Is ITC Infotech's merger with Bengaluru-based Happiest Minds, coming close on the heels of Persistent's acquisition of Munich-based Nagarro, a signal of mid-market consolidation in the face of AI-led disruption? With the market capitalisation of top global companies down almost 25% since 2026 beginning, the picture becomes blurrier. To compound matters, trading multiples of global IT majors today resemble those of low-end staffing companies not so long ago.
There can be little argument against acquiring new AI-centric capabilities. But the industry needs a cure for its ailment, and scale alone may not provide it. Excitement around LLMs and GenAI notwithstanding, the real story is not the models themselves, but how, where and through whom AI gets embedded in global firms.
