TCS CEO K Krithivasan has now pushed back against the claims that India’s IT services industry will be obsolete by 2030. Krithivasan believes that the enterprises will actually need more support from the IT companies like TCS in the era of artificial intelligence. Speaking to The Economic Times in an interview, Krithivasan said: “We have been writing its obituary every 10 years but I think Indian IT services have proven to be very resilient. Not because of cost arbitrage, but because of the depth of skill sets.” He also stressed on that fact that as the AI adoption accelerates, the enterprises will struggle to keep pace, creating demand for IT services companies to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world implementation.
TCS sees AI as opportunity and not threat
TCS COO Aarthi Subramanian also sees AI as an opportunity. Subramanian added that advanced AI systems such as Claude Cowork and Claude Mythos are not existential threats but opportunities. “GenAI has unlocked a significant opportunity in legacy modernization, particularly for large, decades-old systems such as mainframes,” she told ET. AI, she argued, can reduce technical debt and drive productivity gains across IT operations.
The industry challenges and momentum
As reported by ET, the comments made by TCS CEO comes as the Indian IT company reported its first annual revenue decline since going public in 2004, down 2.4% in FY26 amid a global slowdown in tech spending. Despite this, the company closed FY26 with its highest-ever total contract value (TCV) of $40.7 billion, including $12 billion in Q4 alone. Krithivasan noted that decision-making cycles are improving and clients are investing in AI transformation despite geopolitical uncertainties.Also, TCS hired 44,000 trainees in FY26 and made 25,000 offers for the next cycle, even after a 2% workforce reduction last year. The company also completed its largest acquisition in over a decade, buying US-based Salesforce consulting firm Coastal Cloud for $700 million.
