While global peer Accenture Plc is doubling down on cybersecurity, the sector appears to be on the backburner for Indian IT companies. This comes at a time when the rise of automation tools and sluggish demand for traditional tech services are otherwise forcing businesses to strengthen their cyber defences.
A Mint review of acquisitions reveals the stark gap: between 1 April 2020 and 24 June 2026, India's five largest IT services firms spent a combined $6.8 billion to acquire about 49 companies. Among them, Tech Mahindra Ltd executed the most transactions, with about 13 purchases, while Tata Consultancy Services Ltd completed the fewest, with just four.
Only two of these 49 buyouts by homegrown IT giants were pure-play cybersecurity firms. This amounted to an investment of about $300 million in specialized cyber defence, or just 4.4% of their total acquisition spending.
Last April, India’s second-largest IT firm Infosys Ltd acquired The Missing Link, a cybersecurity firm based in Sydney, for around $68 million. The Missing Link’s cybersecurity practice includes strategic advice, offensive and defensive security services, cybersecurity risk assessments and compliance. Infosys management attributed this acquisition to rising demand for cyber defences but did not mention the role of automation in its announcement.
The only other pure-play cybersecurity acquisition by a major Indian IT firm occurred a little over three years prior. In December 2021, Wipro Ltd, the country's fourth-largest IT services provider, purchased Austin-based cybersecurity consulting firm Edgile for $230 million. The acquisition aimed to jointly develop Wipro CyberTransform, a new service designed to help clients manage cyber risks, invest in mitigation strategies, and establish robust security guardrails.
To be sure, Indian IT services firms have acquired firms that offer cybersecurity solutions but do not specialise in them. Most of their acquisitions have centred around entering new regions and expanding their software product capabilities.
Meanwhile, Accenture's spending on three recent cybersecurity acquisitions roughly matches the total annual revenue of LTIMindtree Ltd, India’s sixth-largest IT services provider. The company concluded the last fiscal year with $4.8 billion in revenue, marking a 6% year-on-year growth.
High costs and talent shortage
At least two industry experts attributed Indian IT's hesitation toward cybersecurity acquisitions to prohibitive costs and a shortage of specialized talent. “Cyber skills don’t come cheap and skills are very niche so finding the right talent at the right price is tough. Accenture is more in-organic growth but other IT services companies including Wipro and HCLTech have a different approach as they invest in startups and grow through partnerships and organic capabilities,” said Namratha Dharshan, chief business leader for India Research at ISG, a global technology research and advisory firm.
“Indian IT services firms have traditionally built cybersecurity capabilities organically rather than through large acquisition programs,” said Phil Fersht, chief executive of HFS Research, another global technology research and advisory firm.
He said though chief executives view such acquisitions as expensive, Indian IT needs to ramp up its cyber practices. “Indian providers may need to become more aggressive if they want to compete for the largest AI-led transformation deals over the next several years,” he added.
On the fast track
This cautious, organic approach stands in stark contrast to the aggressive strategy deployed by global rivals such as Accenture, which recently doubled down on the sector by acquiring three prominent cybersecurity firms—Dragos, NetRise, and runZero—at a total enterprise value of $4.2 billion. Each of these entities brings a distinct specialization to Accenture's portfolio, highlighting the premium global players place on rapid scaling through acquisitions.
Dragos, based in Maryland, offers cybersecurity solutions for computers that run physical infrastructure such as power grids, water plants, factories and pipelines. This is referred to as ‘operational technology’. On the other hand, Austin-based runZero and NetRise detect and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities in a companies’ servers, laptops, printers, or cameras.
To put this in perspective, the money Accenture spent acquiring the three cybersecurity firms is three-fifths of the cumulative amount that Indian IT’s big five have spent on acquisitions in the past six years.
However, Accenture’s cyber business is hardly new. It has been built over the past decade and is now almost as big as Wipro Ltd, India's fourth-largest IT services firm. Last year, Accenture generated $10 billion from its cybersecurity business, or roughly 14% of its total revenue. It remains the only major IT services firm to publicly disclose its cybersecurity earnings. According to the company's website, it employs more than 19,000 cybersecurity professionals, representing 2.4% of its global workforce.
During the post-earnings call, Sweet explained that enterprise budgets have flatlined despite the rise of AI, forcing clients to redistribute their tech spending. Moving into the cybersecurity platform business, she noted, more than triples the company's total addressable market in OT security.
ICICI Securities analysts Ruchi Mukhija, Seema Nayak and Aditi Patil voiced a similar opinion in a note dated 19 June. “Accenture moving into the mid-market segment and doubling down on cybersecurity to expand its addressable market indicates muted demand in the current addressable market, shrinking growth avenues and increased competition”, they wrote, adding, “Venturing into new growth areas and execution will be key for Indian IT services amid a tough demand environment.”
AI’s dual threat
This aggressive pivot toward cyber defence stems from a dual threat driven by AI. On one hand, the rapid rise of generative AI and automated coding tools has forced a domestic crisis, raising doubts about the long-term relevance of traditional IT services firms and sending their shares plunging more than 30% since the start of the year. On the other hand, AI coding tools have radically lowered the barrier to entry for cybercriminals.
Palo Alto Networks said in its Global Incident Response Report 2026, published in February, “AI is changing the economics of intrusions. It increases attacker speed, scale and effectiveness while opening entirely new attack vectors.”
“In 2025, threat actors moved from experimentation to routine operational use. AI is not an attacker ‘easy button’, but it is a massive friction reducer. It allows threat actors to move faster, iterate more frequently, and operate with fewer human constraints,” the report added.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said during the company’s post-earnings call on 18 June, “Cyber is a key enabler for AI. We cannot have an AI revolution without critical infrastructure, and you cannot have those without OT (operational technology) security, which is where the world is most vulnerable today.” Accenture, which follows a September-August financial calendar as against Indian IT’s April-March, ended the third quarter with $18.7 billion in revenue, up 3.74% sequentially.