Davos 2026: Tech Mahindra went from bottom tier to fast growth IT Co, doubled margins in less than two years, says CEO Mohit Joshi

Mohit Joshi, CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra at WEF 2026

Tech Mahindra saw a massive turn around in its business operations in less than two years, doubling margins from about 6.4 per cent to 13.1 per cent, CEO and MD Mohit Joshi told Moneycontrol at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, adding that the Pune-headquartered IT services giant has one of the strongest leadership teams in the industry.

“We've gone from about 6.4 per cent margins to 13.1 per cent margins. Effectively more than doubled our margins in less than a two-year period. We have gone from being at the bottom in terms of growth to now being among the top,” Joshi said.

Tech Mahindra’s large deal volumes too have continued to increase steadily from about $300 million to $1.1 billion this quarter (Q3FY26). “Employee satisfaction is at a five-year high,” he added.

Joshi also credited his leadership team in driving the company’s successful turnaround, calling it one of the strongest teams among IT services peers.

“If you have the best team, you will have the best results,” he said.

In April 2024, Joshi had laid down his ‘Vision 2027’ plan to focus on organisational restructuring, phased business improvements and investments, along with utilising synergies with the larger Mahindra Group businesses.

Tech Mahindra is on track to improve its operating margins to 15 per cent by FY27, and projected to outpace Tier-I IT peers in growth rate there on.

On Discretionary spending

Going by his client discussions in Davos over the past few days of WEF, Joshi believes people have moved on from having an overhang over geopolitical issues and what might happen to Greenland to now having more clarity and focus on revenues and profitability.

Joshi said unlike last year, clients have evolved from AI experimentation to now understanding the need for data readiness and clean data for AI. This will bring IT services industry “back in the limelight.”

“You need to make sure that your apps are simplified and modernized. Only then can you get AI and start that virtuous cycle. This means that a lot of the work that the industry is very good at, which is building out modern data stacks, simplifying applications, will come back in the limelight,” he said.

In terms of discretionary spending, he highlighted that the companies no longer have a fixed technology budget at the start of the year. It has become a lot more volatile now.

But he remained confident on calendar year 2026 being better than 2025 from a spend perspective.

“It is not going to be a dramatic V-shaped recovery, but I do feel an incremental improvement is very much on the cards,” he said.

Tech M Q3 results

Tech Mahindra reported its Q3 results for the December quarter on January 16. Net profit rose 14.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,122 crore, aided by strong margin expansion.

Revenue from operations grew 8.3 percent to Rs 14,393 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Rs 13,286 crore a year ago.

Operating performance improved sharply, with EBIT climbing 40.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,892 crore, while the EBIT margin expanded to 13.1 percent.

On a sequential basis, net profit declined by 6.07 per cent, hit by Rs 272.4 crore one-time exceptional cost due to the implementation of new labour code. The adjustments for labour codes include an increase in gratuity liability arising out of past service cost and an increase in leave liability.