Blueprint for the perpetually adaptive enterprise
Adapted from the keynote address by K Krithivasan, TCS CEO & MD, at the World Economic Forum, 2025.
Intelligent Age
Anticipate change and transform potential disruption into strategic advantage.
While change is undeniably unsettling, successful leaders embrace it. They know that on the other side of discomfort, unprecedented opportunities await. For businesses, especially, there has been no shortage of chances to demonstrate their resilience and ability to thrive amidst uncertainty.
The past few years have seen almost unabating transformation, driven by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitical dynamics, shifting consumer expectations and a rapid energy transition.
To be successful in this environment, businesses must find a way to quickly adapt, anticipate change and transform potential disruption into strategic advantage.
This transformation is not a one-time event; it’s an ongoing evolution that drives perpetual adaptation across every facet of business – from responsive supply chains and rapid product development to future-ready workforces. In short, perpetual change must be met with perpetual adaptability.
The perpetually adaptive enterprise
Learning to thrive with uncertainty.
What we call the “perpetually adaptive enterprise” not only survives uncertainty but has learned to thrive within it. These enterprises succeed through rapid innovation, new ways of working, purpose-led, sustainable growth, a continuously learning and adapting workforce, and seamless collaboration across their ecosystem.
A technology-led approach turns these transformation goals into achievable realities. Technology will unquestionably play a decisive role in how well organizations anticipate future risks and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Our new business roadmap, based on Tata Consultancy Service’s (TCS) real-world expertise, provides a path to navigate the complex, interconnected realities of today’s dynamic environment while anticipating and responding to the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Focus areas of the perpetually adaptive enterprise
Our roadmap emphasizes technology-led focus areas that we consider essential for companies to master this transformation, fully exploit their ecosystems and become engines of innovation and sustainable growth.
Human-centered AI
Augment humans by accelerating elite performance through collaborative intelligence.
According to TCS’s AI for Business study, 94% of businesses globally have adopted GenAI or other AI solutions. However, only 12% of use cases have realized business outcomes, and the focus is clearly on enhanced productivity. To benefit the most from AI, adaptive enterprises will apply a multilayered approach that puts humans at the center.
AI can assist us in supplementing tacit knowledge with contextual knowledge to boost work effectiveness. It augments humans by accelerating elite performance through collaborative intelligence. At the highest level, AI has the potential to transform our ways of working entirely, where machines elevate human ideation and value chains are redefined from the bottom.
Net Zero
Use digital tools to accelerate the path to net zero.
The latest UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reports present a disconcerting picture. Only 17% of the sustainable development goals are on track while extreme climate events accelerate.
Adaptive enterprises recognize digital sustainability tools as essential to reducing their carbon footprint and aligning with global sustainability goals. This might include Internet of Things (IoT) devices for energy optimization, AI-enabled supply chain transparency and emissions monitoring or blockchain to track carbon credits.
Such tools can save time and resources, enable organizations to meet regulatory demands and create value for shareholders and society. For example, we partnered with Rolls Royce to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft engines by 2035. Together, we have pledged to demonstrate that hydrogen can be a zero-carbon aviation fuel of the future.
By aligning operations with people, planet and products, enterprises can overcome roadblocks such as fragmented operations, cultural inertia and technological blind spots that can impede adaptability.
Supply chains
Embed advanced technologies for real-time responsiveness in supply chains.
A recent Gartner report forecasted that 50% of supply chain organizations would invest through 2024 in applications that support AI and advanced analytics capabilities. Businesses with technology-led supply chains are more responsive and resilient.
Big data analytics, which combine structured and unstructured data from within and outside companies, can provide real-time insights into supply chain dynamics. This enables enterprises to anticipate disruptions and respond swiftly.
AI and machine learning can predict outcomes, automate processes, and increase efficiency. Access to valuable supply chain data also makes companies more innovative, as they can use this information to improve products and services.
Intelligent operations
Deploy AI-powered automation for intelligent operations.
In the coming 10 years, the global market for industrial automation is expected to grow by 10% annually – $234 billion in 2024 to $530 billion by 2033. Businesses that adopt AI, machine learning and robotic process automation into their systems can streamline repetitive tasks, optimize processes and reduce human intervention.
IoT sensors and real-time data analytics enable predictive maintenance, ensuring equipment uptime and minimizing downtime. Such autonomous operations will enhance efficiency, reduce costs and substantially improve productivity.
Workforce
Have a comprehensive strategy for upskilling and reskilling their workforce.
Our research shows that nearly half of leaders think AI will have an impact greater than or equal to the internet. Many believe that most of their employees will use GenAI daily within three years.
To enable this transformation, it is, therefore, imperative for business leaders to have a comprehensive strategy for upskilling and reskilling their workforce. TCS trained more than 450,000 associates in GenAI, ensuring they understood the technology, prompts, and expected results.
We are also creating AI experience zones for hands-on learning and developing expertise at different levels.
Iterate to improve
Catalyze rapid product development
The digital technologies of the Intelligent Age offer businesses a huge opportunity to evolve their ways of working, move away from outdated concepts and lean into the strengths of their ecosystem.
They are also allowing businesses to innovate, iterate and improve at an unprecedented rate. Research consistently shows that organizations embracing technology to support innovation and differentiation outperform their rivals and grow 2.8 times faster than their peers.