Tech Mahindra scales ServiceNow practice, sets up AI & Innovation CoE

The expanded partnership will help enterprises move from AI pilots to production deployments through industry-specific solutions, governance frameworks and enterprise-wide automation.

Tech Mahindra has expanded its global ServiceNow practice and is establishing a dedicated AI & Innovation Centre of Excellence (CoE) as part of an expanded multi-year partnership with ServiceNow.

Under the expanded partnership, Tech Mahindra will combine its industry, engineering, transformation and implementation capabilities with the ServiceNow AI Platform to help customers accelerate automation, strengthen AI governance and scale AI deployments across their operations.

The company said the new AI & Innovation CoE will accelerate the deployment of capabilities including ServiceNow AI Control Tower and ServiceNow EmployeeWorks while helping customers develop structured roadmaps for AI adoption.

The partnership reflects what both companies describe as a new phase of enterprise AI adoption, where organisations are prioritising large-scale execution over experimentation.

Tech Mahindra’s chief executive officer, Mohit Joshi, said enterprises are looking to embed AI into the systems and workflows that drive day-to-day operations.

"Enterprises are entering a new phase of AI adoption where the priority is no longer experimentation, but trusted execution at scale," Joshi said.

"To unlock meaningful business value, AI must be embedded into the systems, workflows, controls, and operating models where enterprise work actually happens."

According to the companies, they will work with customers to build transformation roadmaps, strengthen platform adoption, establish governance frameworks and measure business outcomes from AI initiatives.

The announcement highlights how the AI opportunity is moving towards implementation, integration, governance and operational transformation rather than standalone AI projects, for service providers and systems integrators.

As part of the partnership, Tech Mahindra and ServiceNow will jointly develop industry-focused solutions for manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), media, and technology sectors.

The companies said these solutions will help customers accelerate transformation efforts while improving governance and cost optimisation.

Rather than approaching AI as a generic technology deployment, the partnership aims to combine ServiceNow's platform capabilities with Tech Mahindra's domain expertise to address industry-specific requirements and business processes.

Tech Mahindra becomes 'Client Zero'

A key element of the collaboration is what the companies describe as a "Client Zero" approach.

Under this model, Tech Mahindra and the broader Mahindra Group will serve as large-scale validation environments for ServiceNow technologies before proven deployment models are extended to customers.

The companies said this approach allows them to build repeatable implementation frameworks based on real-world deployments rather than experimental use cases.

Tech Mahindra's own ServiceNow deployment already provides a proof point for the partnership.

According to the company, the platform currently handles over 100,000 cases each month across 90 countries and supports approximately 150,000 employees globally.

The deployment has also helped optimise first-level IT support by around 25 percent, according to the companies.

ServiceNow’s chairman and chief executive officer, Bill McDermott, said the partnership will help customers adopt AI through proven operational models.

"AI only matters when it creates value for people," McDermott said.

"Tech Mahindra is already turning that vision into business results."

He added that the ServiceNow AI Platform has helped Tech Mahindra improve employee experiences, deliver cost benefits and optimise IT support operations, providing a foundation that can now be extended to customers.

AI governance becomes a bigger priority

Beyond automation, governance is emerging as a central theme of the partnership.

The companies said organisations need support around AI controls, governance frameworks and responsible deployment models as AI becomes integrated into critical business processes.

The expanded relationship will address those challenges by combining ServiceNow's platform capabilities with Tech Mahindra's transformation and consulting expertise.

For the broader ecosystem, the announcement reflects a growing shift in enterprise AI projects from pilot deployments towards long-term transformation programmes that require integration, governance, workflow redesign and ongoing optimisation.