Role of IT services will not diminish but become more important in the AI age: Tech Mahindra Chairman

Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra

IT services will play a more important role in making AI usable, trusted and valuable within enterprises, said Anand Mahindra, Tech Mahindra Chairman, during the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.“Let me tackle the elephant in the room — which is the prediction that the rise of artificial intelligence will kill IT services in India. Every major technology cycle creates such anxieties. My answer is clear. The role of IT services will not diminish. It will change. In many ways, it will become more important. AI is no longer just a productivity tool at the edge of the enterprise,” said Mahindra.While agreeing that AI has moved to the centre of businesses design work, customers service, risk management and decision-making, Mahindra argued that companies would still require IT companies to integrate, govern and shape the technology as per every enterprise’s requirements.“Most enterprises operate with legacy systems, fragmented data, complex regulations and technology debt. AI cannot be simply placed on top of this complexity. That is why companies like ours matter: to make AI usable, trusted and valuable inside the enterprise,” said Mahindra.Tech Mahindra will provide an enabling layer in the AI era, turning a very powerful technology into an intelligent business partner that delivers real value, he said.“AI will challenge old models, but it will also create one of the largest opportunities our industry has ever seen which is to help enterprises and nations convert intelligence into trusted impact,” said Mahindra.Sovereign modelOn sovereign models, Mahindra recently emphasised the importance of such models as enterprises will increasingly need the ability to work across models. However, the differentiating factor would be Tech Mahindra’s ability to preserve company workflows and solutions along with the AI.“Some models may become more interchangeable over time. What will truly differentiate an enterprise is its own “alpha” as it’s known— which is its data, workflows, judgment and domain knowledge. And our role at Tech Mahindra is to help preserve that alpha through the platforms, the solutions and workflows that sit above and around the model,” he said.Stating that clients will need partners who understand AI transformation beyond as a a business, talent and operating model transformation, the Chairman said that the enterprise of tomorrow will be built on human judgment amplified by AI capability.“Tech Mahindra is ready for that opportunity. Our ambition is simple: to help our clients thrive in the AI era, and to ensure that India is not left behind,” said Mahindra.Published on July 17, 2026