At a time when IT services companies are under increasing scrutiny over how artificial intelligence will reshape their business models, Digitide is positioning itself around a simple claim: the real battle is no longer access to AI, but the ability to execute it at scale.

Digitide was spun off from Quess Corp under a court-approved demerger and listed in June 2025, as part of a restructuring that split the parent into three focused entities to unlock value and sharpen operational focus.

The shift comes as investor sentiment towards traditional IT services remains cautious. Concerns around automation-led pricing pressure, slower deal cycles and uncertainty over AI monetisation have weighed on the sector, prompting a broader reassessment of growth visibility.

In an interview with Fortune India, CEO Gurmeet Chahal said the gap between experimentation and deployment is where most enterprises and service providers are struggling. “The real disruption isn’t the availability of AI; it is the execution gap between experimentation and production-grade outcomes,” Chahal said.

Digitide is betting that it has already crossed that phase. The company said it has processed 3.6 million agentic transactions in the last quarter, supported by 15,000 AI agents embedded within delivery workflows, rather than operating as standalone tools. The emphasis, according to Chahal, is on integrating AI into core processes—an area where many enterprises are still at an early stage. This distinction is becoming more relevant as newer AI systems have begun to automate entire workflows.

Rewriting the services model

Digitide’s response is to move away from the traditional outsourcing model built on headcount and billable hours. “We are aggressively pivoting away from headcount-based pricing toward value-linked models,” Chahal said. “Clients now pay for measurable impact.”

That shift reflects a broader structural change underway in the industry. As automation reduces the need for manual effort, services firms are being forced to rethink how they price and deliver work. Digitide expects its business process management (BPM) segment to double by 2031 while becoming fully AI-led, even as its Tech & Digital business, currently about 30% of revenue, scales faster.

Growth, but with constraints

Despite the ambition to scale to $1 billion in revenue by 2031, Chahal acknowledged that the challenges are as much internal as external. “I think the biggest hurdle is our own mindset—how do we get the team to align with that,” he said.

Talent remains another constraint, particularly in a market where AI-ready skills are still limited. “Getting the right talent on time and at the right price point… that’s why we are focused on expansion in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities,” he said.

The pace of change, driven by rapid advances in AI, is also forcing companies to stay agile. “The pace of change in our business is very high… how quickly we can adapt and remain agile,” Chahal added.

Rather than competing with AI model providers, Digitide is positioning itself as an integrator by working across enterprise systems and hyperscaler ecosystems. “We aren’t competing at the model layer. We are the orchestrators,” Chahal said. The company has expanded partnerships, including with Google Cloud, and is exploring acquisitions to support its growth strategy.

How has the stock performed?

Digitide’s stock has come under pressure since listing, reflecting broader weakness in IT services stocks rather than company-specific factors. A recent report by Kotak Institutional Equities noted that while demand remains intact, agentic AI is beginning to influence how clients evaluate vendors, leading to longer decision cycles and increased scrutiny around productivity and automation.

“This does not yet suggest work is being displaced, but rather that clients expect vendors to absorb a portion of anticipated efficiency gains upfront. The extent of this behaviour varies significantly across accounts and sectors,” the report noted.

Since its listing, the stock has fallen 66.79% from its 52-week high and is currently trading at ₹92.88. “In the last couple of months, it’s the industry which has taken a beating overall… I don’t think the price is a reflection of us,” Chahal said.