HCLTech sees AI and agentic as tools of its trade

HCLTech is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic tools, including knowledge-sharing agents and test reconciliation tools, to enhance efficiency while ensuring responsible AI and security.

The IT service provider places a huge importance on responsible AI, security, and the need to guide businesses through AI implementations, ensuring compliance and effective strategy alignment.

“I recently introduced a consultancy capability into the ANZ business,” said executive vice president and country leader A/NZ Sonia Eland. “The irony of AI lies in its promise of ease of use, yet in reality, it demands significant hand-holding, guidance, and support to achieve that simplicity.”

In an interview with ARN, Eland said much of the AI conversation for customers isn’t just around implementation; it’s also about ensuring they revisit their security policy, postures within the policy, data security, and data access support.

“Privileges, policies and all of these things that probably stood well prior to generative AI, now don’t stand the test,” she noted. “I think our clients are going to need a lot of help.”

This is how Eland also positions HCLTech; as an organisation that provides uplift for its customers when it comes to complex technology like AI.

Data, cloud, cybersecurity, data regulations and risk are components that’s intrinsically linked to AI to make it work.

One interesting thing to think about is that, on top of everything mentioned, said Eland is the “way solutions using AI and generative AI tools are used to actually help deliver AI and gen AI capabilities”.

Moving forward with AI

In financial year 2025, HCLTech global made significant strides in AI and gen AI, with its AI Labs completing 500 engagements for 400 clients.

The IT service provider also globally trained over 100,000 users and 4,000 developers in these technologies.

HCLTech currently has four flagship offerings front-ending its presence in this space. This includes AI Foundry a system integration and managed services offering that brings together data, AI, and cognitive infrastructure.

As well as AI Labs a network of AI and cloud native labs that includes consulting services; while AI Engineering delivers AI chip design, development, and tape out capabilities along with hardware engineering prowess for building next-gen AI data centres.

This is what IT service providers like HCLTech specialise in, said Eland.

“These are the tools of our trade, if you like,” she said. “It takes into account all the little jigsaw puzzle pieces and components that make AI work.”

The IT service provider has also built a service transformation platform that revitalises software and IT operations named AI Force.

Eland explained the platform was an agnostic kind of end-to-end platform that’s built for AI and agentic that is used based on the specific needs of a project.

For example, a software development would require HCLTech’s team to use a set of tools tailored to that type of work.

However, a big challenge is figuring out how to do all of that at scale. As well as examining how to validate and test the process effectively.

“We bring the ability to put the pieces together, with the type of agentic tools that can be applied in a way not necessarily thought of or understood in a program,” said Eland. “As well as, designing teams to manage the cognitive load of the humans versus the load of the AI.”

Federate CommBank’s data

HCLTech supported Commonwealth Bank (CBA) in completing the migration of its data platform to Amazon Web Services (AWS), marking one of the largest migrations in southern hemisphere.

The IT service provider has had a long-standing partnership with CBA and has supported it for the past 17 years.

While there has been an “ebb and flow” to the partnership, Eland acknowledged that HCLTech has ramped up its “involvement” around the area of data for the Bank.

This particular project ensures the scalable data platform integrates with other channels across the Bank and allows it to use the latest data, AI and analytics technologies.

“The project involved migrating over 61,000 data pipelines and it required a deeply thoughtful approach,” said Eland. “Then there’s the structure of the teams involved, for which HCLTech leveraged the concept of team topologies,”

“Another important aspect was testing reconciliation where a lot of the testing had to happen in a simulated environment to maintain data security.”

For organisations with ambitious AI plans, like CBA, it all starts with data. Eland emphasised that while ambitious plans and innovative concepts are essential, everything ultimately hinges on the ability to effectively work with and utilise data.

Data has been very centralised and has been the go-to model organisations have used.

But now they want to federate their data and get it into the hands of the business, and then into the hands of the data producers. The first step to this, is getting onto the cloud followed by data published in AWS marketplace.

The “ambitious target deadline” meant all three organisations had to work together.

“We started laying the groundwork for this program in Q1,” she explained. “The large-scale migration phase began towards the end of Q2.”

“We really had around six months to get the scale migration completed.” According to Eland, the scale of what was achieved in such a short period of time was sheer and unprecedented.

The human factor

During the project it was important to have a shared goal between all three organisations.

“We had a shared goal, this enormous hill we needed to climb together, and AWS truly made a difference in facilitating the success of this significant project. It was ‘One Team One Dream’ in action during the entire project delivery” said Eland.

“To be able to get something of this scale done in this period of time having AWS in the room makes all the difference,” she said.

The same thing can be said for completely other different types of projects, especially when the moment the pressure is there to do something faster or different or bigger and it’s not standard, the need for additional support from the partner is needed.

“We don’t have the luxury of time to engage formally with the vendor or OEM by logging a ticket and waiting—it’s simply not practical in these circumstances,” said Eland. “The response must be immediate because the timeline doesn’t allow for delays.”

They need to be in the room and “AWS was really good at having that modus operandi”, Eland acknowledged. “We’ve actually got a few other very large programs happening in-country and this is how we operate with AWS, it makes a massive difference.”

For Eland the nature of teams working on these types of projects will change.

“Teams today are made up of just all 100 per cent humans,” she said. “Over time, a team will be a mix of agents and humans.

“If I consider the evolution of the technology workforce, companies like ours have traditionally focused on recruiting graduates fresh out of engineering school. Now, however, we are seeking individuals from entirely different backgrounds.”

According to Eland, HCLTech is “actively seeking individuals with diverse backgrounds, including business expertise, to bring greater empathy and varied perspectives into our teams.”

“As we move toward responsible AI, team composition must evolve,” said Eland. “We need diverse perspectives to drive empathy and innovation, and individuals who can bridge the gap between business and technology.”