Indian IT giants are reorienting their business models around artificial intelligence, shedding traditional digital transformation narratives in favour of AI-native strategies focused on high-margin applications and integration — not foundational AI research.A review of FY25 annual reports of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra reveals a clear pattern: India’s top tech firms are positioning themselves as leading AI integrators, rather than developers of core generative AI models, according to PTI. This pivot comes amid rising global demand for enterprise AI solutions, projected to help push the worldwide AI market to an estimated $1.3 trillion within the next decade.TCS’s annual report is themed “The Perpetually Adaptive Enterprise,” built around an “AI-First approach.” Infosys’s strategy is more direct, under the theme “AI Your Enterprise,” while Wipro underscores its enabler role with “Helping Clients Build AI-Powered Future-Ready Businesses.” Tech Mahindra’s report similarly highlights “AI Delivered Right.”“Let us think of AI as a gifted child prodigy born and brought up in a library,” said Anand G Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group. “It has access to all the knowledge in the world. It absorbs everything—information, fact, fiction, truth, untruth, every pattern of human behaviour. Used well, it can create extraordinary value, particularly for businesses like TechM,” he said in the company’s annual update, PTI quoted.Workforce upskilling has become a key focus area. TCS reported that over 1 lakh of its employees have acquired higher-order AI/ML and GenAI skills. Infosys said over 2.7 lakh of its workforce is now “AI-aware.” Wipro and Tech Mahindra are witnessing similar reskilling trends as they transition into AI-first firms.Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani stressed the urgency of adapting legacy systems for AI compatibility. “Enterprises must now create a data architecture so that all the firm’s data is consumable by AI in a holistic manner,” he said. Nilekani also pushed for enterprises to build “AI foundries and factories” to fuel innovation and scale.Rather than building their own large language models (LLMs) to rival OpenAI or Google, Indian firms are strengthening partnerships with hyperscalers like Microsoft, Google and AWS, as well as chipmakers such as Nvidia. They are establishing innovation hubs—such as TCS’s AI Labs and Infosys’s AI Foundry—to help clients experiment with and deploy AI in controlled environments.TCS chairman N Chandrasekaran called generative AI “a civilisational shift” and said the company will create a “large pool” of AI agents to work alongside humans in what he termed a “human-AI” delivery model.Wipro, meanwhile, is realigning its Global Business Lines to sharpen its focus on AI-powered, consulting-led client solutions. “This realignment will allow us to serve our clients better, enabling us to deliver tailored, high-impact transformation,” said Wipro CEO Srini Pallia.While foundational model development remains the domain of global tech giants, Indian IT leaders are betting that their ability to embed AI into the core of enterprise operations — from finance to manufacturing to customer engagement — will create the most durable long-term value.
