AI advisor in Hyderabad

I am Dr. Hitesh Sarda. I live and work in Hyderabad, where I run 256 Technologies, a small applied AI lab. Most of my work is helping a leadership team settle one AI decision at a time: whether a use case is worth doing, whether to buy or build, and how to test it cheaply before anyone commits a budget.

I have spent 25+ years building production systems, including work at Citi, Virtusa, Yash and ValueLabs, and I have been writing about software and AI on this blog since 2009. My focus is retail, loyalty and industrial businesses.

How I help

AI advisory and fractional Head of AI. Strategy, feasibility, ROI modelling, vendor assessment and roadmaps grounded in real engineering constraints. For companies without a senior AI leader, I can play that role part time.

AI training for leadership teams. A six-week executive program that has your leaders using AI on their own real work, with a governance framework and a 90-day adoption roadmap at the end. In person in Hyderabad, or remote.

AI MVP and proof-of-concept development. The smallest working prototype that answers the key technical and business questions, across agents, computer vision and ML, before you commit to a full build.

Who I work with

Founders, CEOs, CTOs and leadership teams at companies in Hyderabad and across India, including Hyderabad’s global capability centres, and teams abroad who want an outside view. The common thread is a team that has to make a real AI decision and wants evidence rather than vendor slides.

In the press

How I think about AI

The fastest way to see whether we would work well together is to read how I reason about the problems you are facing. The guides collect my writing by topic, including what AI really costs, deploying AI agents safely, leading teams that code with AI, AI strategy for leadership teams and AI in retail and loyalty.

Common questions

Do you work with companies in Hyderabad in person?

Yes. I am based in Hyderabad, so workshops, leadership sessions and working days on site are easy to arrange. For teams elsewhere in India or abroad, I work remotely and travel when it is worth it.

What is the difference between an AI advisor and an AI consultant?

Mostly the incentives. Many AI consulting firms are paid to deliver a large build, so the advice tends to end in one. I do not sell large builds, which leaves me free to recommend buying a tool, running a small pilot, or not using AI at all.

Are you an AI development company?

No. I am an independent AI advisor. I help you decide what to build, buy or skip, and I build small MVPs and proofs of concept to answer the key questions. For a full build, I help you choose and manage the right team rather than selling you one.

What industries do you work with?

Mostly retail, loyalty and industrial businesses, where I have the deepest experience. The same approach works for most companies facing a real AI decision.

What does a fractional Head of AI do?

A fractional Head of AI gives you senior AI leadership a few days a month: setting the AI strategy, choosing vendors, reviewing what your teams build, setting up governance, and reporting progress to the leadership team, without a full-time hire.

How do we start?

Book an advisory hour. Bring a problem or an idea and we will talk through the use case, your data readiness and the real risks. You leave with the simplest next step, or an honest view that AI is not the answer yet. Book an AI advisory hour or write to hitesh@256tec.com.