V K Mathew, founder, IBS Software

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Thiruvananthapuram-based travel software giant IBS Group is betting big on artificial intelligence with a $500 million investment in a new AI company called Naviq Technology, which was formally launched in Kochi by Kerala’s chief minister V.D. Satheesan and Industries and IT minister P K Kunhalikutty.Today, 25 per cent of the world’s economy is digital, and the era of AI has just begun. The future is going to be very different in the way we produce, distribute, and consume - much of it powered by artificial intelligence. This is the context in which we are launching Naviq, a vertical AI company for the travel sector,” said V K Mathew, the founder of IBS Software, in his inaugural address.He said the size of the sector that IBS served – the global travel sector -was nearly $12 trillion or ₹100 lakh crore, and “we know the business is going to be dramatically changed with AI”.Naviq targets AI-driven transformation of global travelNaviq, with a swank office in Kochi’s Infopark within the IBS Software campus, has already hit the ground running with 2,000 employees onboard and plans to scale the staff count to 5,000 soon.Running several airport, airline, and cruise operations databases, Mathew said the company had a minute-by-minute picture of travel operations and how journeys begin long before take-off. “We don’t own the data but we will be able to make use of the data to give a lot of predictive tools to help our customers do their business better,” he said.IBS Software has clients such as Emirates, British Airways, and Heathrow Airport, among others.Kerala eyes AI-led growth and future-ready workforceSpeaking at the launch, P.K. Kunhalikutty, the minister for Industries and IT in Kerala, said that every technological change brings new job opportunities. “It is a reality that tech will keep changing very fast, and it is up to us to keep changing,” he said, describing how Kerala was rewriting its IT Mission in view of this. It was also updating its future technology mission.Mathew also pointed out that India’s IT services revenue, which commands 20 per cent of the world tech services market, has been declining year by year, while AI revenue, still at a very small base, is growing exponentially.Published on July 23, 2026