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    AI Services Readiness Index 2026
    CoverQuestionScaleTop 10TiersThe 50TruthsTimelineNextVerdict
    Visual Story

    Everyone is selling AI.
    Who is actually
    delivering it?

    We ranked the world’s 50 largest IT/ITeS firms by what they have built, hired, signed and disclosed — not by what they say in keynotes.

    AIM Research  ·  Cut-off 22 May 2026
    The question

    A bifurcation, hiding in plain sight.

    Between ChatGPT’s launch and May 2026, the AI services market split in two. Two firms industrialised the work and disclosed the numbers. The rest sold press releases.

    The scale of AI work

    Two firms are operating on a different planet.

    Accenture
    $0.0B

    cumulative Advanced AI bookings across 11,000 projects. $4.8B converted to revenue inception-to-date as of Q1 FY26.

    = $11.5 billion
    IBM
    $0.0B

    GenAI book of business — $10.5B Consulting plus $2B Software, as of Q4 2025.

    = $12.5 billion

    No other firm globally reports AI work at this scale. Accenture has told the market that Q1 FY26 will be its last quarter of separate Advanced AI disclosure — AI is now “embedded across nearly everything” it does.

    The leaderboard

    The top eleven.

    Composite score out of 40. Tap any row for the strength, the gap and the signature evidence behind the number.

    Tap a row to expand

    The scorecard

    How the numbers add up.

    Each firm is graded 1–5 on eight sub-parameters across two pillars. CD = Capability Depth — the sum of the four Pillar 1 axes (IP, Partners, Talent, M&A), out of 20. Add the four Pillar 2 axes (Deals, Disclosure, Vertical, Speed) and you get the composite total out of 40.

    1.1–1.4 · Pillar 1 Capability Depth2.1–2.4 · Pillar 2 GTM Aggression† AIM re-score
    #Company
    1.1
    IP
    1.2
    Partners
    1.3
    Talent
    1.4
    M&A
    2.1
    Deals
    2.2
    Disclosure
    2.3
    Vertical
    2.4
    Speed
    CDTotal
    01
    Accenture
    555555552040View →›
    02
    IBM
    555455451938View →›
    03
    TCS
    555354541836View →›
    04
    Infosys
    555354541836View →›
    05
    Capgemini + WNS
    454544441834View →›
    06
    Deloitte
    454443541733View →›
    07
    Genpact†
    544355431633View →›
    08
    EXL†
    544344541633View →›
    09
    EPAM†
    445444441733View →›
    10
    HCLTech
    445344441632View →›
    11
    Wipro
    455344341732View →›
    12
    Cognizant†
    455453341832View →›
    13
    NTT DATA
    444343441530View →›
    14
    PwC
    354343441530View →›
    15
    EY
    354343441530View →›
    16
    Booz Allen Hamilton
    444344431530View →›

    Source: AIM Research · Top 16 of 57 ranked entities · Cut-off 22 May 2026

    AIM Research
    analyticsindiamag.com
    The four tiers

    Leaders. Challengers. Followers. Laggards.

    All 57 ranked entities — 50 in the universe plus 7 just outside top-50 by revenue — grouped by score band.

    Leaders

    33–40
    11 firms

    Challengers

    26–32
    19 firms

    Followers

    20–25
    20 firms

    Laggards

    <20
    7 firms
    AIM Research
    analyticsindiamag.com
    The complete index

    All fifty, ranked.

    The full universe of IT/ITeS firms scored this edition. Composite score shown where AIM Research disclosed it.

    Leaders

    11

    Challengers

    19

    Followers

    20

    Laggards

    7

    Source: AIM Research · Cut-off 22 May 2026

    AIM Research
    analyticsindiamag.com
    Four structural truths

    What the top-50 lens reveals.

    Four patterns the top-20 view misses entirely.

    01

    The mid-tier is bifurcating faster than the top.

    EPAM, Globant, Persistent and Coforge are growing 3–5× faster than the Indian Big Four — but on a much smaller base. The strongest of them (EPAM) now belongs in the leadership conversation on capability per dollar of revenue.

    EPAM +15.4%Globant +15.3%Persistent +18.8%Coforge +32% CC
    02

    BPM pure-plays have split into winners and the disrupted.

    Genpact and EXL have positioned aggressively enough — and disclosed AI revenue transparently enough — to lead BPM outright. Concentrix, Conduent and TaskUs trail. Capgemini's $3.3B WNS deal signals that scaled IT firms now view BPM as the AI deployment surface, not a separate industry.

    Genpact $4.77BEXL +16%WNS → CapgeminiTaskUs $995M
    03

    Federal / government services is a parallel AI economy.

    Leidos, Booz Allen, SAIC and CGI are running aggressive sovereign and defence-AI plays largely invisible to commercial-AI watchers — but materially shaping US, Canadian and allied government AI procurement.

    Leidos $16.7BBooz Allen $11.98BSAIC $7.48BCGI $10.8B
    04

    Infrastructure-services giants are the most disrupted segment.

    Kyndryl has built the most credible AI play in this cohort — Kyndryl Bridge plus the Agentic AI Framework (Jul 2025), with 25% of signings now AI-related and record $18.2B FY25 signings (+46%). DXC and Atos face structural pressure as AIOps replaces traditional managed services. Kyndryl is the surprise of the universe.

    Kyndryl $15.1B+46% signingsDXC -5.8%Atos restructuring
    Just below the line

    The challengers worth watching.

    From ChatGPT to today

    42 months. One bifurcation.

    The AI-services product launches that built this leaderboard.

    • Nov 2022
      ChatGPT launches. The starting gun.
    • Apr 2023
      PwC commits $1B over 3 years with Microsoft / OpenAI.
    • May 2023
      IBM launches watsonx.
    • Jun 2023
      Accenture announces $3B GenAI investment. Wipro–Phoenix £500M deal.
    • Jul 2023
      KPMG commits $2B over 5 years with Microsoft.
    • Aug 2023
      Wipro ai360 launches with $1B AI commitment.
    • Sep 2023
      EY launches EY.ai ($1.4B).
    • Jan 2024
      Cognizant closes Thirdera ($430M).
    • Feb 2024
      Cognizant unveils Flowsource.
    • Mar 2024
      HCLTech AI Force · Coforge–Sabre $1.56B.
    • May 2024
      SAIC Tenjin GPT · Persistent iAURA · TCS–JLR.
    • Jun 2024
      HCLTech AI Foundry · Wipro Lab45 AI.
    • Jul 2024
      Mphasis NeoZeta.
    • Aug 2024
      Cognizant closes Belcan ($1.3B).
    • Sep 2024
      Concentrix iX Hello · Fujitsu Takane (with Cohere).
    • Oct 2024
      Accenture AI Refinery with NVIDIA · IBM Granite GA.
    • Jan 2025
      Genpact AI Gigafactory with Databricks · Thoughtworks taken private by Apax ($1.75B).
    • Feb 2025
      IBM closes HashiCorp ($6.4B).
    • Apr 2025
      EXLerate.AI launches.
    • May 2025
      NTT DATA Smart AI Agent Ecosystem targets $2B by 2027.
    • Jul 2025
      Kyndryl Agentic AI Framework · Indra IndraMind sovereign AI · Atos Polaris AI.
    • Oct 2025
      Capgemini closes WNS ($3.3B).
    • Jan 2026
      Cognizant closes 3Cloud.
    • Apr 2026
      Cognizant signs Astreya ($600M) · Coforge–Cigniti close (NCLT-sanctioned) · HCLTech AI Force 2.0.
    • May 2026
      AIM Index v2. Genpact, EXL, EPAM enter Leaders. Wipro stays a Leader at 32.
    Sector analysis

    Nine sectors. Three trajectories.

    The 57-firm universe splits into nine commercially distinct segments. Each tells a different AI-readiness story.

    Rising Mixed Under pressure
    01 · Western Strategic SIs

    Platform IP + disclosure = pricing power.

    Accenture, IBM and Capgemini are the only firms putting AI on the income statement at scale. Disclosure is now a moat.

    Combined GenAI book
    $24B+
    02 · Indian Tier-1

    Scale and cost, but a conspicuous M&A gap.

    TCS, Infosys, HCLTech and Wipro hold the talent base — but acquisition inactivity and AI-deflation pressure cap the upside.

    Combined headcount
    ~1.6M
    03 · BPM Specialists

    The winners disclose. The rest get disrupted.

    Genpact and EXL elevated into Leaders on transparency. Capgemini's $3.3B WNS deal absorbs BPM into the AI delivery surface.

    Genpact AI deals 2025
    $200M+
    04 · Big Four Advisory

    Hyperscaler bets without proprietary platform IP.

    Deloitte leads on trust. PwC, EY and KPMG combined committed >$4.4B to OpenAI/Microsoft — but none discloses AI revenue at Accenture's resolution.

    Combined AI commitments
    >$4.4B
    05 · Federal & Sovereign

    A parallel AI economy hiding in plain sight.

    Booz Allen, Leidos, SAIC and CGI are running production AI inside defence, civil and allied agencies — largely invisible to commercial AI watchers.

    Booz Allen AI biz FY25
    ~$800M
    06 · Engineering & Product

    The fastest-growing pocket in the universe.

    EPAM, Globant, Persistent and Coforge grow 3–5× faster than the Indian Big Four. AI-native engineering culture is the differentiator.

    Median growth FY25
    +19% YoY
    07 · Infrastructure Services

    Most disrupted segment. Kyndryl is the surprise.

    AIOps replaces managed services. Kyndryl Bridge + Agentic AI Framework = 25% of signings AI-related. DXC and Atos face structural pressure.

    Kyndryl FY25 signings
    $18.2B (+46%)
    08 · CX / BPO

    AI-deflation risk highest here.

    Teleperformance, Concentrix, TTEC and Foundever face per-seat compression as voice-AI lands. The €100M Sanas-class bets are defensive.

    TP AI program 2025
    €100M
    09 · Japanese & APAC SIs

    Domestic dominance, distribution weak.

    NTT DATA, NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi DS and NRI lead Asia-Pacific AI but trail on global brand outside home markets.

    NTT Smart AI target
    $2B by 2027
    12-month predictions

    What we expect to break next.

    Tap any prediction for the underlying logic.

    Recommendations

    What to actually do with this.

    One concrete move per buyer persona — plus the anti-pattern to refuse.

    For the
    Enterprise CIO

    Insist on disclosed AI bookings before signing a frame contract.

    Accenture, IBM and Genpact publish AI revenue by quarter. Make this table-stakes in your next RFP — it is the cheapest fraud filter you have.

    Do notReward press-release scale over evidence-of-deployment ratios.
    For the
    CFO

    Negotiate outcome-linked pricing while AI deflation is still a vendor concession.

    HCLTech, Infosys and TCS have publicly conceded 3–5% revenue compression from AI productivity. Capture it now — the window narrows once vendors re-price.

    Do notSign multi-year T&M extensions at 2024 rates.
    For the
    Board / Audit Committee

    Demand an AI-revenue disclosure line in the next vendor scorecard.

    If your top-three providers cannot quote a GenAI book, you are over-indexed on capability theatre. The Leaders all can.

    Do notAccept 'AI is embedded across the portfolio' as an answer.
    For the
    Investor / Analyst

    Go long the disclosers; underweight the unmeasured.

    ACN, IBM, GENP and EXL all publish AI bookings or revenue. Pure managed-services names without an AI signal are most exposed to AIOps re-rating.

    Do notConfuse partnership announcements with revenue conversion.
    For the
    M&A / Corp Dev

    BPM scale-up windows are closing fast.

    Genpact and EXL are the next $5B+ targets after WNS. Coforge–Cigniti and EPAM–NEORIS prove mid-tier roll-up math still works.

    Do notChase platform IP at 2023 multiples — the bid is now in the disclosure premium.
    Caveats

    What this index does not claim.

    Six honest limits on the scoring, the universe and the cut-off.

    01

    Judgement-based scoring

    Each 1–5 mark is an analyst grade against public disclosure, briefings and primary research. Two reasonable readers might differ by a point on any axis.

    02

    Disclosure is rewarded

    Firms with strong capability but weak public disclosure (Cognizant is the canonical case) score lower than their internal reality. The index measures what is visible.

    03

    Universe boundary

    57 firms ranked. Excludes hyperscaler-owned services arms (AWS Professional Services, Azure Industry Solutions, Google Public Sector), captive GCCs, and regional boutiques below the revenue threshold.

    04

    Fiscal-year mismatch

    Revenue figures mix FY24, FY25, CY24 and Q1 FY26 depending on the most recent audited filing. Compare scores, not raw revenue, across the table.

    05

    Federal opacity

    Booz Allen, Leidos and SAIC's classified AI workloads are under-counted by design. Their commercial-AI scores should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.

    06

    Cut-off date

    22 May 2026. Post-cut-off deals (e.g. any Q2 FY26 disclosures from Accenture, IBM or the Indian majors) are not reflected. The next edition refreshes in November 2026.

    The verdict

    The leaderboard is no longer about who has the most engineers.

    It is about who has put GenAI on the income statement.

    AIM Research · May 2026

    The AI Services Readiness Index 2026

    A repeatable, evidence-based ranking of the firms shaping enterprise AI delivery worldwide.

    Contact AIM ResearchMore visual stories

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