TCS to launch new automation platform

BENGALURU: India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services will launch a new artificial intelligence-based automation platform over the upcoming months, at a time when India’s top software firms are automating traditional, commoditized services to boost margins and increasing investments in newer areas of technology and platforms.

On a post-earnings conference call with analysts, chief executive N. Chandrasekaran said that the company had already done pilot runs with 5 of its large clients and would soon launch the platform.

"After operating in a near-stealth mode for the last couple of years, I want to share with you the progress made by TCS's cloud platforms, consisting of our financial inclusion platform and our horizontal platforms, consisting of HR, accounting, accounts payable procurement, etc -- these 7 platforms together are software-as-a-service platforms," he said.

Chandrasekaran said the cloud platforms had crossed the annual run-rate of $100 million and generated $125 million of annual revenue in FY15 at a growth rate of 55% year-on-year.

"We called it a new category of platforms...which will increasingly automate many activities and whose self-learning capabilities will yield productivity gains and actually improve with time because of its intelligence," Chandrasekaran said. “We have done several pilots,” he added. “We will launch this platform formally over the next few months. So far, all the pilot-clients are delighted. It’s been well-received and has been successful so far.”