When you spin out of one of the world’s largest agribusiness supply chains with the ambition to reimagine enterprise services, people take notice.

In this episode, Suresh Sundararajan, CEO and Co-Founder of Mindsprint, joins HFS CEO Phil Fersht to unpack what it really means to be an AI-first services firm, and how legacy becomes leverage when you’re bold enough to build.

From training 3,000+ employees on AI tools to launching outcome-based pricing models for P2P and procurement, Suresh shares his honest view on tech disruption, change management, and why the small and agile are beating the big and slow.

What You’ll Hear in 30 Minutes

• The birth of Mindsprint from agribusiness giant Olam

• What being “AI-first” means inside and out

• Scaling AI adoption across a 3,200-person workforce

• Why change management—not tech—is the bottleneck

• How outcome-based pricing is disrupting traditional service models

• Why smaller firms are thriving in the new enterprise tech landscape

• Suresh’s personal mission to lead by doing—and upskill everyone

Guest Snapshots

Suresh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mindsprint, a next-gen tech services firm born out of Olam Group—one of the world’s largest agri-business supply chains. With over 30 years at Olam, Suresh brings a rare combination of operational depth, strategic foresight, and entrepreneurial grit.

He’s on a mission to prove that smaller, sharper firms like Mindsprint can move faster, lead AI transformation, and offer differentiated services at scale—all while being deeply human-centered in execution.

Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome and origins of Mindsprint  

01:15 – Spinning out of Olam: The backstory  

03:29 – Why Mindsprint chose independence over division  

06:57 – What it *really* means to be AI-first  

08:57 – How Suresh trained 95% of employees on AI  

09:42 – The reality of change management  

12:29 – What happens when AI frees up time?  

14:42 – How jobs and skillsets are evolving  

17:02 – Adding 45 new logos in 18 months  

19:40 – From FTEs to outcome-based pricing  

21:58 – Selling services like software  

24:49 – Global expansion and unexpected growth in APAC  

27:00 – Advice for tech and non-tech leaders on AI transformation  

30:13 – The productivity + innovation equation  

31:44 – Wrap-up and parting thoughts 

Explore More

• Mindsprint: https://www.Mindsprint.org

• Suresh Sundararajan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sureshsundararajan

• Phil Fersht on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfersht

• HFS Research on Agentic AI: https://www.hfsresearch.com