Targeted $10 Billion Revenue: A New Era of AI at LTIMindtree, Led by Nachiket Deshpande

As the landscape of technology shifts, customers are evolving from mere investments in AI infrastructure and proof of concepts (PoCs) to actively seeking out transformative AI-driven services.

This remarkable transition is unlocking a wealth of opportunities for LTIMindtree, and Nachiket Deshpande, the visionary head of AI at the company, underscores that AI will be pivotal in securing substantial contracts.

Deshpande, who previously served as COO, was entrusted in March with leading the launch of LTIMindtree’s new AI business services group, an initiative that highlights the critical role of AI in charting the company’s future trajectory.

Just two months into his role, LTIMindtree achieved a groundbreaking milestone with its largest deal ever: a monumental $450 million, seven-year AI-led contract with a prominent global agribusiness player. 

Deshpande’s ambitions extend even further, as he aims to secure even larger victories. In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Deshpande, President of Global AI Services, Strategic Deals, and Partnerships, revealed his strategic vision, the company’s innovative AI playbook, and the compelling BlueVerse offering.

He said, this is the outlook for demand amid geopolitical challenges, all while emphasizing the importance of nurturing AI talent. “For the past two years, we’ve been steadfast in our commitment to embedding AI across all aspects of our operations, and that mission continues to gain momentum. 

The progress in AI adoption within the industry has unveiled exciting new opportunities for us,” Deshpande remarked. Internally, LTIMindtree has structured its approach into two distinct modes. In Mode 1, the focus has been on seamlessly integrating AI into every service we provide, resulting in unprecedented productivity in areas such as application development, modernization, and data management. 

Our efforts have led to numerous large-scale deals over the past six to nine months, driven by this innovative productivity model. Transitioning to Mode 2, our attention shifts to AI engineering and the creation of industry-specific solutions, alongside our ‘services as software’ offerings. 

This emerging market is projected to reach a staggering $1.5 trillion by 2035, capturing significant revenue from both services and software. In the past year, agentic AI has matured into a dynamic technology, offering new pathways for developing goal-oriented systems that can fundamentally transform how business functions are delivered. 

The establishment of our dedicated AI services unit serves to harness this remarkable potential. For instance, we are now delivering marketing operations, customer service, supply chain planning, and fraud detection using an unparalleled combination of human insight and agentic systems. 

This integration enables us to achieve business outcomes that transcend the capabilities of traditional solutions. “This synergy will unlock an extraordinary level of productivity that conventional SaaS solutions have struggled to deliver,” Deshpande asserted.

Our sales strategy is also undergoing a significant evolution. Instead of targeting CIOs and CTOs, we are now engaging directly with business leaders and, in select cases, chief data officers and AI officers. 

By establishing a dedicated AI unit, we are poised to address these emerging roles, armed with a pioneering delivery model. In a prior interview, CEO Venu Lambu articulated that a company’s competitive edge will hinge on its ability to effectively monetize agentic AI. 

Deshpande elaborated on this notion and discussed the recent launch of the BlueVerse platform, which features an impressive portfolio of 300 industry-specific AI models, while highlighting how LTIMindtree sets itself apart from other IT companies.

“We are standing out in two significant ways. First, with the launch of BlueVerse, we are committed to ensuring that agentic use cases remain accessible and not restricted to our platform. 

This approach tackles a common challenge faced by customers, as our platform prioritizes interoperability and seamlessly integrates with the existing ecosystems they have invested in, from various hyperscaler infrastructures to innovative AI models.”

“We are not asking customers to purchase new technology to compete; rather, we strive to help them unlock the full potential of their existing investments.” “Our second distinctive approach is grounded in the service-as-a-product concept. By creating a specialized unit, we are able to approach the market in a refreshingly new manner. 

This allows us to provide tailored, one-on-one solutions that meet our customers’ unique challenges while maintaining an outcome-oriented, platform-driven delivery model.” When asked about the proportion of tech budgets customers are reassigning to AI and generative AI initiatives, Deshpande shared insightful observations.

“In recent years, a substantial segment of our customers’ AI investments has been devoted to building foundational infrastructure, whether it’s acquiring GPUs, optimizing models, or developing industry-specific solutions aligned with their strategic vision.”