Tata Consultancy Services is building a team of up to 8,900 forward-deployed engineers and is actively hunting for acquisitions in AI, data security and cybersecurity, two company executives told Reuters.
The forward-deployed engineer group would represent 1% to 1.5% of TCS’s total associate base, translating to roughly 5,900 to 8,900 employees based on the company’s end-June headcount. Unlike back-office researchers, these engineers embed directly with client teams to integrate AI systems into live business operations, tailoring tools to each client’s environment.
Krithivasan did not specify whether the roles would be filled through external hiring or by reskilling existing staff. The push comes as investors worry that AI could disrupt India’s $315 billion IT services industry by cutting engineering headcount, shortening project timelines and squeezing prices as clients demand a share of the productivity gains.
“We would be ensuring that we have as many as 1% to 1.5% of our associates who could be what you would call FDEs,” said K Krithivasan, CEO, TCS. He rejected the idea that AI would hollow out outsourcing. “What you need is a deep knowledge of the customer environment to make it work,” he said, adding that the strategy has nothing to do with cost arbitrage.
TCS, India’s largest software services firm, has largely relied on organic growth and shunned acquisitions for years. That’s shifting now. The company is evaluating acquisition targets in AI, data security and cybersecurity as it pivots from a purely organic strategy. CFO Samir Seksaria said the firm invests roughly $1 billion annually on talent development, underscoring how central workforce strategy has become to TCS’s AI positioning.
The forward-deployed engineer model isn’t unique to TCS. OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft have all expanded hiring for similar client-facing AI specialist roles, and the trend is emerging as one of the few hiring bright spots in a sector otherwise grappling with AI-driven efficiency gains. TCS’s annualised AI revenue currently sits at $1.5 billion, though quarterly growth has decelerated from 28% to 13%, a slowdown that adds urgency to the company’s push for new AI-linked revenue streams.
Krithivasan is targeting long-term quarterly growth of about 25% for the company overall. Whether the forward-deployed engineer bet and the acquisition hunt can close that gap will be one of the more closely watched threads in Indian IT hiring through the rest of 2026.
