It’s time to notice: The radical shift in service models driven by AI and GenAI

AI has long been the backbone of innovation, quietly transforming industries and reshaping business operations. With the rise of generative AI (GenAI), the way services are delivered is about to be redefined. The journey through AI's progression has been both reflective and anticipatory. Over the years, AI has driven profound changes, setting the stage for advancements that once seemed like science fiction.

The journey began with foundational applications like recommendation engines on Netflix and YouTube. These early use cases were just the beginning. Industries quickly expanded their use of AI into vertical-specific applications — whether for customer segmentation in retail, fraud detection in financial services or predictive maintenance in manufacturing.

Mckinsey has indicated that GenAI could add the equivalent of $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in economic value annually, with about 75% of the value that GenAI use cases could deliver falling across four areas: customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering and R&D.

HCLTech was at the forefront of these developments, applying AI to enhance software engineering, testing, digital process outsourcing (DPO) and infrastructure management, including hybrid cloud operations and digital workplace services.

Investments in AI over the past eight to nine years, including the development of platforms like DryiCE and AI-led initiatives such as AEX, have been crucial. These tools have driven significant gains in automation, productivity and efficiency. Intelligent solutions for engineering, testing and technical support have also been integral to clients' operations.

Driving service transformation and industry innovation

When GenAI emerged as a prominent force in 2022, service transformation became a significant use case for adoption. 

Over the last two years, we have seen products like GitHub Copilot that have gained significant market adoption in driving coding assistance related service transformation benefits.

At HCLTech, our deep-rooted expertise in AI positioned us to quickly adapt to this new wave of technology. By the time tools like ChatGPT gained prominence, we were already familiar with the underlying transformer models, enabling us to integrate GenAI seamlessly. The enterprise-wide platform, AI Force, exemplifies this advancement, enabling the organization to drive service transformation and deliver unprecedented value to its customers.
 
HCLTech's approach to customer engagement revolves around two key vectors: service transformation and vertical-specific innovations. At the core of the service transformation vector is AI Force, an enterprise-wide platform that represents a significant leap forward in driving automation and efficiency. AI Force is a patented solution with 33 patents — 16 of which are approved — that provides a modular, extensible and easily deployable framework. This platform has proven effective across various service domains, including infrastructure services, digital process outsourcing (DPO), engineering services and software development. The traction AI Force has gained is a testament to its ability to enhance productivity and accelerate time to market.

In parallel, HCLTech's vertical-specific approach, that values team innovation, focuses on driving industry-transformative use cases through its AI Foundry platform. This platform is designed to scale data modernization and create industry-specific solutions tailored to clients' needs. AI Foundry integrates seamlessly with major ecosystem partners, such as Microsoft, AWS and Google, while also supporting private AI deployments — a growing trend due to its cost advantages and efficiency in inference tasks.

The hype cycle: GenAI vs. past technologies

Technological hype cycles are nothing new. We've seen similar buzz around technologies like the metaverse and blockchain, which, despite their initial promise, didn't quite live up to expectations. So, does GenAI represent a different trajectory, or will it face a similar fate?
 
Reflecting on past trends, while technologies like blockchain and the metaverse haven't disappeared, their adoption hasn't matched the initial hype. GenAI, however, is proving to be different. It's not just another technology wave; it's incredibly pervasive. GenAI is being integrated into a myriad of applications, from automation to language translation. Gartner reports a 30% increase in GenAI adoption over the past year alone, illustrating its broad impact.
 
One of the key challenges with new technologies is transitioning from pilot projects to full-scale production. With GenAI, this shift has been remarkably smooth. We're witnessing robust traction among organizations and customers as they move to production, and not just any production —production at scale. For instance, GitHub Copilot, a code assistant platform from Microsoft, has rapidly grown to an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of nearly $100 million.

HCLTech's positioning, with integrations across Large Language Models (LLMs) and Specialized Language Models (SLMs), has facilitated a seamless adoption of GenAI. The technical foundation, driven by AI Force, empowers us to drive service transformation effectively, both internally and for our clients.

Change management also plays a critical role in this transition. HCLTech provides a structured framework that guides organizations through the adoption process — from ROI assessment to continuous benefits measurement with the AI Force platform. This framework ensures that organizations not only understand the new skill sets and methodologies required but also effectively manage the upskilling of their workforce and integration of AI-driven practices.

Case studies: Transforming services with AI Force

HCLTech's AI Force platform has been instrumental in driving substantial service and technology transformations for a diverse range of clients. Here are some notable examples showcasing the impact of AI Force:
 

1. High-tech industry testing efficiency: For a leading high-tech company, AI Force significantly improved the efficiency of the testing lifecycle. By leveraging AI Force to generate end-to-end testing scripts from natural language inputs — facilitated through integrations with OpenAI — the company reduced the testing cycle time by 30%. This enhancement has not only streamlined their testing processes but is also being scaled across the organization to benefit all engineers involved.
2. Legacy modernization in database migration: A key challenge faced by many organizations is modernizing legacy systems. In one instance, AI Force played a crucial role in the modernization of a complex database system. For a client dealing with outdated DB2 systems, AI Force expedited the database migration process to Oracle Cloud. The platform reduced the time required to understand and summarize complex stored procedures from five days to under thirty minutes, showcasing its capability to drive significant efficiencies in legacy system modernization.
3. Comprehensive impact across service lines: AI Force has demonstrated impressive results across various service lines. For example, in cloud-native migration projects, AI Force has achieved impacts of over 50%, while in testing and legacy modernization, the platform has driven improvements ranging from 50% to 70%. Infrastructure management services have seen enhancements of 15% to 20%, and Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) services have experienced impacts of 25% to 35%. These metrics reflect the broad and substantial benefits of AI Force in transforming service delivery.

Driving service transformation across industries and the road ahead

The impact of GenAI is not limited to a single industry. Sectors like high-tech, financial services and healthcare are leading the charge in AI-driven service transformation. HCLTech's AI Force platform is proving to be a game-changer across these industries. For example, a major high-tech client reduced its testing lifecycle by 30% using AI Force to generate end-to-end scripts in natural language. Another client saw significant acceleration in legacy modernization, reducing the time needed to understand complex database procedures. Gartner highlights that GenAI is the No. 1 type of AI solution deployed in organizations.

Looking ahead, the future of AI and GenAI-driven service transformation is bright with even greater adoption across industries as the technology continues to evolve. We're also seeing transformative use cases in education and healthcare, where access to technology can make a significant difference. At HCLTech, we're already working on projects to deliver multilingual educational content in over 100 dialects and languages in India, demonstrating how AI can extend technology's reach to underserved populations.

The journey of GenAI is just beginning. As the technology continues to evolve, the future of service transformation holds boundless potential for innovation and progress.