Enterprise blockchain adoption has faced significant hurdles despite the technology’s potential for transformation. Privacy concerns, regulatory uncertainty, and reputational risks have kept many organizations on the sidelines. However, Shyam Nagarajan, CEO at Hedera, believes hybrid blockchains offer the solution enterprises need to unlock blockchain’s full value while addressing their core concerns about security and control.
Bringing Blockchain Experience to Enterprise
With a decade of experience across the blockchain industry, Shyam has witnessed the evolution from a Bitcoin and Ethereum-dominated market to today’s diverse ecosystem of public and private chains. His journey began at IBM, where he served as head of blockchain before joining Hedera. “When this technology came about, I thought this technology was very transformational and that is the reason why I bet my career on it,” he explains. His focus has consistently been on applying blockchain to solve real business problems in multi-party, trustless environments.
During his time at IBM, Shyam gained valuable insights into enterprise needs and concerns. He successfully demonstrated blockchain adoption across various industries, though he acknowledges the scale of future potential. “I do think the scale of this is yet to come and it’s probably going to be multi times the work that we have done in the last 10 years,” he notes.
Understanding Enterprise Hesitation
Enterprises face several challenges when considering blockchain adoption. “When they hear the term blockchain and crypto, the first thing that comes to their mind is fear and uncertainty,” Shyam observes. “I am very conscious of my reputational risk that’s involved here. We want to be on the good books of everyone, not be called out for something that went wrong because of a crypto hack.” Beyond reputational concerns, enterprises worry about data privacy and transparency. The perception that blockchain means everything becomes public creates significant resistance. “Enterprises are worried that their secret sauce, their data and their transactions, will become public and therefore it will cause either their competitors to know what their secret sauce is or to expose their data in a way that they can get compromised as a business,” he explains.
Shyam advocates for a pragmatic approach to blockchain adoption. “Treating it just as another piece of technology, blockchain is just another piece of technology that is in your toolkit in order to solve tough problems within the organization,” he emphasizes. This perspective helps organizations move past the hype and focus on practical applications. He recommends three key principles for successful implementation. First, properly qualify whether blockchain is the right solution for the specific problem. Second, work with experts who have proven experience in enterprise blockchain deployment. Third, design projects with clear business outcomes in mind. “Don’t build a blockchain solution hoping for an outcome. Build a solution with a particular outcome in mind and then choose the right technology to help you deliver that outcome.”
Why Hybrid Blockchains Represent the Future
The blockchain landscape currently features distinct camps: public blockchains that offer decentralization and transparency, and private blockchains that provide control and privacy. Shyam sees hybrid solutions as the bridge between these approaches. “The current enterprise market is looking and driving solutions that could use ingestion of liquidity from these blockchain public blockchains as well,” he notes. Hybrid blockchains allow organizations to maintain privacy for sensitive operations while accessing the broader ecosystem’s liquidity and capabilities. This approach proves particularly valuable for applications like real-world asset tokenization, where private transactions need connection to public markets.
The future looks different from the polarized blockchain world of a few years ago. “In three to five years I see a lot of these layer one organizations having private blockchains that also interoperate and work with public blockchains, just like how Hedera does.” Hedera runs both a private solution called Hashsphere and a public blockchain managed by 39 large enterprises. “It’s an interesting model and I see this as a model for the future of the blockchain industry.” For Shyam, the next few years will prove whether his decade-long bet on blockchain was right. The technology is finally mature enough for serious enterprise adoption. “I do think the scale of this is yet to come and it’s probably going to be multi times the work that we have done in the last 10 years.”
Follow Shyam Nagarajan on LinkedIn to explore how hybrid blockchain models are reshaping enterprise technology strategies.
