Infosys on Tuesday told investors that opportunities arising from artificial intelligence (AI)-led digital transformation are expected to outweigh any revenue compression in IT services due to AI-driven productivity gains.

The IT bellwether also announced a strategic collaboration with Anthropic to deliver advanced enterprise AI solutions across sectors, including telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing and software development.

Chief executive officer Salil Parekh said the company has identified six service opportunity areas: AI strategy and engineering; preparing enterprise data for AI models; upgrading core business processes using AI agents; modernising legacy operations; embedding AI in physical devices; and building responsible and secure AI systems.

“Across these six areas, based on external analysis, we estimate the opportunity to be in the range of $300–400 billion through 2030. At the same time, several entities have suggested that AI productivity could compress IT services revenues. However, we have a clear view that the opportunity is massive and will become the driving force of our growth in the coming years,” Parekh said.

In a statement to the stock exchanges on Tuesday evening, Infosys said it has a two-pronged strategy for AI — capture new demand for AI-first services across six value pools and augment existing services with AI to expand wallet share.

On the partnership with Anthropic, Parekh said the collaboration aims to accelerate AI value realisation for global enterprises. "From modernising financial services with intelligent risk management and compliance, to enabling engineering businesses to lead with AI-driven design and manufacturing, the goal is to leverage the joint expertise of Infosys and Anthropic,” he said.

No opportunity gap

Chairman Nandan Nilekani said that technology transitions have historically required IT services firms to adapt to new paradigms, but argued that the current AI wave represents an even larger opportunity.

“My view is that there is no opportunity gap. If anything, the opportunity is bigger than before,” Nilekani said.

He noted that advances powered by the ubiquity of the internet and smartphones have accelerated the pace of AI adoption compared with earlier technological shifts.

“This is not a layer of technology; this is a fundamental shift in the way we do business,” he said, adding that firms “cannot run businesses the old way” in the AI era.

However, Nilekani flagged what he described as a “deployment gap” as a key risk. “Technology is moving faster than an organisation’s ability to deploy,” he said. While billions of dollars are being invested globally in AI models, enterprise adoption has lagged.

He pointed out that many large corporations continue to allocate 60–80 per cent of their technology budgets to maintaining legacy systems, constraining investments in transformation. Rising security breaches are compounding the challenge, he added.

At the same time, he said AI itself offers a pathway to faster modernisation. “The good news is that for the first time we have the tools to modernise quickly thanks to AI,” Nilekani said.

Workforce disruption

Nilekani cautioned that AI will significantly reshape workforce dynamics. “The way we hire, train and deploy talent will change,” he said, emphasising that while companies will continue to require talent, roles will evolve.

Reskilling, he said, will be the core challenge as enterprises prepare employees for AI-driven functions and adapt to changing productivity metrics.

He also warned against what he termed “AI-led fake productivity,” questioning how firms can ensure that AI investments translate into tangible gains rather than superficial metrics. Effective implementation, he said, requires “laser-focus.”

Stock reaction

Investor sentiment improved following Nilekani’s comments and the Anthropic partnership announcement. Shares of Infosys rose as much as 4 per cent in intraday trade and closed at ₹1,391.20, up 1.83 per cent over the previous close on the BSE.