India’s TCS working to expand projects with LatAm financial entities

Indian multinational Tata Consultancy Systems (TCS), which is one of the top three global IT services companies, wants a bigger share of projects in the Latin American financial market.

In Brazil, TCS is developing projects for all the country’s major private banks, Bruno Rocha, country manager for Brazil, told BNamericas.

The goal now is to reach out to mid-sized financial institutions and even digitally-native banks and fintechs, said the executive.

“Today we have very great synergy in the banking and insurance sectors. TCS is an increasingly important player in the sector and not just regarding AI,” Rocha said.

TCS has been operating in Latin America for over 20 years and financial sector projects are at the core of its business proposition. 

At present, TCS claims to be working on pilots and AI tests with different financial clients in the region.

The company, specialized in corporate ICT services and integration, is part of Indian conglomerate Tata. It competes with major consultancies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Stefanini and Capgemini.

Considering all sectors, the client base in Brazil includes 140 companies. 

Globally, TCS reports around 3,000 clients supported by 120,000 professionals. Rocha argues that the company focuses on few, but important customers.

In April, TCS announced the expansion of its delivery center in Londrina, Paraná state, in a new bet on Brazilian nearshoring.

The investment was announced in Indian capital New Delhi, with Paraná governor Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior and TCS CEO Krithi Krithivasan. Although the level of the investment was not disclosed, Rocha claims Brazil is the company’s main focus for investments this year.

In Londrina, TCS intends to create 1,600 jobs in the near term, reaching 3,000 employees. Its goal is to reach 5,000 professionals at the unit in the coming years.

The operation will focus on strategic areas such as Business Transformation, AI and Cognitive Operations and will offer IT services not only to clients in Brazil, but in other countries too.

The new facilities in Londrina should be ready in two years and will be the company's main service center in South America, says TCS.

In addition to the Londrina center, Rocha said that the company is establishing its first innovation center in the Southern Hemisphere in partnership with São Paulo think tank Insper.

Despite these investments, Rocha is concerned about the effects of the tax reform in the IT industry and the likely increase in costs with the return of payroll taxation.

“Brazil has talent, it has resources. It makes no sense to burden the export of [IT] services. My only raw material is people,” said the executive. “There is no reason for Brazil to be behind Mexico, or Uruguay and Colombia in exporting IT services.”

MEXICO

The Indian group is also betting on Mexico.

A recent study by TCS found that Mexican executives are upbeat about the impacts of AI, with 95% of those surveyed saying they have some sort of AI project underway at their companies.

Some 76% of them, believe the technology is set to have a greater impact than smartphones have had.

Due to Mexico's proximity to the US and given the nearshoring model that has been encouraging manufacturing companies to set up shop in the country, it has become a key nation for TCS in Latin America, especially on the industrial front.

In 2023, partly fueled by Mexico, the company's revenues from manufacturing in Latin America grew by over 20% on an annual basis, Subhanjan Ghosh, head of manufacturing at TCS LatAm, told BNamericas in March.

Considering all segments, its Latin American revenues rose 17.3% in 2023, which was the fastest growth among all the company’s geographies, including its home country India.