Dr. Vishal Sikka, the former CEO of Infosys and tech pioneer, has officially launched a brand-new enterprise AI services startup called Hang Ten Systems, backed by a massive $32 million seed funding round.

The Palo Alto-based startup is targeting the traditional $250 billion IT services model, using an AI-native approach to radically disrupt how global corporations build, modify, and maintain enterprise software.

1. The Power Players Behind the Round

For a seed round, the financial and governance backing of Hang Ten Systems mimics a late-stage venture capital deal:

  • The Lead Architecture: The $32 million round was led by Silicon Valley powerhouse Mayfield (headed by Managing Partner Navin Chaddha, a long-time friend of Sikka since their Stanford University days).
  • The Sovereign Strategic: Aramco Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Saudi energy titan Saudi Aramco, joined the round alongside a select group of prominent Silicon Valley angel investors.
  • The Boardroom Coup: In a massive validation of Sikka’s vision, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang has officially joined Hang Ten Systems’ board of directors.
                          [ Hang Ten Systems Seed Stack ]
                                         │
            ┌────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┐
            ▼                            ▼                            ▼
   [ Mayfield Fund ]            [ Aramco Ventures ]           [ Jerry Yang (Board) ]
    Led the $32M round           Strategic energy backer       Yahoo co-founder guidance

2. The Core Mission: Disruption of Traditional IT Services

Sikka—who spent years leading Indian IT giant Infosys and heading products/technology at SAP—is essentially building a platform to automate the exact manual labor that legacy tech giants rely on for revenue:

  • The “Agentic” Shift: Hang Ten focuses on replacing manual configuration and legacy customization with agentic code generation, reusable AI skills libraries, and automated project workflows.
  • Crashing the Cost & Time Metrics: Sikka argues that commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) usually requires years of expensive human integration, testing, and upkeep. Hang Ten aims to let enterprises build and run customized internal tools across HR, finance, and core operations in days instead of years.
  • Closing the Execution Gap: “Every single enterprise will be transformed by AI,” Sikka stated. “A few are already reaping massive benefits, building in days what used to take years. But most are stuck at the starting line… In that gap lies the biggest opportunity of our time.”

3. Early Corporate Traction & The A-Team

Unlike stealth startups, Hang Ten is launching directly with an active, high-profile global client bench and a familiar team of collaborators:

Operational MetricLaunch Reality & Deployments
Active Enterprise ClientsAlready deploying AI-native project delivery for global heavyweights, including Siemens Energy, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and healthcare giant Fresenius.
The Core Dream TeamSikka has reunited his long-time software bench, including Navin Budhiraja, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Tao Liu, Frank Yu, Pradeep K.P., and Yusuf Safdari.

The name “Hang Ten” is derived directly from the ultimate surfing maneuver where a rider walks to the absolute nose of the board to extend all ten toes over the edge. Sikka notes the imagery is a perfect metaphor for the current tech climate: AI is a massive structural wave hitting global business, and enterprises need to master the wave rather than just trying to adapt to it.