AI to drive India’s IT industry to $400 billion by 2030; surge in AI-led outsourcing opens door for startups: Bessemer

AI to drive India’s IT industry to $400 billion by 2030; surge in AI-led outsourcing opens door for startups: Bessemer

India’s IT and AI services market is projected to reach $400 billion by 2030, driven by a sharp rise in enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence and a “step-jump” in global outsourcing, according to Bessemer Venture Partners’ AI Services Roadmap.

The report notes that while automation will reduce costs in repetitive service lines, it will also unlock new avenues of demand as enterprises hand over more complex, high-value work to external partners. This shift, it says, could create a rare opening for AI-first startups to compete with long-established IT majors such as TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech.

“Three years ago, it was extremely hard for a small startup to challenge an Accenture, Deloitte, or TCS,” Nithin Kaimal, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners India told Moneycontrol. “It’s still difficult, but there’s now a real window. If you have the right mix of founders, product and AI understanding, and can deliver value quickly, it’s a golden opportunity to capture the big jump in demand we expect over the next few years.”

‘Once-in-a-generation’ opportunity

The report describes this as a “once-in-a-generation shift” for India’s $264-billion IT industry. As enterprises pilot AI solutions in areas such as supply chain, analytics, and compliance, smaller AI-native vendors are gaining access to enterprise workloads that were previously considered too complex to outsource.

“Every CXO today is under pressure from boards and investors to show progress on AI,” Kaimal said. “If a startup can prove its value in four to eight weeks, it can win large, repeatable mandates.”

Partnerships over displacement

While incumbents are expected to remain dominant, the report says the surge in AI adoption will accelerate partnerships and acquisitions between large service providers and emerging challengers.

“It’s not easy to displace incumbents,” Kaimal said. “We expect a mix of models — some will build capabilities internally, others will partner with AI-first firms or acquire those that are scaling quickly.”

The report highlights that global IT-services M&A nearly doubled between 2022 and 2024 — from about $4.4 billion to $10.5 billion — underscoring the growing race to acquire AI capabilities, intellectual property, and domain expertise.

Investor momentum

This comes at a time when investor interest in AI startups is on the rise. Moneycontrol reported earlier that AI-startup funding in India grew 50 percent to about $665 million in the first eight months of 2025, led by enterprise automation and vertical AI platforms.

“The biggest opportunity lies in creating high-quality AI-enabled services,” Kaimal said. “India has a natural advantage here — combining great AI platforms with strong domain and delivery talent ensures clients actually adopt these solutions and see measurable impact.”

Bottom line

Bessemer’s thesis: AI will expand, not erode, India’s IT opportunity.

As enterprises outsource more AI-led work, both startups and incumbents stand to benefit from the next phase of growth in global technology services.