Sonata Software names Hariprasad Rebala Chief AI Officer

Sonata Software has appointed Hariprasad Rebala as Chief AI Officer, adding a new executive role as it pushes ahead with its AI strategy.

Rebala will lead the company's end-to-end, AI-led business transformation, shaping and executing strategy across offerings, service delivery, platforms, ecosystem relationships and partnerships. The appointment is part of a broader effort to embed AI across engineering, platforms, delivery and client work.

He joins Sonata with more than three decades of experience across IT services, enterprise technology and startups. Most recently, he was Chief of AI Solutions and Growth at a deep-tech AI startup. Earlier, he co-founded Forfend, where he worked on IoT and conversational AI platforms.

Before that, Rebala held senior leadership roles at Mindtree, Capgemini and Wipro. His work included scaling businesses, building industry practices and leading transformation programmes, particularly in banking and financial services.

The appointment comes as technology services groups give AI a more formal place in top management teams. Across the sector, companies are under pressure to move beyond pilot projects and show clients how AI can be used in day-to-day operations and commercial programmes.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Sonata describes itself as an AI-first modernisation engineering company. It says it generates more than USD $1.2 billion in revenue and employs more than 6,400 AI engineers across delivery operations in the US, UK, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Australia, the DACH region and the Nordics.

Leadership shift

Rajsekhar Datta Roy outlined the company's rationale for the appointment in a statement.

"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," said Rajsekhar Datta Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Sonata Software.

The hire gives Sonata an executive focused on linking internal transformation with customer-facing AI work. It reflects a broader pattern in the software and IT services market, where boards and management teams are creating senior AI roles to oversee strategy, product direction and delivery models in one place.

Rebala described the role as centred on turning AI spending into business results for clients, as the market shifts from experimentation to deeper operational use.

"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," said Rebala.

Broader strategy

Sonata has been positioning AI as a central part of its operating model and client services portfolio. Its approach combines product engineering with modernisation work and draws on relationships with technology groups including Microsoft, AWS, Salesforce and Snowflake.

Its customer focus spans retail and manufacturing, technology and telecoms, healthcare, and financial services. Those sectors have become key testing grounds for AI adoption as companies look for returns in software development, customer service, data analysis and business process redesign.

The creation of a Chief AI Officer role may also show how firms are trying to give clients a clearer line of accountability for AI programmes. In IT services, buyers increasingly want evidence that suppliers can connect technical work to cost savings, speed, governance and measurable commercial outcomes.

Rebala's background in both large services companies and younger AI ventures gives Sonata a leader with experience in established outsourcing models as well as newer platform-led approaches. His previous work in banking and financial services could also prove relevant as regulated industries look for ways to deploy AI while managing compliance and operational risk.

For Sonata, the leadership change puts AI oversight under a named executive at a time when service providers are competing to show they can move enterprise customers from trials to broader adoption. Rebala will focus on building differentiated AI capabilities and platforms with customers and partners, turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes and sustained competitive advantage.