Ken Bajaj spent over four decades in the technology industry, building successful companies, mentoring CEOs and riding wave after wave of technological innovation.
Today, he’s facing a critical juncture as chairman and CEO of DigitalNet.ai, as the company founded in late 2021 focuses on an acquisition strategy designed to mature its vision for innovation in generative artificial intelligence and data management.
Bajaj, now on his fifth company, said DigitalNet.ai is poised to become a leader in AI-powered digital transformation, with a focus on developing enterprise applications and services for vertical markets like financial services, insurance, health care, pharmaceuticals, automotive and the public sector. The company’s hybrid business model, combining revenue from AI platforms and AI-based services, aims to deliver solutions in data collection, management, predictive analytics and AI-driven app development.
“We’re building a leading AI software and services company,” Bajaj said. “Our goal is to harness AI to make the biggest impact across industries.”
With the AI market projected to reach $200 billion by 2025, Bajaj’s strategy for growth includes strategic acquisitions aimed at deepening its expertise in data management and next-generation app development.
Riding Waves of Innovation
Riding waves of innovation and making smart investments in time and resources has defined Bajaj’s career. He founded businesses that tapped into cutting-edge technology, from the shift from mainframes to client-server computing, to leveraging the internet for business growth, to recognizing cybersecurity as a key priority and embracing the changes brought by increased mobility and digital services.
“I’ve always built companies where I saw technology evolving,” Bajaj said. “It takes perseverance, hard work, and great people around you to make it work.”
Bajaj’s early career was marked by his work at Electronic Data Systems as a senior executive responsible for the company’s largest outsourcing contract with the U.S. government. He also introduced the nation’s first factory automation program in the automotive industry to General Motors.
By 1990, he co-founded Perot Systems. He later became president of I-Net, a startup founded by his wife, Kavelle, that capitalized on networking. Next, he founded AppNet, took it public and sold it for over $2 billion. He then founded DigitalNet, focused on managed services and cybersecurity. From 2009 to 2021, he held leadership roles at his son Sunny’s company, DMI, which became a key player in digital transformation.
“I’ve had the opportunity to grow up in the IT/GovCon industry and I’m constantly approached by individuals and executives that have worked with my father with nothing but respect for his professionalism and success,” said Sunny Bajaj, currently founder and CEO of DigiCap LLC. “It makes me very proud to be the son of one of the legends of the industry.”
Mentoring Future Entrepreneurs and CEOs
Bajaj has built not only companies but leaders, too. Mentorship is a cornerstone of his leadership philosophy, having been mentored himself by industry legends like Gary Fernandes at EDS and Ross Perot at Perot Systems.
“I believe every smart person should go out on their own and build companies,” Bajaj said. “I love mentoring CEOs. When I see talent, I help them find their path.”
Many of Bajaj’s protégés have become successful entrepreneurs and CEOs. Bishwajeet Chatterjee, who retired in 2018 as CEO of CNSI, met Bajaj while finishing his computer science degree at the University of Maryland, when Bajaj was president of I-Net. Chatterjee later joined the company.
“I did not have direct work contact with Ken, however, I knew Ken’s pivotal role as a president of the company contributed to I-Net’s exponential growth in the federal marketplace and successive relationship with Goldman Sachs, the leading private equity firm,” Chatterjee said. “I-Net became an 8(a) success story and an inspiration to all other minority-owned firms.”
Chatterjee said he came to value Bajaj’s “leading from the front” approach.
“With Ken’s unparalleled achievements of taking several companies from scratch to hundreds of millions of dollars in evaluation, most believe Ken is the man with a Midas touch,” Chatterjee said. “However, I think he achieved these successes due to his commitment and hard work.”
Chatterjee said Bajaj was also strategic in his hires and maintained amicable relationships with all his employees and customers.
“Building upon what lesson I learned from my days at I-Net, at CNSI, we took care of our employees first, who then took care of CNSI’s customers,” Chatterjee said. “What impresses me about Ken’s work now is his charity-related work. His philanthropic efforts reflect his commitment to giving back to the community and positively impacting society.”
Another protégé, Sam Sliman, who worked with Bajaj during the AppNet years, remembers how Bajaj’s conviction and energy pushed the company to unprecedented growth.
“Ken, in particular, taught me the power of conviction,” Sliman said. “He knew the internet wasn’t just a passing fad, and he had the contacts, experiences and resources to take advantage of it. He had conviction, and he poured all his energy into it.”
That no-reservations approach has long stuck with Sliman as a timeless lesson. Today, Sliman works with private equity investors to find technology and technology-enabled services businesses and invest in and grow them.
“My AppNet experience with Ken is foundational,” Sliman said. “I was pretty young when I worked with him, but I’m convinced I got a decade or more of executive experience in the span of three years. It seemed like complete chaos at the time, but aggressively growing companies is like that.”
A Rags to Riches Story
Born in India as the eighth of nine children, Bajaj grew up in a household where financial hardship was a constant challenge. It drove him to work hard and excel academically, earning a series of scholarships that allowed him to study electrical engineering. He earned his doctorate from Michigan State University, with dreams of becoming a professor.
However, his wife encouraged him to pursue a career in industry, an external push he said changed his life for the better.
Outside the office, Bajaj enjoys traveling — especially to Italy and Spain — playing tennis, and spending time with his two sons and three young grandchildren. He and his wife own Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, Virginia, where they produce 20,000 cases of wine annually with plans to grow.
Bajaj’s philanthropic efforts are also important to him, and he and his wife enjoy giving to various causes through the Bajaj Foundation.
Bajaj said his desire to give back stems from wanting to help others just as he was helped at times when he needed it most.
What’s Next
After decades of success, Bajaj still isn’t ready to quit work.
“I thought I would retire after DMI, but then I saw this AI wave,” he said. “Building businesses excites me. It keeps me looking forward.”
With DigitalNet.ai, Bajaj is again at the forefront of a technological revolution. And while he’s focused on the future, he’s also rooted in the lessons of his past, including a belief that, no matter how many times you fall, you must always get up.
“This is the best country in the world for dreamers,” Bajaj said. “If you can dream it, you can make it.”