The invoice that AI rewrites

Summary: Artificial intelligence is disrupting the Indian IT sector by changing its core billing model, not just the technology it delivers. This story explores why the market has turned pessimistic, how today's AI transition differs from past disruptions, and why an index approach may be the more sensible way to invest through the uncertainty.

Summary: Artificial intelligence is disrupting the Indian IT sector by changing its core billing model, not just the technology it delivers. This story explores why the market has turned pessimistic, how today's AI transition differs from past disruptions, and why an index approach may be the more sensible way to invest through the uncertainty. For nearly two decades, the BSE IT index built some of the largest fortunes in Indian equities. That reputation has taken a beating over the last year. The index has fallen by around 29 per cent over the last 12 months, making it one of the worst-performing sectoral indices over both the last five and 10 years. Stock prices now imply the sector will grow at 0-2 per cent a year, well below the 6-7 per cent it delivered before the pandemic. The market has decided the model is broken. Billed by the person For 30 years, Indian IT sold time. Global enterprises outsourced complex technology work, and IT companies staffed it with engineers, billing by the number of people deployed. Artificial intelligence automates a large share of that work directly. When a contract that

This article was originally published on August 01, 2026.