Kyndryl CFO: The strategy powering growth amid uncertainty

Good morning. Kyndryl’s story is one of steady execution, cultural reinvention, and a return to growth.

When Kyndryl was spun off by IBM in late 2021, the company had to establish itself as a dominant provider of IT infrastructure services amid naysayers and doubters. Its biggest challenge: transforming a legacy operation with declining revenues and low margins into a profitable, nimble, and growing global leader. But this wasn’t Kyndryl CFO David Wyshner’s first time at bat.

In the past 20 years, Kyndryl’s spinoff from IBM is the sixth one he’s been involved in, including leading Wyndham Worldwide’s separation into a privately acquired business and two public companies as CFO. Over the years, I’ve spoken with Wyshner about Kyndryl’s progress, such as landing on the Fortune 500 for the first time in 2023. We recently talked about the company’s growth amid uncertain times.

Growth amid economic headwinds

Kyndryl, led by CEO Martin Schroeter, operates essential IT systems for financial institutions, airlines, retailers, and industrial companies. Even amid macroeconomic uncertainty, demand for these services remains strong, Wyshner said. He affirms that Kyndryl’s focus on modernization, cloud transformation, cybersecurity, and AI-enabled operations has insulated its growth from broader economic headwinds. “What we do is mission critical,” Wyshner told me. “Our services are not discretionary—they’re essential for our customers’ operations, especially in times of uncertainty.”

For its fiscal year that ended March 31, Kyndryl reported record signings of $18.2 billion—a 46% year-over-year increase—and returned to constant-currency revenue growth for the first time since the spinoff. Adjusted EBITDA rose 6% to $2.5 billion, and adjusted pretax income nearly tripled to $482 million. The company also delivered positive net income, a sharp turnaround from losses in prior years. Net income swung from a net loss of $340 million last year to a profit of $252 million.

Kyndryl’s “Three-As” strategy—alliances, advanced delivery, and accounts—is paying off, Wyshner said. For example, revenue from alliances with cloud hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud reached $1.2 billion last year. The launch of its AI-powered open integration platform, Kyndryl Bridge, freed up more than 13,000 delivery professionals and generated $775 million in annualized savings, he said. The company also has addressed low-margin contracts inherited from IBM, replacing them with higher-margin, strategic deals. Last year, this effort delivered $900 million in annualized benefits.

But making a spinoff successful is no small feat. Few corporate spinoffs deliver value, according to research. I asked Wyshner if he could point to at least three important elements that can help a spinoff beat the odds.

“Number one is getting the right team and the right culture in place,” he told me. “We’ve really benefited from having a senior team that works well together and is focused on execution."

Number two is setting the right expectations, both internally and externally. "We were spun out as a turnaround, and our business model operates under long-term contracts—so change takes time," he said. And the third element comes back to execution: "Making progress on the things that really move the needle," Wyshner said. When there’s a lot of change going on, it’s easy to get distracted by aspects that may not have a large impact and take attention away from things that really do matter, he said.

When launching, Kyndryl was in the spotlight to deliver a turnaround story. Being just below break-even in its first year meant that “we had a lot of work to do,” Wyshner said.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com