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Indian information technology (IT) companies are well-positioned to benefit from the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by enterprises, as rising infrastructure investments and funding requirements increase financial risks for companies building and operating AI computing capacity, according to a research report by Anand Rathi.
The report said Indian IT companies could gain from the enterprise AI deployment cycle through an asset-light business model, without bearing the same level of capital expenditure required to build large-scale computing infrastructure. Indian IT offers relatively asset-light exposure to the subsequent enterprise deployment cycle, supported by net-cash balance sheets, low capex intensity & strong cash conversion, the report said. The brokerage highlighted the growing financial commitments associated with AI infrastructure, as companies expand computing capacity to meet rising demand. It cited Anthropic's improving revenue and operating performance alongside substantial future computing commitments, underscoring the capital-intensive nature of the AI infrastructure business. Anthropic reported revenue of USD 16.3 billion in the first half of calendar year 2026, a 14-fold year-on-year increase, while adjusted operating profit turned positive at USD 1.6 billion. However, the company had approximately USD 321 billion in leases yet to commence, while its computing commitments highlighted the scale of future financial obligations. The report said the increasing capital intensity, funding requirements and utilisation risks remain concentrated in the infrastructure layer, creating a potential opportunity for Indian IT service providers that can help enterprises deploy AI solutions without replicating the underlying infrastructure investments. A key opportunity could emerge for systems integrators, which help businesses integrate AI models into their existing technology systems, applications and workflows. According to the report, rising spending by Anthropic on sales, marketing and partnerships points to the growing role of service providers in enterprise AI adoption. Underscoring the growing role of SIs in enterprise AI adoption, creating downstream opportunities for model-agnostic systems integrators, the report said. The report noted that Anthropic's sales, marketing and partnership expenses increased approximately 27 times year-on-year to USD 3.2 billion in the first half of calendar year 2026, driven largely by a USD 2.7 billion year-on-year increase in channel-partner fees. Anthropic's enterprise customer base also reflected the pace of adoption. The company had approximately 11,900 customers generating more than USD 100,000 in annual revenue as of September 2026, while around 80 per cent of its revenue in the first half of the year was consumption-based. The brokerage said these trends point to opportunities for model-agnostic systems integrators that can help enterprises select, integrate and deploy AI models across business operations. However, the report also flagged risks for the Indian IT sector, including potential AI-led pricing deflation and the possibility that rising computing expenditure could constrain discretionary technology spending by clients. Microsofts workforce rationalisation signals AI-led pricing deflation, while rising compute capex could further constrain discretionary IT spending, the report said. The findings suggest that while AI adoption could create new revenue opportunities for Indian IT companies, the pace and profitability of growth will depend on enterprise demand, the ability to deliver AI integration services and the impact of changing technology spending patterns. (ANI)
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