Building data driven integration for an AI first world - Hoonartek

A service-based company in a market where change is the only constant, survival is just not enough. You require a long-term vision, agility, and the ability to evolve. Hoonartek, which has recently completed its 15th year, is one such company. Born out of the founders’ vision to deliver complex data integration solutions with better service levels than what they saw inside a large bank, the firm today has grown into a near 1,000-strong global organisation working across BFSI, telecom, healthcare, and more.

Peeyoosh Pandey, CEO, Hoonartek, had a conversation with DQ Channels about the company’s journey, its philosophy of system integration, and how it is future-proofing itself for the AI-first era. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

On the origins of Hoonartek

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Hoonartek is a 15-year-old company. The founders realised that in the data integration and data platform space, the level of complexity in solutions wasn’t being addressed properly. They saw an opportunity to improve service levels and deliver complex solutions at a cost that was acceptable.

That’s how Hoonartek was born. ‘Hoonar’ means skill in Hindi, ‘tek’ is an ode to German engineering, and our logo is the infinity sign, symbolising the use of skills to deliver solutions in an infinite loop.

We’ve grown into a 900–1,000 people organisation, global in scope, and focused on three main areas:

• Data: end-to-end delivery, governance, and AI.

• Digital: solutions for telcos and BFSIs.

• Product engineering services: custom software for enterprises and ISVs.

Recently, we celebrated our 15th anniversary. It’s been quite a journey.”

On integrating legacy systems with modern AI-driven platforms

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Our approach is data-driven. One way to integrate is through microservices or middleware, the traditional approach. The newer way is a loosely coupled architecture, often called PubSub, with Kafka at the centre.

We’ve implemented this for Fairbit and one of the largest telcos we’ve worked with for over a decade. Here, all your sources, like CRMs or ERPs, publish changes to a common layer, and from this, you integrate with front-end systems or omni-channel layers.

It’s flexible, allows both left and right integrations to evolve independently, and supports modernisation. But we’re not rigid. Every enterprise has unique systems, so we do assessments, understand the architecture, and design integration strategies that align with their industry and future direction.

BFSI brings privacy challenges, telcos bring scale. Each industry has its nuances, and we balance those.”

On global delivery and standardising processes

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Every geography brings its own regulations, GDPR in Europe, CCPA in the US, PII in India. BFSI regulations are different from telecom.

To bring it all together, we put data governance at the centre. Earlier, governance was an afterthought. Now it’s the starting point.

We focus on data quality, lineage, and metadata-driven strategies. This way, despite different requirements, we deliver at scale without losing agility. It’s become a key pillar in every project.”

On leveraging technology partners and accelerators

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Getting the architecture right is critical. We don’t just implement software. We start from the customer’s need, say a Customer 360 project versus payment settlement. Both are data initiatives but require very different architectures.

We work with technologies like Ab Initio, Snowflake, Databricks, building custom fits like tailored suits.

Alongside, we’ve built accelerators around 55 overall, with 30–40 specific to Ab Initio, and 10 each for Snowflake or Databricks. These frameworks allow us to deliver quickly while maintaining reliability and scalability.”

On how experience shapes philosophy

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“I’ve spent about 27–28 years across delivery, sales, and now leadership. The first 12–13 years in delivery gave me a sense of what’s possible, so we don’t commit to things that can’t be delivered.

Then in sales, I learnt how customers frame problems and how to translate those into initiatives. Now in leadership, I bring it all together, ensuring our teams are aligned and structured to deliver on promises.

Our organisation is designed with clear demarcation: sales teams to capture requirements, pre-sales and solutions teams to design, CTO to anchor the architecture, and delivery teams to execute. It’s a loop, and it’s built on trust. In our business, once you lose trust, you don’t get a second chance.”

On future-proofing integration for AI and ML

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Technology is changing faster than ever. What took ten years earlier now happens in months.

To deliver AI at scale, you need clean data, and that’s where data governance again becomes central. Cataloguing, quality, metadata, governance, without these, AI models won’t work.

We’ve launched a suite called RealizeAI, pre-built sectoral applications for BFSI, telco, retail, and manufacturing. These are powered by the governance frameworks we’ve been building for years, and they help customers move faster with AI adoption.”

On use cases for Generative AI

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“Industries like BFSI and telco are document-heavy, onboarding, commissions, site inspections, and invoices. OCR worked in the past, but it’s template-driven. Generative AI can handle broader, unstructured use cases.

We’re seeing strong traction in insurance for vehicle inspection, video-based safety checks, and document-heavy workflows in retail. RFPs are ongoing, and the momentum is real.”

On staying relevant in a rapidly changing world

Peeyoosh Pandey:
“This world is changing daily. Yesterday it was GPT-4, today GPT-5 is multimodal. The speed is unprecedented.

The challenge for us as an organisation is agility, both for customers and our own teams. We’ve invested heavily in learning and development, making sure our people stay updated as partners like Databricks or Snowflake roll out new technologies.

Agility, both ways, is the only way to stay relevant.”

Conclusion

Hoonartek’s journey mirrors the evolution of the data and integration industry itself. From building services around legacy systems to delivering AI-ready data platforms, the company has thrived by putting governance at the centre and agility at the edge.

As enterprises scramble to adapt to generative AI, regulatory demands, and digital-first customers, Peeyoosh Pandey’s message is clear: architecture matters, governance matters, and trust matters most.

Fifteen years on, Hoonartek isn’t just integrating systems. It’s integrating the future.

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