Happiest Minds says demand environment stable as digital, AI programs continue

Happiest Minds

Mid-tier IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies said enterprise demand remains stable as customers continue to advance digital and AI-led programs even as discretionary spending stays tight.

The company reported consistent quarter-on-quarter growth in the first half of FY26, with 11.8 percent year-on-year growth in constant currency.

“We had a pretty good quarter. It has been a consistent quarter of profitable growth,” Joseph Anantharaju, Executive Vice Chairman, told Moneycontrol. The company delivered a 20.2 percent margin in Q2.

The firm has now implemented 22 Gen AI use cases for clients and is looking to scale them across similar enterprises. “Once you implement and show the value, customers are excited and are taking it to production,” Anantharaju said.

The company also expects momentum in education after signing a $3 million Gen AI-based student lifecycle deal for a large education management group.

Profitability supported by utilisation gains

Margins have held steady even after rolling out full wage increases across the organisation.

“We have maintained the 17 plus percentage on the operating margin. We just went in and did what we had committed,” Venkatraman N, Managing Director and CFO, said. He added that improved utilisation and lower attrition helped offset the impact of salary hikes.

Both executives pointed out that automation and Gen AI work are increasingly blending. “Everything that we are doing has got a huge element of AI,” Venkatraman said.

Industry signals early improvement

This comes as Quess Corp highlighted selective reopening of hiring mandates at large IT firms, and Coforge highlighted that enterprises are integrating AI inside broader transformation programs rather than funding standalone experiments.

Cognizant, too, recently said it is reshaping delivery models around AI-driven throughput rather than traditional systems integration capacity.