Tata Consultancy Services is set to acquire and restructure Best Buy’s global capability centre in India into an AI-native hub, highlighting a broader trend among Indian IT firms towards specialised innovation centres to meet client demands for AI-driven efficiencies.
Tata Consultancy Services is set to draw attention when Indian markets reopen after the Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti holiday, after the company said it had agreed to take over Best Buy’s global capability centre in India. The move places one of India’s biggest software exporters at the centre of a broader shift in how multinational groups organise technology, operations and artificial intelligence work.
According to TCS and Best Buy, the India unit will be restructured as an AI-native Capability Centre under a multi-year arrangement. The companies said the aim is to combine Best Buy’s retail and enterprise expertise with TCS’s engineering, technology and AI capabilities, with the centre using TCS’s Global Value & Innovation Centres framework to redesign workflows and build AI-led solutions. TCS did not disclose financial terms in its announcement.
The Economic Times reported that the size of the workforce and the value of the transaction have not been made public, while other reports said the deal was signed on 1 October and that Best Buy’s India operation will remain focused on business continuity as it is folded into TCS’s wider organisation. One account also said the centre is intended to become an AI-focused hub that will support Best Buy while being managed within TCS’s global delivery structure.
The transaction also fits a wider pattern in Indian IT services, where firms have been buying or absorbing captive centres to deepen client relationships and offset pressure on pricing as customers push harder for AI-led efficiencies. Several reports noted that TCS sees the Best Buy arrangement as a template that could be extended to other clients, particularly in retail and other sectors where firms are looking to turn internal technology teams into more specialised innovation centres.
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