# TCS says AI revenue will offset deflation as half still ahead 2026-10-12T07:46:23+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO K Krithivasan has said that about half of the AI-led pricing deflation the company expects has yet to hit, and that it will be offset by revenue from artificial intelligence and technology modernisation. In an interview with the Economic Times, Krithivasan stated that client budgets are not expected to rise amid geopolitical pressures, but customers are increasingly looking to AI for cost optimisation. Separately, TCS COO Aarthi Subramanian told Business Standard that 80 per cent of new hires will have digital and AI skills going forward. Of the 4,500 added in the September quarter, 25 to 30 per cent were pure AI hires. TCS reported $3 billion in AI revenue for the quarter, or 10 per cent of total revenue, and a total contract value of $9.6 billion. Subramanian told The Hindu Businessline that AI is a growth driver and does not cannibalise existing revenue. The company expects expanding AI deal volumes to improve its profit margins. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The three outlets report TCS CEO K Krithivasan and COO Aarthi Subramanian’s comments from separate interviews but with uniform straight-reporting framing. Economic Times leads with Krithivasan’s prediction that half of AI-led pricing deflation is still ahead and that client budgets will not rise, stressing the headwind Business Standard leads with the 80-per-cent hiring target for digital and AI skills, emphasising the scale of the workforce shift. The Hindu Businessline quotes both executives at length on AI as a non-cannibalising growth driver and on the three parallel opportunity areas. All agree on the core facts: TCS reported $3 billion in AI revenue in the September quarter (10 per cent of revenue) and booked $9.6 billion in total contract value. No source contradicts TCS’s growth story, the differences are in emphasis, pricing pressure versus investment optimism, hiring volume versus delivery model. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral - economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Leads with CEO warning that half of deflation remains - thehindubusinessline.com (neutral report) Full Q&A framing AI as growth, not cannibalisation - business-standard.com (neutral report) Leads with 80% hiring target and margin optimism This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Aarthi Subramanian, Artificial intelligence, K. Krithivasan, Tata Consultancy Services Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/tcs-says-ai-revenue-will-offset-deflation-as-half-still-ahead/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/tcs-says-ai-revenue-will-offset-deflation-as-half-still-ahead/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/