Advanced AI Revenue Rises 20% QoQ to USD 148 Million at HCLTech: MD & CEO C Vijayakumar

"This is not the regular AI revenue. This is advanced AI revenue," Vijayakumar told ANI on the sidelines of the company's quarterly earnings report. "Regular AI is embedded across our business. What we are calling out separately is advanced AI revenue, which is about USD 148 million this quarter, a 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth."

Following the strong AI performance, growth was broad-based across verticals, with financial services, telecom, media, retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and manufacturing all reporting healthy demand during the quarter.

Vijayakumar said HCLTech delivered another standout quarter, continuing the momentum from the previous period. "Last quarter was a standout quarter. This quarter has been a standout quarter," he told ANI. "Revenue grew 4.2 per cent sequentially, margins expanded, and topping all of that is an exceptional booking of USD 3 billion of net new deals."

A major highlight was the announcement of a USD 475 million, five-year mega deal focused on digital transformation and application software development lifecycle modernisation.

"We also announced a mega deal for USD 475 million, a five-year deal, which is all digital transformation and application software development lifecycle modernisation," Vijayakumar said.

On client demand for AI, he said adoption is accelerating across practical use cases. "Across the board, every customer is looking at how to leverage AI," he said.

"The biggest focus is on business use cases, using agent technology. There is also significant focus on the use of AI in software development to drive better productivity and quality."

Vijayakumar also clarified that HCLTech has no plans to manufacture computers in India. "No, no, we were not planning to do that," he said.

With strong AI-led growth, diversified sectoral demand, margin expansion, and robust deal wins, HCLTech signalled sustained business momentum heading into the coming quarters.

HCL Technologies on Tuesday reported a strong performance for the third quarter of FY26, driven by momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-led offerings, strong deal wins and improved margins.

"We have delivered another standout quarter on all fronts," CEO and MD C Vijayakumar said, adding that the performance was "underpinned by our AI vision and offerings," including physical AI and agentic AI solutions.

HCLTech reported USD 3.79 billion in Q3 revenue, helping it cross the important milestone of USD 15 billion in annualised revenue. Revenue grew 4.2% sequentially and 4.6% year-on-year (YoY) in constant currency (CC).

Services revenue grew 5% YoY, while engineering and R&D services rose 10.8% YoY in CC.Advanced AI revenue grew 19.9% sequentially, led by strong traction in agent tech, physical AI and AI Factory programmes.

"AI is now embedded across every major engagement," Vijayakumar said.

The company reported net new bookings of USD 3 billion, including a USD 475 million, five-year AI-led mega deal. Operating margin stood at 18.6%, up 111 basis points QoQ.

CFO Shiv Walia said Q3 revenue stood at Rs 33,872 crore, up 6% QoQ, while net income was Rs 4,795 crore. The board declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share.

HCLTech's acquisition strategy remains capability-led, with advanced artificial intelligence emerging as a key focus area, CEO and MD C Vijayakumar said. He said acquisitions are aimed at strengthening specific domain capabilities, technology areas, and presence in focus geographies, while reiterating that organic growth remains the company's core strategy.

On AI, Vijayakumar said, "This is not regular AI revenue. This is advanced AI revenue," he said, clarifying that AI embedded across services, data and analytics work are excluded. The advanced AI bucket includes physical AI, robotics, agentic AI, AI factories, large-scale data centre services, and IP-led platforms such as AI Force and AI Foundry.

Commenting on Global Capability Centres (GCCs), Vijayakumar said HCLTech operates in 200 GCCs worldwide and views them as a significant opportunity. While some work is being insourced, he said collaboration, high-value services, and software capabilities allow HCLTech to partner with clients and scale alongside GCC expansion. (ANI)