IT majors chart divergent AI paths: Infra-led or asset-light

HCLTech’s artificial intelligence strategy, as demonstrated in its latest quarterly earnings commentary, underscores a growing divergence in how India’s top IT firms are approaching the AI transition, experts observed. While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is taking an infrastructure-first route, committing billions to build domestic AI capacity, HCLTech is opting for an “asset-light” model that leans on proprietary software, differentiated IP and client-side transformation.