Coforge Q1 revenue soars 56%; CEO Sudhir Singh declares AI ‘business-critical’ infrastructure

Coforge is going all in on AI, not as a buzzword but as business-critical infrastructure. CEO Sudhir Singh made it clear that artificial intelligence is no longer exploratory in nature. It’s real, it’s embedded in client work, and increasingly, it’s what’s driving business. The company announced its first-quarter performance with 9.6% quarter-on-quarter growth in dollar revenue.

“Our Quasar AI marketplace already has over 100 case examples of industry-specific solutions. We’re not talking about PoCs, we’re delivering real-world deployments at scale,” said Singh at the post-earnings press conference. “AI spend is here. It’s not about discretionary RFPs anymore. It’s about solving business problems proactively.”

The IT firm’s revenue for the quarter stood at ₹36,886 crore ($442.4 million), up 8.2% in INR terms and 9.6% in USD terms sequentially. Year-on-year, that’s a jump of 56.5% and 54.5%, respectively. PAT was up a steep 138.4% YoY to ₹3,174 crore, and Ebitda margin improved to 17.5%.

Singh said three key factors are behind Coforge’s momentum: an “execution-first” culture, hyperspecialisation in select industries like travel, insurance, and healthcare, and deep engineering capabilities. But AI is where all three intersect.

“Clients are shifting from ‘run the business’ to ‘grow the business’ budgets,” Singh explained. “And AI budgets are growing at double-digit rates on both fronts—cost-efficiency as well as transformation.” On the run side, companies want measurable efficiency. On the growth side, the conversations are broader, more strategic, and focused on business outcomes.

That distinction is important. Run-side AI deals, typically issued via RFPs, are margin-dilutive. “These are highly contested and come with price pressures,” Singh said. “But the transformational ones, those come from deep industry insight and on-ground solutioning teams. They’re more value-led and rate-agnostic.”

Internally, Coforge is embedding AI into its workflows. A customised AI co-pilot for the sales team was rolled out last quarter. “You can already see the rub-off effect in the sales numbers,” said Singh. On the tech side, pilots are underway in HR and recruitment. But the company is cautious about productivity claims.

“We’re not seeing 70–80% productivity spikes like some claim. We’re seeing something closer to 30%, depending on the function,” Singh said. Foundational and advanced AI trainings are underway across roles, from data engineers to Pega developers. “The gains we look for aren’t just internal efficiency; they show up in pricing power and revenue productivity.”

The company’s ForgeX platform is now a key part of AI-powered delivery. It’s being used to accelerate software development and legacy modernisation. A recent partnership with a global travel tech firm led to modernisation outcomes “in months instead of years,” Singh said.

This quarter’s $507 million order intake and a next-12-month order book of $1.55 billion—a 46.9% increase over last year—reflect growing client appetite. The travel vertical led growth with a 31.2% jump sequentially. Emerging verticals, such as healthcare, retail, and high-tech, grew by 12.7%. The top five and top ten clients grew 25.1% and 15.7% sequentially, respectively.

Headcount stood at 34,187 at the end of the quarter, with a net addition of 1,164. Attrition is down to 11.3%, one of the lowest rates in the industry.

“We are in our ninth year of sustained, accelerating growth. The goal now is a 14% EBIT in FY26. And we believe AI, when fused with industry depth and execution focus, will keep us ahead of the pack,” Singh summed up.