HCL Technologies’ CEO, C Vijayakumar, declared that the traditional three-decade-old business model of India’s IT industry is obsolete due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking at Nasscom’s annual Technology and Leadership Forum in Mumbai on February 24, 2025, Vijayakumar emphasized the necessity for companies to adopt a “paranoid” mindset to remain relevant and foster growth.
Vijayakumar highlighted that the industry has experienced a linear scaling of revenues and personnel over the past 30 years, a model now ripe for disruption. He revealed that HCL has been challenging teams to achieve double the revenue with half the workforce, leveraging AI-driven automation to enhance productivity.
Echoing this sentiment, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh agreed on the need for vigilance to stay relevant in the evolving landscape. He said that the Indian IT industry needs to be paranoid to be relevant. Parekh further noted that a significant portion of the industry operates on input-based models and stressed the importance of transitioning to output and platform-based services.
Vijayakumar also advocated for Indian tech firms to develop their own large language models, cautioning that reliance on existing open-source models may be risky due to potential geopolitical implications. He emphasized that building proprietary models could offer a long-term competitive advantage as costs decrease.
In terms of growth strategies, Parekh mentioned Infosys’s pursuit of substantial acquisitions to enhance capabilities, while Vijayakumar indicated that company size holds less significance for HCL.
The discussions underscore a pivotal moment for India’s IT sector, urging companies to adapt swiftly to AI advancements to maintain their competitive edge.
