TCS to build 8,900+ AI deployment team to scale innovation

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is reportedly building a team of up to 8,900 AI forward deployment engineers and is hunting for AI acquisitions.

The company is betting big on AI and believes it will create new business rather than undermining outsourcing, two TCS executives told Reuters. It comes amid concerns that the rapid growth of AI could disrupt India’s IT services industry by reducing demand for engineering teams.

“We would be … ensuring that we have as many as 1% to 1.5% of our associates who could be ⁠what you would call FDEs,” CEO K Krithivasan said to Reuters. He didn’t say if the company would hire externally or retrain existing staff.

A forward-deployed engineer (FDE) is embedded directly with a client to implement and integrate a company’s technology within that client’s specific technical environment. They work to accelerate AI adoption and tailor the tools to specific business needs, a role that has quickly emerged as a strong need in this sector.

TCS is reportedly competing with the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft, who have all expanded hiring for FDEs to help clients deploy AI tools. Krithivasan stated that he doesn’t think AI would disrupt the outsourcing model, arguing that companies still need partners like TCS to integrate and deploy AI systems.

“What you need is a deep knowledge of the customer environment to ⁠make it work,” he told Reuters. “That is where we differentiate ourselves. This has nothing to do with cost arbitrage. It’s essentially because of the talent pool that we have built.”

TCS spends about US$1 billion every year on talent development and making AI accessible internally. The company has placed strong focus on training and targeted hiring in AI-native technologies. It has partnered with the likes of Anthropic and Mistral to help businesses scale AI innovation past the pilot phase.

The news comes at the same time as TCS has announced an expanded collaboration with ABB to transform its global network operations. Planning to partner for 20 years, TCS will scale its role from managing infrastructure and applications to delivering end-to-end global network operations, through an integrated network-as-a-service model.

It also comes as TCS reports continued growth in FY2027 after winning multiple AI transformation deals. Its Q1 revenue was reported by TCS at US$7,624 million, with its annualised AI revenue sitting at $2.6 billion for the same period.

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