India's IT Industry AI Promises Fall Short as Revenue Lags

In the second quarter of 2025, India's IT giants—Wipro, TCS, HCLTech, and Infosys—doubled down on their generative AI (GenAI) strategies with bold announcements. However, their latest financial reports paint a starkly different picture: while global competitors like Accenture demonstrate real AI-driven growth, Indian firms struggle to translate vision into revenue.

Wipro: Rising Deals, Falling Profits

Wipro reported a 131% year-on-year increase in large transactions ($2.7 billion) and deployed 200+ enterprise AI agents, yet revenue declined by 2.3% and net profit dropped nearly 7%. CEO Srini Pallia acknowledged that while AI is central to client strategies, the shift from "AI-enhanced" to "autonomous" systems hasn't yielded financial gains. The company's weak Q3 revenue forecast (-1% to +1%) underscores ongoing challenges.

TCS: AI Talk Without Tangible Results

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) saw just 1.3% revenue growth (a 3.1% decline at fixed exchange rates). Its total contract value (TCV) plummeted from $12.2B to $9.4B quarter-over-quarter. Despite frequent mentions of AI initiatives like "DigiBOLT," TCS lacks concrete metrics to support its claims. Notably, its once-touted $1.5B AI pipeline has vanished from disclosures.

HCLTech: Loudest Voice, Weakest Performance

HCLTech aggressively promoted GenAI partnerships with OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Google Cloud, along with training for 127,000 employees. Yet its GenAI deals dropped from 12 to 9, and profits fell by 10%. Even new offerings like "Service-as-Software" failed to boost market share.

Tech Mahindra: A Rare Bright Spot

The sole outperformer was Tech Mahindra, with a 34% net profit surge and $809M in new deals. CEO Mohit Joshi highlighted its hybrid "AI + human agents" model as key to progress. While revenue growth remains sluggish, its internal "Fortius" transformation shows early promise.

Global Contrast: Accenture’s Execution Edge

Compared to Indian firms’ struggles, Accenture reported $1.5B in GenAI orders this quarter ($4.1B over three quarters). By restructuring operations around measurable AI value—not just proofs-of-concept—it has outpaced competitors in monetizing the technology.

Key Points:

• Revenue-performance gap: Indian IT firms tout AI but show declining or stagnant revenues.
• Lack of transparency: Companies avoid setting clear financial targets for AI initiatives.
• Traditional services at risk: Maintenance and outsourcing roles face cuts as firms pivot to AI.
• Global divergence: Accenture’s success highlights execution gaps in India’s IT sector.