Indian IT appears to be hopping onto the generative AI bandwagon recently. Amid weak This fall outcomes, main gamers like TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro have been fast to assert that AI is now integral to each shopper dialog and all main offers.
Regardless of these daring claims, they appear to be cautious of immediately disclosing GenAI income from any offers. This raises questions over whether or not these firms are merely ‘AI washing’ or creating precise worth for the shoppers.
‘AI washing’ refers to obscure and overstated claims round AI adoption, missing measurable outcomes. The This fall earnings have thrown this into sharp focus.
In distinction to Indian IT, world IT big Accenture, which operates in the same market, revealed that its generative AI bookings reached $1.4 billion in Q2 FY25, up from $1.2 billion within the earlier quarter. This, regardless of the corporate reporting a 5.8% QoQ decline in income, whereas reporting a 5.4% enhance YoY. Generative AI comprised 6.7% of Accenture’s complete order bookings of $20.9 billion.
‘AI is Now A part of Each Deal Dialog’
Among the many Indian tech giants, TCS reported $7.4 billion in income in This fall FY25, a 0.8% sequential rise and 5.3% YoY development. The corporate introduced record-high deal wins of $12.2 billion, up from $10.2 billion within the earlier quarter. CEO and MD Ok Krithivasan claimed that AI was now a part of each deal.
Experience in AI and digital innovation enabled TCS to spend money on an agent-based AI type, with over 150 options throughout numerous verticals for its shoppers.
Regardless of this, the corporate didn’t disclose direct income from GenAI. It is a departure from Q1FY25, when the corporate reported a generative AI pipeline of $1.5 billion, suggesting early traction that had since didn’t convert into topline development.
Infosys and Wipro in Deep Waters
Infosys, in the meantime, posted $4.7 billion in This fall income, down 4.2% QoQ in USD phrases. CEO Salil Parekh demonstrated enthusiasm for generative AI regardless of the weak quarter. He mentioned the corporate is main in AI brokers, much like TCS, and dealing on over 400 generative AI tasks.
That mentioned, regardless of a ramp-up from simply 100 tasks within the earlier quarter, Infosys additionally declined to present any AI-related income figures. Within the final quarter, Parekh distanced Infosys from ‘AI washing’ claims.
Infosys closed FY25 with a destructive 4.2% income development in USD QoQ at $4.7 billion.
Its peer, Wipro, echoed the same stance. CEO Srini Pallia mentioned all 17 offers signed in This fall, price $1.8 billion, included generative AI elements. For the total 12 months, the corporate reported that it closed 63 massive offers, totalling $5.4 billion, representing 17.5% year-over-year development.
Wipro has forecast a decline of as much as 3.5% in Q1 FY26, signalling extra headwinds regardless of its AI narrative.
But, like its friends, Wipro has evaded immediately quantifying income tied to AI. When requested in regards to the cannibalisation of offers as a result of generative AI, Pallia, in the course of the firm’s earnings name earlier this month, acknowledged that Wipro is now incorporating generative AI into all its options.
“GenAI was not a part of the sooner offers, however in all the brand new offers, we’re going to infuse it,” Pallia mentioned. For the 12 months ending March 31, Wipro reported gross income of $10.4 billion, reflecting a 0.7% decline year-over-year. Nonetheless, web earnings for the 12 months rose by 19% to $1.5 billion.
Wanting forward, Wipro additional anticipates Q1 FY26 income to fall between $2.505 million and $2.557 million, indicating a projected decline of 1.5% to three.5%.
HCLTech & Tech Mahindra to Save the Day?
HCL, with a market capitalisation of roughly a 3rd of TCS’ and two-thirds that of Infosys, introduced 12 generative AI-focused offers and highlighted its 500 GenAI engagements throughout 400 shoppers by means of its AI Labs.
The corporate’s This fall income stood at $3.4 billion, down 1% QoQ, and deal bookings had been at $3 billion, taking FY25 complete to $9.26 billion—a 5% drop from the earlier 12 months.
HCLTech centered on unique AI and generative AI offers, securing 12 new agreements, together with these involving agentic AI and automation processes, for the quarter. This announcement differs from different IT corporations that shied away from mentioning AI-specific offers.
CEO C Vijaykumar maintained a longer-term perspective. He famous that the corporate’s AI investments will yield returns over time. “Don’t fear in regards to the investments now—take a look at the ROIs we are able to get on the again of it,” he mentioned.
Additionally, Tech Mahindra, the agency behind the creator of Mission Indus, India’s first Indic LLM, posted flat income development for the quarter. Nonetheless, it recorded a 77% rise in revenue.
Talking on the corporate’s generative AI technique, Mohit Joshi, CEO and MD, shared that the corporate is formally unveiling its “AI delivered proper” method. “AI is now woven into the material of our knowledge and engineering service traces,” he mentioned. “It’s not siloed anymore. The overwhelming majority of our shoppers are already leveraging some type of our AI choices.”
Just like the others, with income development faltering, the combination of AI within the offers didn’t add any fast worth.
In the meantime, LTIMindtree didn’t disclose any details about AI, other than its previous partnerships. CEO and MD Debashis Chatterjee mentioned that the income was pushed by a big array of AI-led deal wins. “[It] illustrates the pervasive integration of AI throughout our service choices,” he mentioned.
Surprisingly, LTIMindtree reported considerably higher income in comparison with its bigger friends in Indian IT. The corporate’s income stood at ₹9,771.7 crore for the quarter ended March 31, reflecting a 1.1% sequential development and a 9.9% rise year-on-year.
AI Washing to AI Washout
Talking at an trade occasion in Mumbai in February, HCLTech’s Vijayakumar identified that it was time for Indian IT to rethink its 30-year-old enterprise mannequin or danger changing into out of date. AI was seen to steer the trail forward for them to stay related within the race. Infosys’ Parekh echoed this “paranoia” and known as for a non-complacent method.
Now, generative AI is anticipated to speed up software program improvement by automating coding and lowering venture timelines.
Final week, Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu raised purple flags in regards to the state of India’s IT providers trade. He responded to a touch upon the dismal This fall earnings from prime IT corporations, calling it a “complete washout”. He identified that there are deep-rooted inefficiencies and structural flaws that transcend short-term market cycles or AI.
Vembu additionally famous that Indian IT’s 30-year-old enterprise mannequin is at a pivotal juncture. “We’ve to problem our assumptions and do recent considering.”
In the meantime, CP Gurnani, former CEO of TechMahindra, believes that that is recoverable. “The ache is momentary,” he wrote in a LinkedIn publish. Taking the instance of COVID, Gurnani mentioned that definitely there’s an inflexion level, however “Indian IT giants have always moved up the worth chain all by means of the course of their storied existence.”
This quarter is meant to be a wake-up name for Indian IT following the Accenture outcomes, however clearly AI has taken the highlight with an extended shadow over the corporations.
The publish Indian IT Loves AI Washing appeared first on Analytics India Journal.
