Anand Mahindra says AI will strengthen, not sink, India’s IT services

Anand Mahindra says AI won’t kill IT services. Instead, it will push firms to adapt, become efficient, and focus on results Artificial intelligence will not diminish the importance of IT services; instead, it will make the sector more central, according to Anand Mahindra. Speaking about the debate around AI’s impact on outsourcing and tech jobs, he argued that the real challenge for IT firms is adaptation, not extinction. Mahindra’s view is that AI will pressure companies to become leaner, smarter, and more outcome-focused. He said firms will need to reduce costs, rethink headcount-heavy models, and move away from billing based purely on effort. But he also stressed that this shift does not mean service providers will disappear from the picture. According to him, large enterprises will still need IT partners for critical functions that AI alone cannot fully handle. These include secure data infrastructure, system integration across legacy and cloud platforms, governance, compliance, audit trails, and reliability in mission-critical operations. In that sense, AI may automate parts of coding and routine work, but it will also raise the value of firms that can manage complex technology ecosystems. Also Read: Samantha expecting first child with Raj Nidimoru, announces temporary maternity break He suggested that the future belongs to companies that can evolve from being code providers to AI orchestrators. Such firms, he said, will be the ones that integrate, supervise, and scale AI systems while ensuring business outcomes. The new advantage, in his view, will not come from supplying the most manpower, but from delivering speed, scale, and dependable results. Mahindra’s comments were also a pushback against fears that AI will wipe out India’s IT services industry. Instead of treating AI as a threat, he framed it as a force that will reshape the sector and strengthen the most adaptable players. Also Read: Bengaluru cracks down: No hawking on major roads, abandoned vehicles to vanish from July