value. AI alone will not define the winners — the ability to translate AI into enterprise velocity will. Sonata brings together AI engineering and modernization capabilities, deep industry expertise and strategic technology partnerships to help clients make that shift at scale. My focus will be on building differentiated AI capabilities and platforms with our customers and partners, turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes and sustained competitive advantage."
Operational highlights
This appointment is part of Sonata's broader strategy to embed AI across its engineering, platforms, delivery model, and client solutions. The company recently launched Workbench, an enterprise-grade agentic AI service delivery platform designed to transform the software delivery lifecycle. Sonata has also been invited by Microsoft to join the Copilot agents and platform engineering Depth Partner Program, a select global group of system integrators.
Key operational metrics from Q1FY27 include:
- International Business: Revenue in constant currency terms grew 2.1% YoY. Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) improved to 60 days from 62 days in Q1FY26. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) stood at 14.9%. Seven new customers were added during the quarter. The onsite/offshore revenue mix shifted to 30:70.
- Domestic Business: Gross contribution grew 14.5% YoY to ₹78.5 crore. ROCE surged to 57.7% from 33.6% in Q1FY26. DSO remained stable at 65 days. Cloud revenue constituted approximately 89.7% of domestic revenue.
- Balance Sheet: Cash and cash equivalents (gross) stood at ₹567.0 crore, with net cash at ₹67.0 crore.
Financial performance
Sonata Software reported consolidated revenue of ₹3,279.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (Q1FY27), marking a 10.6% YoY increase from ₹2,965.2 crore in Q1FY26. Despite top-line growth, consolidated net profit after tax (PAT) contracted 1.1% to ₹108.1 crore, primarily impacted by foreign exchange losses of ₹7.4 crore compared to a gain of ₹28 crore in the prior year period. The Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of ₹1.25 per equity share, payable on or after August 24, 2026, with a record date of August 14, 2026.
| Metric: |
International IT Services |
Domestic Products & Services |
Consolidated |
| Revenue (₹ crore): |
777.2 |
2,505.6 |
3,279.1 |
| YoY growth: |
11.0% |
10.2% |
10.6% |
| EBITDA (₹ crore): |
119.6 |
59.3 |
179.0 |
| EBITDA YoY growth: |
3.2% |
34.9% |
12.1% |
| EBITDA margin: |
— |
— |
5.21% |
| PAT (₹ crore): |
62.2 |
45.9 |
108.1 |
| PAT YoY growth: |
-12.0% |
19.0% |
-1.1% |
Note: EBITDA is before other income, forex, and exceptional items. EBITDA margin is on a consolidated basis.
What the numbers show
A critical observation from the Q1FY27 results is the divergence between operational EBITDA growth and net profit performance. While consolidated EBITDA grew 12.1% YoY to ₹179.0 crore, the EBITDA margin contracted to 5.21%, indicating that revenue scaling has not fully offset cost pressures. Net profit declined 1.1%, largely attributable to foreign exchange movements — the current quarter included a forex loss of ₹7.4 crore, compared to a forex gain of ₹28 crore in Q1FY26. The Domestic segment demonstrated superior margin expansion, with EBITDA growing 34.9% YoY, outpacing its 10.2% revenue growth, suggesting improved cost efficiency or mix shift in the domestic business unit.
Management noted that the international EBITDA margin drop was driven by one-time compensation benefits in the prior quarter, delays in a large deal ramp-up affecting utilisation (which fell to 88.5% from 91.8%), and investments in AI talent transformation. CFO Jagannathan CN stated that these factors are temporary and expects EBITDA to show positive traction every quarter moving forward.
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