HCLTech is reshaping its financial services strategy to address rapid digital acceleration and AI-led disruption, with a sharp focus on engineering excellence, platformization, and client-centric innovation. This was the core message at its analyst event held on May 13 at ASPIRE at One World Observatory in New York City, where key executives outlined the company’s vision.
C Vijayakumar, CEO and Managing Director of HCLTech, emphasized the company’s shift from traditional IT services to a more platform-based, AI-enabled approach. He presented a bold vision of doubling revenue with half the headcount, signaling a transformative model focused on productivity and value over scale.
Vijayakumar highlighted revenue per employee as a key metric, noting that HCLTech leads peers such as Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro, with a figure of $62,360 in Q1 FY25, Kelly Lesiczka, Senior Analyst, Professional Services and Bozhidar Hristov, Principal Analyst at Technology Business Review, said in a research note.
He attributed this performance to the company’s deep-rooted culture, engineering DNA, and ability to embed itself within client ecosystems, which fuels trust and long-term relationships. Vijayakumar noted that HCLTech uses a measured onboarding strategy for new clients, while being more assertive and transformation-driven with existing ones. He urged the organization to maintain a “paranoid mindset” to stay ahead of emerging trends.
Srinivasan (Srini) Seshadri, Chief Growth Officer and Financial Services Lead, detailed HCLTech’s largest industry group — its 50,000-strong Financial Services unit, which generated $2.9 billion in FY25 revenue. He emphasized five pillars of success:
# Engineering DNA
# Outcome orientation
# Challenger mindset
# Verticalized services
# Innovation
Srinivasan Seshadri underlined the impact of HCLTech’s vertical-aligned model, which integrates all service lines into a unified financial services vertical. This strategy enhances go-to-market cohesion and strengthens the company’s ability to deliver end-to-end transformation solutions.
HCLTech’s AI Focus in Financial Services
HCLTech’s strategy in financial services is increasingly centered around the integration of AI — especially generative AI (GenAI) — to help clients modernize operations, enhance efficiency, and navigate regulatory and innovation challenges. Leaders including Srinivasan Seshadri, Ananth Subramanya, and Vijay Guntur articulated how AI drives client engagement and transformation across various service lines and offerings.
Srinivasan Seshadri emphasized the evolution of GenAI from hype to real-world deployment. He highlighted how HCLTech supports clients at different levels of AI maturity to achieve transformation across the value chain. The company uses GenAI not just to improve processes, but to deliver value in areas such as regulation, governance, and security, while aligning its core strengths in engineering and platform modernization with AI.
Ananth Subramanya, EVP of Digital Business Services, stressed the importance of delivering experience-led transformations. He explained that consumer loyalty is now shaped by user experience, not just the product, making customer experience (CX) a central pillar of HCLTech’s transformation strategy. Subramanya noted that HCLTech’s CX-centric delivery blends business process optimization with UI design to ensure rapid, sustainable impact.
Vijay Guntur, CTO and Head of Ecosystems, outlined the operational priorities within financial services — efficiency, innovation, CX, and risk management — and how HCLTech addresses these via its AI platforms. The company’s main AI offerings include:
AI Force: Launched in March 2024, this platform enhances software development and engineering lifecycles with embedded agentic workflows for faster time-to-market.
AI Foundry: Focuses on transforming value streams using AI and data within cognitive infrastructures.
AI Labs: With locations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, India, and Singapore, these labs help clients identify and scale AI use cases.
AI/GenAI Engineering: Leverages HCLTech’s deep engineering roots and legacy from its DRYiCE automation platform.
These platforms allow HCLTech to tailor AI integration to each client’s readiness, ensuring both technical advancement and long-term value.
Though consulting is not HCLTech’s primary investment area, it plays a critical role in enabling AI-led modernization. The acquisition of Strong-Bridge Envision in 2019 expanded the company’s consulting capacity, especially around digital transformation. AI Labs also serve as hubs for technology consulting, helping clients identify strategic AI opportunities and ensuring data integrity and protection — key prerequisites for effective AI deployment.
HCLTech’s differentiated AI strategy, shaped by the expertise of Seshadri, Ananth Subramanya, and Vijay Guntur, positions the company to deliver sustained digital transformation in financial services, underpinned by engineering excellence, client-centric design, and platform-driven innovation.
InfotechLead.com News Desk
