DVT’s CTO for Software Engineering, Saurabh Agrawal
Saurabh Agrawal was appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Software Engineering at DVT, a Dynamic Technologies group company, in October 2025. Working his way up from senior Java developer, the new CTO is entrenched in the company’s adoption and deployment of AI-driven strategies and solutions. Here he shares some intriguing insights into AI-adoption and how it impacts his vision for the future.
Walk us through your journey with DVT
My progression from Senior Java Developer to Technical Lead, Engineering Lead, Practice & Engineering Lead and now CTO has been driven by increasing responsibility to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients. This has involved building technically strong engineering teams capable of solving complex problems at scale. Over time, my role evolved from hands-on delivery to shaping our engineering standards, architectural direction and cross-practice alignment. These are all focused on enabling teams to consistently deliver scalable, resilient enterprise solutions that clients can rely on over the long term.
What do you bring to the role of CTO?
I would say a hybrid perspective that combines engineering expertise with strategic leadership. I work closely with DVT teams on architecture, system design and problem-solving, while also guiding technology strategy, AI adoption and engineering standards across DVT. This balance allows me to ensure that our technology decisions remain grounded in real delivery experience and aligned with measurable client outcomes such as performance, security, scalability and cost efficiency.
What is your vision at DVT?
My vision is to ensure that DVT remains a trusted technology partner for clients navigating increasingly complex digital landscapes. This means building expert-led AI-driven software engineering capabilities that help clients move faster, operate more efficiently and make better technology decisions without introducing unnecessary risk. At a business level, it is about enabling sustainable growth that is anchored in engineering excellence and long-term client value.
AI is a hot topic – how is it impacting your teams?
AI is reshaping how we design, build, test and operate software, and at DVT we are adopting it in a deliberate and pragmatic way. We are embedding AI into our software development lifecycle to improve productivity and decision-making, while preserving strong engineering fundamentals. This includes the responsible use of generative and agentic AI, guided by clear governance and human oversight. Importantly, this approach also enables us to upskill and mentor our engineers through practical, real-world scenarios, ensuring that AI-driven SDLC adoption translates into positive outcomes for our clients.
What is the benefit to DVT’s clients?
The real value of AI to our clients is in how it is applied, not in being fixated on individual tools or technologies. By embedding AI responsibly into our engineering practices, we help clients accelerate delivery, improve software quality and make more informed architectural and operational decisions. This reduces unnecessary rework and enables teams to focus on solving high-value business problems. Critically, clients benefit from our disciplined, governance-led approach to AI adoption, which ensures that solutions remain practical and sustainable within real-world environments.
What does the responsible adoption of AI really mean?
Responsible AI adoption is foundational to how we operate at DVT. We have a formal responsible AI governance framework that guides how AI technologies are selected and used across both internal and client-facing initiatives. This framework is not static – it is continuously refined through close collaboration between executive leadership and technical experts across our engineering practices, ensuring it remains aligned with evolving market realities and emerging AI capabilities.
A strong emphasis is placed on data privacy, security and compliance as first-class considerations, alongside transparency and ethical use. This expert-led, AI-driven software engineering approach allows us to embed responsibility directly into how software is designed, built and operated. For our clients, this provides confidence that our AI-enabled solutions are practical and sustainable, while remaining aligned with their long-term business requirements.
How do you see AI impacting business going forward?
AI will progressively become an embedded capability across both business and technology rather than a standalone solution. Organisations that integrate AI into their operating models and software engineering practices with clear accountability and human oversight will be those that succeed. When applied well, AI amplifies productivity, decision-making and innovation by strengthening solid engineering foundations and clear business strategy.
Why is it important for DVT to be on the frontlines of AI?
It allows DVT to build genuine expertise rather than theoretical knowledge. This enables us to guide clients with confidence; understanding not only what AI can do, but where it adds real value and where it does not. Our role is to help clients adopt AI in responsible ways that are practical and aligned with real business outcomes.
What is the benefit of technology-led growth?
Technology-led growth allows organisations to scale with intent rather than by chance. When growth is anchored in strong engineering foundations and well-architected systems, businesses can respond to change with confidence instead of disruption. For clients, this means the ability to innovate faster, manage complexity effectively and grow sustainably without sacrificing reliability or long-term maintainability.
What is sustainable software engineering?
It is building systems that are designed to evolve over time technically, operationally and financially. It combines fundamentals such as maintainability, performance, security and cost awareness with the responsible use of AI. For clients, this reduces long-term risk, avoids unnecessary technical debt and ensures their platforms can adapt as business needs and technology landscapes change.
Are there any new developments at DVT that you’re excited about?
What excites me most is DVT’s deliberate shift towards becoming an expert-led, AI-driven software engineering organisation. This is reflected in how we are embedding AI across our internal systems, processes and engineering practices, while also strengthening our client-facing capabilities across cloud-native engineering, DevSecOps and modern bespoke software development. The focus is not on adopting AI for its own sake, but on building enduring expertise that allows us to solve problems with clarity and discipline. This is a long-term investment in capability and trust, empowering our teams to work more effectively while enabling us to deliver high-value outcomes for our clients.