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A lot of organisations now say they’re AI-ready. But what does that actually mean? 

As we enter the agentic era and AI systems start to act autonomously across workflows and infrastructure, the stakes are rising. 

So we asked Munu Gandhi (EVP and President, Xerox IT Solutions) how enterprises can move from pilots to platforms. 

Here’s what he told us. 

Xerox has evolved from a hardware-led business to a technology and IT services company. With that context behind you, what’s your perspective on what becoming ‘AI-ready’ really means for a large enterprise?

“Becoming AI-ready is far less about deploying models and far more about operational readiness. Large enterprises already have access to powerful AI – what determines success is whether they can run it securely, reliably, and at scale in mission-critical environments.

“In the Kingdom, this conversation is particularly advanced. Vision 2030 is not focused on experimentation – it’s focused on national-scale outcomes across government services, critical infrastructure, and digital economy platforms. That raises the bar for what AI-ready actually means.

“In our experience, AI readiness rests on three foundations: modern infrastructure that can handle data and compute wherever it lives, cybersecurity embedded by design, and an operating model that continuously learns and improves. Without those elements, AI remains a series of pilots.

“Xerox’s own evolution reflects this reality. We didn’t move away from print – we expanded into IT infrastructure and AI-enabled services because our clients, including those in fast-transforming regions like KSA, need an integrated, always-on operational backbone. AI delivers real value only when it is embedded into how the organisation runs every day.” 

We’re entering what people are calling the ‘agentic era’. How must enterprise IT environments change to support AI agents safely and reliably?

“AI agents introduce a new requirement: the IT environment must become real-time, policy-driven, and self-monitoring.

“In a country like Saudi Arabia, where digital services are being built at population scale and with clear sovereignty requirements, this becomes even more critical. Autonomous systems must operate within defined governance, security, and data-residency frameworks from the start.

“In traditional environments, systems wait for human input. In an agentic environment, software is taking action continuously – which means identity, access, governance, observability, and data quality have to be designed for autonomous operation.

“This is where infrastructure and managed services become essential. You need clear guardrails, zero-trust security, full visibility across hybrid environments, and the ability to validate and audit every action an agent takes.

“To succeed, organisations must treat agents not as tools, but as digital workers – and build the same level of operational discipline and resilience around them that they do for human teams.” 

From your experience in managed IT services, what are the biggest barriers to scaling AI beyond pilots – and how can service providers help overcome them?

“The biggest barrier is fragmentation. 

“Most enterprises have distributed data, legacy platforms, inconsistent security models, and operational silos. That makes it very difficult to move from a successful pilot to an always-on capability.

“In the context of Saudi Arabia’s transformation, where organisations are scaling new digital services rapidly and in alignment with national priorities, the ability to move from pilot to platform is essential.

“Service providers play a unique role because we sit across the entire environment. We can standardise operations, create secure data flow, embed governance, and introduce AIOps and automation in a way that turns AI into a continuous capability rather than a series of projects.

“Scaling AI is ultimately an operating model challenge – and that is exactly where managed services create long-term value, particularly in markets that are moving at the pace we see in the Kingdom.” 

As AI systems gain more autonomy, how should enterprises rethink resilience and threat detection in an AI-augmented landscape?

“Resilience in an AI-augmented world becomes predictive rather than reactive.

“As Saudi Arabia builds digitally native government services and modernises critical sectors, trust becomes the most important currency. That means resilience and cybersecurity have to be designed into the operational fabric from day one.

“AI increases the attack surface, but it also gives us the ability to detect anomalies, contain threats, and recover faster than ever before – if it’s fully integrated into service delivery.

“Enterprises need to move toward continuous verification instead of periodic control, real-time threat detection instead of alert-based response, and self-healing infrastructure instead of manual recovery.

“Resilience is increasingly about maintaining trusted, sovereign digital operations under constant change.”

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, what role do you see for established technology companies like Xerox in shaping the AI ecosystem – and where do you see the greatest opportunity for collaboration with startups and hyperscalers?

“Established technology companies bring operational scale and trust to the AI ecosystem. 

“We run complex, regulated, always-on environments for the world’s largest organisations. That real-world execution experience is what turns innovation into national and enterprise impact – which is exactly what markets like Saudi Arabia are prioritising as part of Vision 2030.

“The future will be built through partnership:

• Hyperscalers provide the platforms
• Startups drive rapid innovation
• And companies like Xerox operationalise those capabilities securely at scale

“The greatest opportunity is in co-creating outcome-based solutions in areas such as digital government, smart infrastructure, healthcare, and next-generation workplaces – all of which are core to the Kingdom’s transformation.

“That’s where AI moves from experimentation to real economic and societal value, and where collaboration across the ecosystem becomes the true differentiator.” 

Thanks to Munu Gandhi at Xerox IT Solutions. Join us at DeepFest from 31 August-3 September 2026 to learn directly from the leading minds in AI tech and strategy – learn more.