en.Wedoany.com Reported - India's $315 billion software services industry is positioning data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) as new revenue growth drivers. Over the past three years, the sector has faced expansion challenges amid business disruptions caused by AI.
Industry experts point out that as enterprise spending shifts from computing and infrastructure to AI platforms, agents, and business applications, IT companies can leverage their existing early-stage partnerships with clients to transform into preferred end-to-end partners. In recent months, major software service providers have initiated multiple acquisitions and collaborations in this area, reflecting an emerging strategic direction.
The latest example is HCLTech's acquisition of a 10.46% stake in Indian AI company Sarvam for 14.27 billion rupees ($150 million). C Vijayakumar, CEO of HCLTech, India's third-largest IT firm, stated after the investment that the move aims to build a differentiated full-stack AI platform and enhance the ability to deliver secure, scalable, and responsible AI solutions.
India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is taking an asset platform route by partnering with global alternative asset manager TPG to jointly invest up to 180 billion rupees ($2 billion) in TCS's AI data center business, HyperVault. Global professional services firm Accenture is acquiring a 65% stake in DLB Associates to gain data center design, engineering, and consulting capabilities, while also expanding its construction consulting business through the acquisition of Soben. Cognizant, meanwhile, acquired Astreya for $600 million to bolster its AI infrastructure operations.
Somnath Chatterjee, founder and CEO of Prismforce, a provider of workforce transformation software for tech companies, said that beyond direct revenue, these investments create strategic option value. As enterprise spending shifts to AI platforms, agents, and business applications, IT companies can leverage early relationships to become preferred end-to-end partners.
Over the past two to three years, growth rates for major software service exporters have slowed to low single digits, after maintaining double-digit growth for more than two decades. AI's disruption of software development, coupled with intensified competition from new-generation and mid-tier enterprises, tighter corporate client budgets, and a challenging macroeconomic environment, has further exacerbated this trend.
In a co-authored blog post, analysts Yugal Joshi, Zachariah Chirayil, and Lalith Kumar from US technology research firm Everest Group noted that while the compression effect of AI on the technology services industry has been widely discussed, AI also presents expansion opportunities that may lie deeper within the infrastructure stack. The blog added that AI adoption is increasing demand for infrastructure-intensive environments requiring ongoing operational support, resilience, and lifecycle management, thereby extending market opportunities for technology service providers into infrastructure operations and long-term run services.
According to related research from Cornell University, the global data center market was approximately $250 billion in 2023 and is expected to potentially double by 2030. Growth is projected to be driven by hyperscale expansion, enterprise AI adoption, demand for graphics processing unit (GPU) infrastructure, and modernization of existing infrastructure environments. Chatterjee stated that the top five hyperscalers are expected to spend nearly $700 billion to $800 billion annually in the coming years, creating a substantial value pool for IT services companies.
On Thursday, while announcing its fiscal third-quarter 2026 earnings, Accenture unveiled a $4.18 billion acquisition plan to expand its cybersecurity business, which has become a critical infrastructure area for IT service providers.
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