Tech Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra has said artificial intelligence (AI) will transform rather than diminish India’s IT services industry. Speaking at the company’s AGM, he stressed that enterprises will increasingly rely on trusted IT partners to securely integrate, govern and scale AI, creating new growth opportunities for the sector.
Key Highlights
- Anand Mahindra says AI will strengthen, not weaken, India’s IT services industry.
- He believes enterprises will require trusted partners to deploy AI securely and responsibly.
- Legacy systems, fragmented data and regulations make enterprise AI adoption complex.
- Tech Mahindra aims to help businesses integrate AI through customised platforms and workflows.
New Delhi, July 18: Tech Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra has dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) will undermine India’s IT services industry, asserting that AI will transform the sector rather than replace it. Addressing shareholders during the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), Mahindra said every major technological revolution has triggered similar fears, but history shows that innovation ultimately creates new opportunities for growth.
Calling AI the “elephant in the room,” Mahindra said predictions that AI would eliminate India’s IT services industry are misplaced. Instead, he argued that the industry’s role will become even more critical as enterprises increasingly seek trusted technology partners to deploy AI securely, responsibly and at scale.
According to Mahindra, AI has evolved from being a productivity tool to becoming a core driver of enterprise operations, influencing how organisations design workflows, serve customers, manage risks and make strategic decisions. However, he emphasised that implementing AI across large enterprises is far more complex than simply adopting AI models, as organisations continue to operate with legacy systems, fragmented data, regulatory requirements and accumulated technology debt.
He said this complexity creates significant opportunities for IT services companies such as Tech Mahindra, which can help enterprises integrate AI into existing systems, establish governance frameworks, ensure regulatory compliance and develop customised AI-powered business solutions. These capabilities, he noted, will be essential as businesses move from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment.
Drawing an analogy with the smartphone revolution, Mahindra explained that the true value of AI lies not merely in the underlying technology but in the applications, connectivity, workflows and enterprise solutions built around it. Just as smartphones became indispensable because of their ecosystems, AI’s impact will depend on how effectively businesses integrate it into their operations.
Mahindra also highlighted that an organisation’s long-term competitive advantage—or “alpha“—will increasingly be derived from its proprietary data, domain expertise, institutional knowledge and business workflows. He said Tech Mahindra’s strategy is to help clients preserve and strengthen these advantages through secure, responsible and customised AI-enabled platforms that deliver sustainable business value.
Anand Mahindra’s remarks reinforce the view that AI is creating a new phase of opportunity for India’s IT services industry. As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, technology firms capable of integrating, governing and scaling AI solutions are expected to play an increasingly strategic role in the global digital economy.
