TCS CEO's biggest test: global uncertainty, GenAI threat

While tariffs may not directly impact IT firms, clients are expected to pull back tech spending

- Jas Bardia

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd's (TCS) annual strategy meet in Dubai in February, chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran underscored the importance of generative AI (GenAI) and the need to incorporate the new technology in all that the company does. However, for the country's largest information technology (IT) services company, more concerning than incorporating GenAI now is the challenge of overcoming macroeconomic uncertainty.

On 2 April, US President Donald Trump imposed a range of tariffs on imports from several countries, triggering concerns of a worldwide tariff war. Analysts are worried that the world is on the cusp of a recession.

Any recession is bad news for IT services companies because when Fortune 500 companies hold back their spending, the revenue of Indian IT outsourcers takes a hit. The impact has had shareholders on their heels.

Shares of TCS, which declined 13.4% from 1 January to 1 April, have fallen 7.23% from 2 April to 8 April. This translates to a drop of 20.6% since the start of the year.