From Generative to Agentic AI
First, it's important to understand the shift. Most people are now familiar with generative AI, like ChatGPT, which creates new content based on prompts. Agentic AI is the next evolution. These are AI systems designed to be autonomous agents. Instead
of just responding to a command, they can understand a goal, create a multi-step plan, use various tools, and execute complex tasks with minimal human supervision. Think of it as the difference between an AI that can write code for an app and an agentic AI that can be tasked with 'launching a new marketing campaign', which it then accomplishes by designing visuals, writing copy, deploying the ads, and adjusting strategy based on performance. These systems don't just generate outputs; they drive outcomes.
BCG's Market-Shifting Prediction
Boston Consulting Group's report highlights a massive change in the technology services market, which is projected to grow to between $2.2 and $2.4 trillion by 2030. The firm predicts that AI-led services, driven primarily by agentic solutions, will contribute $300 to $400 billion in industry growth. However, this new wave of automation will also make some existing services obsolete, leading to a reduction of around $200 billion in traditional revenue contracts. The net effect, according to BCG, is a market expansion and a net new opportunity of $100 to $200 billion for the tech services industry by 2030. This isn't just about efficiency gains; it's a fundamental reshaping of what businesses will buy.
The New Menu of Tech Services
The rise of agentic AI means demand for certain traditional services will shrink. Tasks that are repetitive and require minimal human judgment, such as Level 1 and 2 IT incident management, manual quality assurance testing, and some forms of application maintenance, are prime candidates for automation by AI agents. In their place, new value pools are emerging. BCG’s analysis shows that demand will surge for services related to building, deploying, and running these new agentic solutions. This includes AI strategy consulting, modernizing infrastructure to support AI, managing complex data pipelines, and, crucially, providing the human oversight and governance that companies will not hand over to a machine. The focus for clients will shift from paying for hours of human labour to paying for successful business outcomes delivered by a mix of human and AI effort.
A Challenge and Opportunity for India
This shift presents a critical inflection point for India's world-leading IT services sector. The potential contraction in demand for traditional roles poses a significant challenge. However, BCG's report suggests that the solution is not a talent shortage but a talent deployment challenge. The people needed to deliver these new 'Applied AI' services are largely already on the payroll of major tech firms. The key will be to rapidly reskill and upskill the existing workforce. Roles like 'Data Scientist' could evolve into 'Forward_Deployed Engineer', and 'DevOps Engineer' into 'AI Ops Engineer'. Firms that act quickly to retrain their employees for these 40_odd new Applied AI roles will be positioned to capture the immense growth. Those that hesitate risk being left behind as their clients' needs evolve.
The Strategic Imperative for Businesses
For businesses that buy technology services, the message is equally clear: agentic AI is not just another IT project but a transformation of the business model itself. Enterprises are already moving beyond pilots, with nearly 45% expecting to increase their AI spending. According to BCG's surveys, two_thirds of these companies expect their service providers to take the lead in building and operationalizing these autonomous systems. This creates an urgent need for CIOs and other C_suite leaders to develop a clear strategy for integrating agentic AI, retrofitting their governance and architecture, and managing the proliferation of AI agents across the company. The goal is to move from simply experimenting with AI tools to deploying scalable, goal_driven agents that deliver measurable business results and unlock new avenues for innovation.
