Key Highlights:
- TCS and Google will develop custom AI agents to improve workforce operations.
- The Tata Group will utilise this partnership to upskill its staff with AI operations.
- TCS is also setting up new data centres across India under its 5-year expansion plans.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is now expanding its long-standing partnership with Google Cloud to integrate Gemini AI across its workforce. It will enable TCS to build custom agentic AI solutions for its clients, and ease operations within its teams. Google will also provide access to its advanced Gemini AI models to develop Tata’s tcsAI program. The announcement comes shortly after Google’s $15 billion investment to create its first ever AI Hub in Andhra Pradesh.
TCS-Google Partnership: What it means for the two
TCS is currently feeling the heat of the AI wave, which is affecting multiple service based companies worldwide. Hence, the Tata Group-owned company is now embracing the adoption of the latest cloud computing and AI services. It recently announced a $7 billion dollar investment plan to set up new data centre units, and plans to become the world’s largest AI-led tech services firm. TCS also formed a dedicated global AI unit last month, led by Amit Kapur, who has been with the company for 20 years.
Under the new partnership, TCS will now integrate Gemini Enterprise solutions to create a hybrid AI + human workflow. TCS will first utilise Google’s pre-built cloud agents, and also work together to build custom agents. The new AI agents will be designed to seamlessly accelerate existing systems like BigQuery, a key part of TCS’s internal system.
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, mentioned that the partnership will serve as a unified platform for enterprise knowledge, and help each employee become a force multiplier for the business. Aarthi Subramanian, COO of TCS, called this as a new chapter where TCS will use Gemini Enterprise solutions as an skill investment tool for its staff.
Is TCS Too Late in the AI Race?
TCS is the household name for affordable and quality IT services not just in India, but worldwide. However, the rising adoption of AI and agenetic solutions has been a rising concern for the IT industry. TCS recently laid of 12,000 staff, the first mass-firing in its 50-year history. While the company denied that the firing happened because of AI adoption, investors think otherwise as the company’s share price has slumped by 30% this year, the steepest fall for the company since its listing in 2004.
All of these factors point towards the same threat of AI. However, TCS has maintained its stance on adopting AI and cloud computing services. The company’s biggest bet right now is on its data centre plans, which aims to reach a 1GW capacity within the next 5-7 years. Given the large $7 billion size of the investment, and long execution timeline, several analysts have raised questions over the returns on this project.
The new partnership with Google does address some of the questions, as TCS has finally started to develop on its custom AI agent models, which are expected to speed up its expansion plans. It will be interesting to observe how the prime jewel of the Tata Group’s crown makes it name count in the AI world dominated by OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others.
