Indian IT increases vigil on deal conversations even as AI eats revenue
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In a shift from the ‘growth at any cost’ era, IT services industry leaders like Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, and Tech Mahindra Ltd are increasingly avoiding low-margin contracts, preferring to sacrifice top-line revenue to protect their bottom lines from the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).The change comes as generative AI begins to affect the traditional outsourcing model. By automating tasks that previously required thousands of engineers, AI is compressing deal values and forcing firms to choose between hyper-competitive, low-yield work and more lucrative, automated services.The impact of this selectivity is already showing up in the books.
HCLTech reported a 36% sequential drop in deal wins after walking away from nearly $1 billion in potential contracts, while Infosys trimmed its growth guidance after passing on a deal with a major European manufacturer. The message is: margin is important.For an industry built on the pursuit of scale, this shift marks a maturing phase.
As pricing pressure increases and new revenue models remain in their infancy, the race for volume is being replaced by a focus on the ‘as-sold’ margins of every contract.At least one chief executive said his company did not hesitate about walking out of ‘traditional deals.’“We have walked away from some deals which will not make sense, and that would have easily contributed at least $1 billion more to this number (total contract value),” said C. Vijayakumar, during the company’s post-earnings analyst call on 21 April.He added that the company would spend its energy on bidding for more AI-led deals.This impacted the company’s deal wins in January-March 2026, which fell 36% on a quarterly basis to $1.94
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