TCS plans up to 8,900 embedded AI engineers as its AI revenue growth slows

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to build a team of forward-deployed engineers to embed directly with clients and speed up their AI adoption, Chief Executive K Krithivasan said. The firm would ensure “as many as 1% to 1.5% of our associates” take on the role, Krithivasan said — up to about 8,900 people based on its end-June headcount.

Forward-deployed engineers are technical staff who work inside a customer’s operations rather than at arm’s length, tailoring software to how each client actually runs. Krithivasan did not say whether the roles would be filled by new hires or by retraining existing staff.

The push comes as TCS’s AI business cools. Annualized AI revenue growth slowed to 13% in the most recent quarter, from 28% previously, even as the company spends roughly $1 billion a year on talent development and internal AI tools.

TCS is also weighing acquisitions for the first time in years. Chief Financial Officer Samir Seksaria said the company is evaluating targets in AI, data security and cybersecurity, a shift after long relying almost entirely on organic growth.

The comments were made to reporters rather than in a formal filing, and TCS has not detailed timing, budgets or targets for either the hiring plan or the acquisition search.

How quickly TCS fills up to 8,900 embedded roles, and whether it buys its way into AI capabilities, will signal how hard the slowdown is biting the world’s largest IT services exporters.