India’s leading information technology companies are accelerating acquisitions as slowing demand and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence begin to reshape the sector’s growth model.
The latest sign of this shift came from Wipro, which this week agreed to acquire Mindsprint from Singapore-based Olam Group for $375 million, alongside an eight-year technology services contract worth more than $1 billion.
This comes after Infosys in March acquired Optimum Healthcare IT and Stratus for $560 million. Further, Tata Consultancy Services also announced plans to acquire US-based Coastal Cloud for $700 million, while Coforge signed an agreement to take over Encora for $2.35 billion, both in December. And in August last year, Wipro acquired Harman DTS for $375 million.
The move is being seen as one of the signals that large IT firms are using mergers and acquisitions to protect revenue growth as clients cut spending on traditional outsourcing work.
For years, India’s biggest software exporters relied heavily on large outsourcing deals in application maintenance, infrastructure management and back-office support. But that model is now under pressure as companies across the world adopt AI tools to automate coding, customer support and internal operations.
Industry analysts say the shift is forcing IT firms to buy specialised capabilities rather than wait for slow organic expansion.
“This is no longer opportunistic deal-making. It is a strategic response to structural revenue pressure from AI-led automation and weak discretionary tech spending,” said an analyst tracking the sector at a domestic broking firm. “Firms are acquiring domain expertise, cloud engineering and AI-native capabilities to defend growth over the next two to three years.”
Across the industry, acquisitions are increasingly focused on AI engineering, data platforms, cybersecurity and sector-specific consulting. Market watchers expect more such transactions from large-cap and mid-cap firms in the coming quarters, especially as clients demand measurable productivity gains from AI deployments.
The pressure comes at a difficult time for the sector. Recent previews of the Q4 FY26 earnings suggest that constant-currency revenue growth for India’s top IT firms is expected to remain subdued, with much of the reported growth being helped by a weaker rupee rather than stronger business momentum.
Brokerage estimates suggest revenue growth for the quarter could range from a negative 0.5 to a 3% rise sequentially, with Tier-I companies expected to post growth in a narrow band. HDFC Securities estimates Tier-I growth between negative 1.1% and 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in constant currency terms, while Motilal Oswal Financial Services described the quarter as “uneventful”.