WIPRO

adds more details on Wipro's new unit creation, departure of executive

April 1 (Reuters) - Indian IT services firm Wipro WIPR.NS on Wednesday named insider Nagendra Bandaru as the CEO of its newly created artificial intelligence segment.

Here are some details:

• Bandaru, a company veteran, will head the unit that will develop agentic AI solutions and create new AI-led business streams.

• The country's fourth-largest software exporter also announced the resignation of Suzanne Dann, CEO of its "Americas 2" unit.

• The unit, accounting for a third of Wipro's revenue, houses the Canada market and the banking and financial services and energy businesses in the U.S.

• Accenture veteran Kanwar Singh has been brought in to fill Bandaru's current role of president and managing partner of technology services business line.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Sahal Muhammed)

((Nishit.Navin@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 31 (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd WIPR.NS:

• WIPRO - MERGER OF RIZING CONSULTING USA WITH RIZING LLC IS COMPLETED

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SOAMI

Further company coverage: WIPR.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 23 (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd WIPR.NS:

• WIPRO - EXPANDS STRATEGIC PRESENCE IN SOUTH KOREA, LAUNCHES INNOVATION LAB IN SEOUL

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SMMR2

Further company coverage: WIPR.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 20 (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd WIPR.NS:

• WIPRO - LAUNCHES WIPRO AI-DATA CENTER SOLUTION TO ACCELERATE ENTERPRISE-SCALE AI ADOPTION

Source text: ID:nNSEps3Ny

Further company coverage: WIPR.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 17 (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd WIPR.NS:

• WIPRO AND HARNESS ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC COLLABORATION

• COLLABORATION TO ACCELERATE AI-NATIVE SOFTWARE DELIVERY FOR GLOBAL ENTERPRISES

Source text: ID:nBSE44Kfj6

Further company coverage: WIPR.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Una Galani

HONG KONG, March 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Is the global selloff in enterprise software and services stocks an overreaction? Maybe not in India. New tools released by Anthropic point towards increasing automation of work that "once required armies of consultants spending years mapping workflows", according to the owner of Claude large language models. The stakes are higher for the world's fourth-largest economy, where a reduction of IT services exports by Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS, Wipro WIPR.NS and others or a cut in the size of foreign firms' global capability centres could upend the macroeconomic stability the country has enjoyed.

Providing services to global companies including JPMorgan JPM.N, Goldman Sachs GS.N and Exxon Mobil XOM.N created massive wealth, spurred the rise of major cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru and created a wall of money that has propelled the stock market, property prices and well-heeled Indians' spending power. Moreover, it also generates foreign exchange earnings that help slow the depreciation of the Indian rupee, which, in turn, keeps a check on imported inflation for the energy-hungry country.

An analysis of Reserve Bank of India data by Samiran Chakraborty, an economist at Citigroup, is sobering. It concludes growth in India's exports of software and other services has, in the recent past, more than offset the widening trade deficit in goods. With further support from remittances of Indians overseas, the current account deficit fell to 0.7% of GDP in the fiscal year to the end of March 2025.

In a scenario of no growth in software exports in fiscal year 2027, Chakraborty estimates most of India's projected surplus in services, roughly $20 billion, would be wiped out. That would weigh on an already weak rupee: in 2025, it declined 5% against the U.S. dollar and was the worst-performing major currency in Asia.

True, India's software services exports have grown 9.5% annually over the past decade – three times the rate of its goods exports – and Citi forecasts 8% for the year to March 2027. What's more, IT firms typically have contracts that last between three to seven years, and so AI disruption – in this case, clients renegotiating terms – ought to be gradual.

But there is widespread fear that automation tools like those from Anthropic could hollow out these industries faster. This fear is reflected in the 20% drop in India's benchmark Nifty IT index since the start of the year. Several executives at top global firms have also told Breakingviews they expect to have fewer people working in their India-based global capability centres in the coming years. Given India's heavy reliance on services in its external accounts, the software apocalypse spells trouble for returns on all rupee-denominated assets. That justifies selling the rumour and buying the fact.

Follow Una Galani on Linkedin and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

India’s Nifty IT Index has fallen 20% so far this year. The Indian rupee has declined 1.3% against the U.S. dollar over the same period.

(Editing by Robyn Mak; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on GALANI/ una.galani@thomsonreuters.com))

By Haripriya Suresh

MUMBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Fears that new artificial intelligence tools could replace large IT services firms are "overblown" as clients still need help deploying and scaling the technology, Babak Hodjat, chief AI officer at Cognizant CTSH.O, told Reuters in an interview.

Automated AI tools from startups such as Anthropic have stirred concerns about disruption in the business models of software and services firms globally, including India's traditionally labour-intensive IT services industry.

Enterprises are far from being able to rely on a single, all-purpose AI agent, said Hodjat, adding that most clients still need help engineering, integrating, and governing AI systems.

"That mapping is our job, it does not come just automatically out of the box," said Hodjat, whose work helped power Apple's AAPL.O Siri voice assistant.

Nasdaq-listed Cognizant, which has more than 70% of its workforce operating out of India, forecast annual revenue above Wall Street estimates on the back of strong demand as businesses adopt AI into their workflows.

Rivals Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS have also maintained that rapid AI adoption will boost, rather than shrink, demand for software service providers.

Hodjat's vote of confidence in the role of services companies comes despite AI-related job cuts already underway.

Shipping and logistics management software company WiseTech Global WTC.AX said it would lay off nearly a third of its workforce as it integrates AI into its customer software and internal operations. TCS announced 12,000 job cuts last year, but has since denied to local media that the layoffs were AI-related.

Cognizant, which generates about 30% of its code through AI and aims to reach 50%, is not worried about automation eliminating entry-level jobs. CEO Ravi Kumar S said during the company's earnings call earlier this month that it hired 25,000 fresh graduates in 2025, and expects to exceed that in 2026.

Almost all of Cognizant's clients have already tried to work with AI agents, Hodjat said, but have acknowledged that they need us to deploy it within their systems for returns.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh in Mumbai; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((haripriya.suresh@thomsonreuters.com))

By Bharath Rajeswaran

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Indian shares have lagged their Asian and emerging market peers so far in February, pressured by a $68.6 billion rout in the market value of information technology stocks, as investors fretted over disruptions linked to artificial intelligence.

The Nifty 50 index .NSEI has risen 0.4% so far this month, while the Sensex .BSESN edged 0.1% lower, underperforming both the MSCI Asia ex-Japan and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes.

The 10 Nifty IT constituents .NIFTYIT have lost a combined $68.6 billion in market capitalisation in February, as of the last close, with the index down 21% and on course for its worst monthly performance in nearly 23 years.

All 10 index members have fallen between 16.8% and 27% in February to date. Coforge COFO.NS is the steepest percentage decliner, down 26.8%, while Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS have led the value erosion, losing about $21.9 billion and $16.3 billion in market value, respectively.

The selloff reflects growing concerns that rapidly advancing automation tools could compress project timelines and disrupt the labour-intensive delivery model underpinning India's roughly $300-billion IT services industry.

Investors have zeroed in on the AI-driven automation push from U.S. firms such as Anthropic and Palantir, heightening concerns over faster project execution, pricing pressure and reduced billable hours.

Brokerages warn the Indian IT sector could face further pressure if AI starts to eat into application services revenue, which typically accounts for 40% to 70% of total revenue for these companies.

"There are no easy answers to whether AI eventually renders IT services obsolete over the long term," said analysts led by Abhishek Pathak of Motilal Oswal.

"The narrative that AI is coming for not just IT but large swathes of the economy could be too strong to shake, at least in the short term," Motilal Oswal analysts said.

A slowdown or contraction in India's IT sector, whether through layoffs or reduced hiring, can have immediate consequences on both residential and commercial real estate demand. The Nifty Realty index .NIFTYREAL has risen roughly 2% in February, following a nearly 18% decline over the past three months.

Concerns over Indian IT companies have also accelerated foreign selling in the sector in 2026 so far.

While FPIs have turned buyers of Indian stocks in February on an overall basis, they pulled out about 110 billion rupees ($1.21 billion) from IT stocks in the first half of February, following a record 750 billion rupees of net selling in 2025.

($1 = 90.8980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))

MUMBAI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - India's technology sector is expected to grow 6.1% this fiscal year, driven by artificial intelligence-led services as well as business at global capacity centres, an industry body said on Tuesday.

Nasscom expects the sector's revenue to rise past $300 billion in fiscal year 2026.

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

((mailto: saiishwarbharath.b@thomsonreuters.com;))

Corrects to "executive" from "CTO" in headline, adds designation in paragraph 3

By Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, Feb 23 (Reuters) - India's Wipro WIPR.NS expects rapid AI adoption to boost rather than shrink demand for software service providers, a top executive said, countering concerns that the technology threatens the industry's outsourcing model.

The $283 billion sector has been hit by a sharp market selloff amid investor fears that AI tools could upend its traditional, labour-intensive operating model.

"When you look at the entire gamut of things that's possible, it really appears like a large opportunity for us," Chief Strategist and Technology Officer Hari Shetty said in an interview, adding that he expected AI to create more jobs than it displaces.

"What you're seeing today is basically task automation. What we are really talking about is autonomous enterprise, which is a completely different ball game that will require IT services companies to work deeply with clients to actually convert them."

Calling AI "probably the single biggest opportunity" for the industry and comparable to the discovery of electricity or the internet, he said current debates focus too narrowly on automation while missing a broader structural shift.

Citing World Economic Forum estimates, he said AI could create 170 million jobs globally while disrupting roughly 92 million, adding that India's IT sector will see strong demand for skills such as model training, data curation, and responsible AI.

"The primary differentiation here is people who know AI and people who do not know AI," he said.

Shetty argued that, much like cloud computing, AI will broaden rather than diminish the responsibilities of service providers.

Wipro continues to see strong demand for younger, "AI literate" engineers, he said, countering predictions that the industry's traditional staffing pyramid will hollow out.

What companies need are partners who understand their domain processes deeply enough to help them transition to "autonomous enterprises," a shift he expects will shape the next decade of technology spending.

"We clearly think AI is a dominant force, at least for the next decade to two decades, in terms of the kind of business that it will drive," he said.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Ronojoy Mazumdar)

((haripriya.suresh@thomsonreuters.com))

Updates with analyst commentary in paragraphs 6 and 7, parent results in paragraph 9

By Praveen Paramasivam and Komal Salecha

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS reported a 15% decline in quarterly profit on Thursday, pressured by thinner margins as the consumer goods major cut some product prices to counter rising competition, sending shares lower.

The local subsidiary of UK's Unilever ULVR.L, home to Dove and Surf Excel brands, said its profit from continuing operations fell to 25.90 billion rupees ($286.05 million) for the quarter ended December 31.

Shares fell as much as 4.6% after the results.

Total expenses climbed 5%, with EBITDA margins shrinking by 70 basis points from a year earlier to 23.3%, after Hindustan Unilever cut prices in its tea business and home care portfolios, partly to stave off competition.

Hindustan Unilever has grappled with stiff competition in fabric care from startups as well as Ariel detergent maker Procter & Gamble PG.N and India's Godrej Consumer Products GOCP.NS.

Three analysts said Hindustan Unilever's margins missed their estimates. Akshay D'Souza, an independent consumer goods consultant, said the company's focus on distribution-led growth, a slower pace of launches and acquisition spending have squeezed margins.

However, its sales growth improved, rising 4% from a year earlier to 156.14 billion rupees. A 4% increase in sales volume growth is "a bright spot," said Ajay Thakur, research analyst at Anand Rathi Institutional Equities.

Consumer goods makers, including Britannia Industries BRIT.NS and Hindustan Unilever, expect demand to pick up after several subdued quarters, supported by tax cuts and easing inflation that have bolstered urban spending.

Hindustan Unilever expects the fiscal year starting April to be better than the current year. But its parent firm expects 2026 sales growth to be at the lower end of its forecast after a slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.

Hindustan Unilever on Thursday also said it would buy the remaining 49% stake in plant-based food brand Oziva for 8.24 billion rupees.

($1 = 90.5450 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

((Komal@thomsonreuters.com;))

India File is published every Tuesday. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also subscribe here.

Feb 10 - By Nidhi C Sai, Editor Online Production, with global Reuters staff

A global selloff in software stocks sparked by rapid advances in artificial intelligence has rippled to India's shores.

For its $283 billion IT industry built on labour-intensive outsourcing, the ramifications could be substantial. Is this just a bout of AI anxiety that will pass or does the industry need to evolve structurally? That's our focus this week.

Plus, India has scrapped proposed concessions for small cars in upcoming fuel-emissions rules to level the playing field. Scroll down for more on that.

THIS WEEK IN ASIA

China critic Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in jail after landmark Hong Kong trial

As Japan's Takaichi creates election history, only markets stand in her way

China set to widen footprint in Bangladesh as India's ties decline

Thai PM Anutin's poll win calms turmoil but hard economic test awaits

Bangladesh votes in world's first Gen Z-inspired election

A 30-YEAR LEGACY UNDER PRESSURE

Indian IT stocks are facing a moment of reckoning. The launch of plug-ins for Anthropic's Claude Cowork agent, designed to automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing and data analysis, has rattled investors and triggered a sharp selloff last week in what has long been one of India's most reliable growth engines.

Indian software exporters lost $22.5 billion in market value last week, with the Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT falling about 7%, marking its steepest weekly fall in more than four months. The rout mirrored a brutal global selloff. Roughly $800 billion was wiped off the S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS before a rebound, its worst performance against the broader market in 25 years, according to SocGen.

Some analysts warn that the IT sector, the flagship for India's exports since the 1990s, could be vulnerable to rapid advances in AI.

"The market fears (the AI tools) may replace IT services that are currently outsourced. What the real impact will be remains to be seen," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.

Jefferies struck a darker tone. "There is more pain ahead for Indian IT," it said, adding that Anthropic's and Palantir's PLTR.O claims highlight how AI could potentially erode application-service revenues. "With application services accounting for 40%–70% of revenues, firms face growth pressures, and consensus growth estimates do not fully reflect this, posing downside risks to valuations," Jefferies said.

Brokerage Motilal Oswal estimates that 9%-12% of industry revenues could be eliminated over the next four years due to AI-led disruption.

The timing is particularly relevant. India's IT industry is otherwise benefiting from geopolitical tailwinds, with trade deals struck with the United States and the European Union expected to support cross-border services exports and reinforce India's position as a trusted technology partner.

But those policy positives offer little insulation from technological shock. While trade deals can help expand the volume of outsourced work, AI-led automation threatens to compress project timelines and reduce billable hours, striking at the labour-intensive model that has underpinned India's IT boom for decades.

PANIC OR EARLY WARNING?

Not everyone feels this is an existential threat. Some analysts see a classic case of markets running ahead of fundamentals.

Centrum Broking's Piyush Pandey called the selloff a “knee-jerk” reaction. "AI tools have been in the works, and this is how the industry is now shaping up. However, they are not expected to materially disrupt the industry as of now," he said.

JPMorgan said it was "illogical to extrapolate the launch of some tools to an expectation that companies will replace every layer of mission-critical enterprise software," while Kotak Institutional Equities described the decline as "plenty of panic over a little flutter".

That view is echoed at the very top of the AI value chain. Nvidia NVDA.O CEO Jensen Huang dismissed fears that AI will replace software as "the most illogical thing in the world". "If you were a human or robot… would you use tools or reinvent tools? The answer, obviously, is to use tools," he said.

Still, others remain cautious. "Surely, there would be other tools in the making… we don't foresee the glory days of the IT sector… returning soon," CapGrow Capital's Arun Malhotra said.

It is not that India's IT behemoths - TCS TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS - are sitting quietly. Infosys is forming new AI-led partnerships, TCS is embedding AI more deeply into its services, and Wipro is saying AI now underpins many of the deals it is chasing globally.

But can they adapt fast enough, or is AI rewriting the rules of outsourcing? Write to me at nidhi.csai@thomsonreuters.com.

MARKET MATTERS

The U.S.–India trade deal has lifted the cloud over an unloved Indian rupee and may be enough to pause relentless foreign selling in stocks. But investors say a durable turnaround will require a rebound in earnings growth and stronger fundamentals.

The long-awaited agreement, announced first by President Donald Trump last week, sparked a market rally and the rupee's best gain in seven years, signalling improving diplomatic and trade ties with Washington.

Read this analysis on how India's markets are getting tariff relief but are not a buy yet, by Reuters journalists Jaspreet Kalra, Ankur Banerjee and Karin Strohecker.

Read more on how the India-U.S. trade deal is giving tariff-free access to Harley bikes, but no reprieve for Tesla TSLA.O.

THIS WEEK'S MUST READ

India has dropped a proposed fuel-efficiency concession for small cars after rival automakers argued it would disproportionately benefit market leader Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS.

The revised draft tightens emissions rules across the board, removes weight-based leniency and introduces a steeper reduction pathway, increasing pressure on all car makers to accelerate electric and hybrid vehicle sales.

Read this exclusive report by Reuters journalist Aditi Shah.

(Reporting by Nidhi C Sai; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((Nidhi.CSai@thomsonreuters.com; +91 70456 55251))

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Indian software exporters shares .NIFTYIT fell about 2% on Friday and were headed for their worst week in over four months, as rapid advances in artificial intelligence deepened worries that high-margin application-services revenues for Indian IT firms could come under pressure.

The sub-index was the biggest sectoral loser on the day, with all 10 constituents trading in the red. Coforge COFO.NS led losses with its 3.8% drop.

TCS TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS fell nearly 2% each. Nifty 50 .NSEI was down 0.3%.

The IT index has dropped 6.8% so far this week and was set for its biggest drop since September 2025.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, triggered in part by Anthropic's latest automation push, could structurally erode the IT sector's high-margin application services revenues, creating downside risks to earnings and valuations, analysts warn.

Shares in India's software exporters .NIFTYIT fell 0.7% on Thursday, a day after plunging 6% in their worst session for nearly six years, as AI-driven automation from U.S.-based Anthropic and Palantir fuelled fears of compressed project timelines and disruption to the industry's labour-intensive business model.

The weakness has echoed across global IT stocks this week, extending a broader selloff in companies seen as most exposed to potential AI disruption.

"There is more pain ahead for Indian IT," Jefferies said, adding that Anthropic's and Palantir's claims highlight how AI could potentially erode application service revenues for IT firms.

"With application services accounting for 40–70% of revenues, firms face growth pressures, and consensus growth estimates do not fully reflect this, posing downside risks to valuations."

However, some analysts said the sharp selloff may be overdone.

JPMorgan said that while concerns around AI disruption were not without merit, it was illogical to extrapolate the launch of some tools to an expectation that companies will replace every layer of mission-critical enterprise software.

Domestic brokerage Kotak Institutional Equities described the decline as a case of "plenty of panic over a little flutter".

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru. Writing by Chandini Monnappa. Editing by Mark Potter)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Shares of Indian IT exporters .NIFTYIT slumped 6% on Wednesday, tracking losses in global software stocks, after AI developer Anthropic launched new tools that heightened concerns over AI-driven disruption in the data and professional services industry.

Anthropic launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent on Friday that would automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing and data analysis, triggering a significant selloff among U.S. and European data analytics, professional services and software companies.

The Indian IT sub-index joined the rout on Wednesday and was set for its worst day since May 2022. All 10 of its constituents were in losses, led by a 7% drop in software services exporter Persistent Systems PERS.NS.

Heavyweights TCS TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS were down 5.2% and 5.8%, respectively, while Wipro WIPR.NS fell nearly 4%.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

Adds segment details in paragraph 7 and background in paragraph 9

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Indian consumer goods conglomerate ITC ITC.NS reported a 10% fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, hurt by higher raw material costs and a one-time charge tied to the country's new labour codes.

The company, which also sells instant noodles and other food products, said its standalone quarterly profit fell to 50.89 billion rupees ($553.68 million) for the quarter ended December 31, from 56.38 billion rupees a year ago.

The company took a one-time charge of 2.74 billion rupees tied to the country's new labour codes.

India's new labour codes — the country's biggest overhaul of workers' laws in decades — have dragged profits of corporate firms across sectors, from Godrej Consumer Products GOCP.NS and Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India MAHH.NS to Wipro WIPR.NS and Infosys INFY.NS.

ITC's total expenses, too, rose 5% to 134.72 billion rupees due in part to higher prices of raw materials including edible oil, wheat and leaf tobacco.

Leaf tobacco prices have climbed in recent quarters at a time when export demand has picked up, weighing on ITC's profitability even as cigarette volumes have held up for India's market leader.

Revenue from the cigarettes business, ITC's largest segment, grew 8% in the third quarter. The company's consumer goods segment, which houses popular household brands such as Aashirvaad flour, Sunfeast biscuits and Yippee noodles, grew 11%.

Overall revenue rose 6% to 193.59 billion rupees.

However, ITC faces further pressure as India has imposed excise duty on cigarettes in addition to a 40% goods and services tax in a move that could increase prices of cigarettes for an estimated 100 million smokers in the country.

"Such a steep increase will provide further impetus to illicit trade," ITC said in a statement.

($1 = 91.9130 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Shailesh Kuber)

((Komal@thomsonreuters.com;))

** Shares of Wipro WIPR.NS fall 10.3% this week, set for its worst weekly fall since June 2022

** Set to be top loser on IT index .NIFTYIT, which is down 2% for the week

** On day, WIPR down 0.6% at 239.25 rupees vs flat sub-index

** India's fourth-largest IT services firm posted tepid Q3 earnings after market hours last Friday; Q4 revenue growth forecast disappoint investors

** Q3 Net profit fell 7% y/y, missed analysts' average estimate

** Stock rated "hold" on avg by 41 analysts, median PT at 268 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** WIPR dropped 13% in 2025; YTD, down about 8.6% vs sub-index's rise of about 1%

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru)

((Surbhi.Misra@thomsonreuters.com | X: https://twitter.com/SurbhiMisra_ |;))

Repeats with no changes

By Divya Chowdhury and Haripriya Suresh

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence is underpinning technology deals that Indian software services providers are competing for, as companies move from AI test deployments to large projects, Wipro CEO Srini Pallia said.

As budget constraints loosen, Wipro is bidding for several small AI deals alongside large- and mega-deals, Pallia said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, without providing details.

"We'll go after both (small and large deals) because different clients, different industries, and different markets are at different maturity stages," he told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

Pallia acknowledged intense pricing pressure as AI compresses delivery timelines and team sizes, but predicted there will be more small deals due to AI.

India's IT sector, which represents about $283 billion in annual revenue, was hit for several quarters by corporate cuts to technology spending as clients focused only on essential or cost-cutting initiatives amid geopolitical turmoil and macro uncertainties.

Enterprise AI spending is moving from experimentation to accountability, and Wipro offers both AI consulting and IT services for this transition, he said.

"For our clients, 2025 was more about deploying AI, proof of concepts, and bringing productivity benefits. That's dramatically changing in 2026 because the boards and the CEOs are asking them where the return on investment is," Pallia said.

Pallia did not expect tech budgets to dramatically increase, but said clients are optimizing spending and adopting cost-saving technologies.

AI-assisted software development will cost about 25% less, with significant productivity gains in coding and testing, he said. That will translate to "new and more projects, (and is) why IT budgets are not going to shrink in the long run," he said.

Wipro in 2023 launched a three-year plan to invest $1 billion to advance its AI capabilities.

(Join GMF on LSEG Messenger for live interviews: https://lseg.group/3KFHrhe)

(Reporting by Divya Chowdhury in Davos and Haripriya Suresh in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

((eharipriya.suresh@thomsonreuters.com))

** Wipro WIPR.NS falls 2.5% to 239.75 rupees, extends losses as Q4 revenue growth forecast, tepid Q3 earnings disappoint investors

** IT Services firm's stock dropped 10.5% since Monday; set for biggest two-day decline since July 2024

** WIPR dropped 8% on Monday

** Stock rated "hold" on avg, per data compiled by LSEG

** WIPR dropped 13% in 2025

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

((Nandan.Mandayam@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))

Jan 19 (Reuters) - Shares of Wipro WIPR.NS, India's no. 4 IT Services exporter, slumped 8.9% on Monday, after the company's fourth-quarter revenue forecast and tepid deal wins disappointed investors.

The stock was trading at 243.80 rupees and was set for its steepest fall since July 2024.

Wipro was the top percentage loser on the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI and the IT index .NIFTYIT which were down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

BENGALURU, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Wipro WIPR.NS reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue on Friday, driven by growth in a part of its Americas business, which includes its communications, health and consumer segments.

Consolidated sales for the December quarter rose 5.54% to 235.56 billion rupees ($2.59 billion) for the Indian software services exporter, topping analysts' average estimate of 233.91 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 90.8310 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((haripriya.suresh@thomsonreuters.com))

BENGALURU, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, India's largest software services firm, posted a bigger-than-expected third-quarter revenue on Monday as artificial intelligence-led demand ramped up.

The company's consolidated revenue increased 4.9% to 670.87 billion rupees ($7.44 billion) in the third-quarter ended December 31, surpassing analysts' expectation of 666.76 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 90.1660 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((saiishwarbharath.b@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Sai Ishwarbharath B

Jan 8 (Reuters) - India's information technology firms are expected to report another muted quarter, as tepid demand in the U.S. and holiday-period client shutdowns continue to weigh on tech spending, nine brokerages said ahead of earnings.

Brokerages expect the top six IT firms by revenue to post about 4% year-on-year revenue growth and a 5% rise in profit for the December quarter on average, reflecting prolonged demand softness, compared with 6.5% revenue growth in the September quarter.

Indian software exporters last reported double-digit revenue growth in the March quarter of 2023, when digital transformation, cloud adoption and remote-work demand surged in the post-pandemic period.

The broader $283 billion Indian IT industry continues to face macro headwinds, including uncertainty over U.S. tariffs, challenges from proposed $100,000 visa fees, and subdued client spending on concerns about growth in the world's largest economy.

India's IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States, making the world's largest economy crucial for the sector.

Sector bellwether Accenture's ACN.N recent earnings beat Wall Street expectations on AI-led demand, though its unchanged growth outlook underscores the cautious near-term environment.

Although India has no pure-play AI firms, IT companies are beginning to shape AI strategies through acquisitions and partnerships. Brokerages expect AI momentum to build over the next six months and demand to pick up into 2026.

"Clients remain cautious about committing incremental spending to large programs amid macro and tariff uncertainty and a new tech cycle," said Abhishek Pathak, research analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

U.S. tariff uncertainty, visa worries and weak spending drove record foreign outflows of $8.5 billion from IT stocks in 2025, nearly half of total foreign exits from Indian equities.

The Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT fell 12.6% in 2025, making it the worst-performing sector as Indian markets lagged Asian and emerging-market peers.

Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, the country's largest IT firm, will kick off the earnings season on January 12. Its revenue is expected to rise about 4.2% year-on-year, slower than the 5.6% growth reported last year.

Infosys INFY.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS are forecast to report year-on-year revenue growth of about 8.1% and 4.6%, respectively, compared with 7.6% and 5.1% in the year-ago period.

Most brokerages do not expect HCLTech to upgrade its fiscal 2026 annual revenue forecast of 2%–3%, or Infosys to raise its forecast of 3%–5%.

Earnings across domestic equities are expected to improve in the December quarter on tax cuts, policy easing, stable growth and benign inflation, even as the period remains structurally weak for IT firms.

Fewer working days due to global client holidays weigh on billing and revenue, while brokerages flag margin pressure from furloughs and wage hikes at firms such as TCS and Wipro WIPR.NS.

However, resilience in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) segment, deal ramp-ups, early signs of artificial intelligence strategy formation and rupee depreciation could offer support by mid-2026, six brokerages said.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Sai Ishwarbharath B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))