IT services firm Wipro reported a 7 percent year on year decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,119 crore for the third quarter, even as revenue from operations rose 6 percent YoY to Rs 23,556 crore.The company said this quarter’s profit was impacted by a one time Rs 300 crore charge linked to India’s new labour codes. Adjusted for this, net income stood at Rs 3,360 crore, up 3.6 percent quarter on quarter and 0.3 percent YoY. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at Rs 3.21, increasing 3.5 percent QoQ and remaining flat YoY.Banking and financial services—Wipro’s largest vertical, contributing more than a third of its revenue—saw demand improve, with segment revenue rising 1.6 percent.Revenue from the IT services business came in at Rs 23,378 crore, a 5 percent rise over the same period last year. In constant currency terms, IT services revenue grew 1.4 percent sequentially, though it declined 1.2 percent YoY.“The IT services segment remained the main driver of performance, demonstrating resilience in the face of ongoing macroeconomic challenges. Growth was particularly notable in key verticals such as BFSI, consumer, energy, manufacturing, and resources,” said Biswajit Maity, senior principal analyst at Gartner.Also Read: How AI is changing India's IT services industry AI Takes Centre StageOpening the company’s quarterly press conference, Wipro CEO & MD Srini Pallia said there is now a very visible shift towards AI led transformation in customer spending.“Organisations are reshaping priorities as AI influences how they plan, invest and operate. In fact, AI is now a standing board level mandate, led by CEOs who recognise its ability to transform business models, unlock productivity and, of course, create lasting competitive advantage,” he said.Pallia outlined Wipro’s AI strategy, which he said is anchored on a unified framework designed to help clients reimagine business processes at scale. “It is our unified approach to delivering AI powered transformation across industries that we serve,” he said.This model rests on three core pillars:Industry platforms and solutions: Wipro is building consulting led AI platforms such as PayerAI, NetOxygen, and AutoCortex to “streamline operations, improve customer outcomes and open up new avenues for growth”.Delivery platforms at scale: Tools like WINGS and VEGA embed AI across operations, “from application management to infrastructure support… from vibe coding to model tuning and data pipelines,” Pallia noted.The Wipro Innovation Network: A global ecosystem connecting labs, partners, startups and universities to “explore new technologies and build solutions for the future”.He highlighted the launch of new innovation labs across the US, Australia and the Middle East, alongside partnerships with GCCs to turn their cost centres into “high impact innovation hubs”.Recent deal wins—in sectors including education, fitness technology, healthcare, telecom, insurance and BFSI—reflect this AI centric strategy. However, overall booking momentum remained soft. Total bookings stood at $3.33 billion, down 5.7 percent YoY, while large deal bookings fell 8.4 percent YoY to $871 million.Despite muted demand indicators, CFO Aparna Iyer said: “Our IT services operating margins at 17.6 percent expanded both sequentially and, on a year on year basis. This is our best margin performance in the last few years.”The company is also beginning to integrate its latest acquisition. Wipro acquired Harman’s Digital Transformation Solutions (DTS) business unit in late 2025 for up to $375 million, strengthening its capabilities in embedded engineering, AI, and product development for high growth industries.Pallia said the deal enhances Wipro’s ability to deliver complex transformation programmes. The acquisition opens “new regions and high growth industries” and positions the company to take on “larger and more complex transformation programs” as teams come together. “We look forward to entering new markets, building deeper client relationships and turning innovation into long term value,” he said.Pallia said Wipro is entering the new year with one of its strongest pipelines in several quarters. “In fact, today if you ask me, the pipeline is very strong. It’s a combination of both large deals and smaller deals as well, and this is also again secular across markets and across industries,” he said.He added that two themes dominate the pipeline: Vendor consolidation, which continues from 2025 into 2026, and AI led transformation, which has become central to every deal conversation.Clients are increasingly looking to AI to “reimagine their process or rewrite their applications”, improve customer and employee experience, and boost productivity and cost efficiency.In terms of markets, “The Americas and Europe continued to serve as robust markets, while emerging markets showed slow improvement. With a strong presence in the broader IT and cloud services sectors and a healthy deal pipeline, Wipro is well-positioned for future growth,” added Maity.Wipro maintained its Q4 guidance of 0–2 percent sequential revenue growth in constant currency.Talent Strategy for an AI First WorkforceWipro CHRO Saurabh Govil said the company is overhauling its talent engine to meet the needs of an AI heavy delivery model. “From a recruitment standpoint, especially on campuses, we have created centres of excellence—50 of them across different universities—where we work with universities to build curriculum in specific areas like AI, cybersecurity, data and engineering. Then we hire from there,” he said.While premiums are paid to candidates with client side experience, Govil said Wipro is simultaneously driving large scale internal upskilling. “There is huge transformational need. It’s going to be AI plus human. New roles are being created by AI. Education systems need to evolve. Universities need to train talent to be AI ready,” he said.The company hired around 400 freshers in Q3 after intentionally slowing campus intake. Hiring will accelerate sharply in Q4. “Next quarter we plan to ramp up to 2,000–2,500 campus hires. Lateral hiring continues project wise,” Govil said.