AI companies are spending billions to build computing infrastructure, but Indian IT firms could benefit from a different part of the boom: helping businesses actually use artificial intelligence. Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers sees this relatively asset-light model as an opportunity for Indian IT companies, even as the cost of building AI infrastructure raises concerns about financing and future demand.
Anthropic’s latest financial performance shows the scale of AI adoption. The company generated $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of calendar year 2026, 14 times its revenue a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit reached $1.6 billion, compared with a loss of $1.8 billion in the year-ago period, while free cash flow stood at $3.4 billion.
Yet rapid growth comes with significant obligations. Anthropic has approximately $269 billion in minimum computing-spend commitments and around $321 billion in leases yet to commence.
Anand Rathi said: “The escalating capital intensity, funding requirements & utilisation risks remain concentrated in the infrastructure layer, while Indian IT offers relatively asset-light exposure to the subsequent enterprise deployment cycle, supported by net-cash balance sheets, low capex intensity & strong cash conversion.”
Why Indian IT stocks could gain from enterprise AI adoption
For TCS, Infosys and HCLTech, the opportunity lies in helping companies integrate AI into existing systems, deploy applications and implement solutions across business functions. Enterprises need technology partners to turn AI experimentation into practical applications, potentially creating work for IT service providers and systems integrators.
Anthropic’s customer base points to rising enterprise demand. By September 2026, it had approximately 11,900 customers generating more than $100,000 in annual revenue. Consumption-based services accounted for around 80% of its revenue in the first half of CY26, while net revenue retention was approximately 900%.
Spending on partnerships also surged. Anthropic’s sales, marketing and partnership expenses increased around 27-fold year-on-year to $3.2 billion in the first half of CY26, driven largely by a $2.7 billion increase in channel-partner fees. Anand Rathi highlighted this spending as evidence of the growing role of systems integrators in enterprise AI adoption.
The opportunity, however, is not without risks. AI-led pricing deflation could pressure technology service providers, while higher infrastructure spending could squeeze corporate budgets for discretionary IT projects. Indian IT companies will need to convert AI adoption into sustained business growth to benefit meaningfully.
In today’s deals, The Nifty IT index gained 0.99% to close at 31,866.40 today, driven by positive global cues after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, easing structural concerns for export-heavy Indian tech firms. This sector-wide rally was led by Tech Mahindra, which surged 4.70%, while index heavyweights Infosys gained 2.80% and TCS rose 1.40%. Wipro also closed 1.10% higher, while HCL Technologies advanced 0.80%, LTIMindtree crept up 0.50%, and Persistent Systems finished 0.30% higher in line with overall positive sector sentiment.
Heavy AI spending raises questions about funding and demand
The financial commitments behind the AI boom are enormous. Anthropic’s minimum computing-spend commitments include $114.5 billion for Google, $110 billion for Amazon and $44.9 billion for Microsoft. Together, these amount to roughly twice Anthropic’s $131.7 billion cash balance.
Meta is also facing mounting costs. Its free cash flow turned negative at $2.1 billion in the third quarter of CY26, while its capital expenditure guidance for the year stood at $135 billion–$145 billion. It had approximately $356 billion in leases yet to commence, and its cash balance of $82.5 billion barely exceeded its $80.9 billion in long-term debt.
Anand Rathi noted: “Subsequently, Meta announced a ~$95-97.5bn equity financing programme, including a proposed $60bn future share-sale programme. SpaceX closed $40bn of Apollo-led GPU lease financing, following its ~$86bn (incl. greenshoe) June IPO.”
The report estimated completed transactions, committed financing and proposed funding capacity across CY26 at approximately $221 billion. It separately highlighted near-term cumulative funding requirements of $235 billion, assuming an Anthropic IPO of $100 billion.
SpaceX plans to add 13 gigawatts of computing capacity by the end of 2027, potentially requiring $300 billion–$350 billion in capital. Anand Rathi warned: “The emerging risk is the interconnected financing ecosystem, where infrastructure investments are increasingly underwritten by future compute demand.”
For Indian IT investors, the distinction is clear: enterprise AI implementation could offer growth without the same infrastructure burden, but pricing pressure and tighter technology budgets could limit the gains.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
