Innovation and diversification are the lifeblood of sustainable business growth. When we observe the trajectory of U.S. tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple, we see companies that started with one core idea and evolved into global empires spanning multiple industries. On the flip side, Indian IT giants like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Wipro — despite decades of success — seem to have stayed firmly rooted in their original business model, with little meaningful diversification.
Let’s take a deeper look at this phenomenon.
When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, the company started as an online bookstore operating out of his garage. Fast forward to 2025, Amazon is no longer just an e-commerce giant but a multifaceted business empire, operating across:e-commerce, cloud computing through Amazon Web Services (AWS), digital streaming via Prime Video and Amazon Music, logistics and delivery with its own global supply chain network, physical retail through Whole Foods Market and Amazon Go stores, advertising services, smart home technology with Alexa and Echo devices, artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing, online payments via Amazon Pay, healthcare with Amazon Pharmacy and the acquisition of One Medical, space exploration through Blue Origin, robotics and automation for warehouses, grocery delivery with Amazon Fresh, video game development via Amazon Games, audiobook services through Audible, hardware products like Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers, and even financial lending and credit services for small businesses.
TCS and Indian IT: The Stagnation Dilemma
TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) was founded in 1968 as an IT services company offering software solutions and consulting to global enterprises. Even after nearly six decades in business, TCS remains almost entirely reliant on:
- IT Services & Consulting
- Software Development and Maintenance
- Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
While the company has dabbled in products like TCS BaNCS (banking software) and platforms like Ignio (AI), these initiatives are relatively minor compared to its core services revenue. The same can be said for peers like Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Technologies.
Why the Difference?
1. Risk Appetite:U.S. companies are more willing to experiment, invest in moonshot projects, and disrupt themselves. Indian firms prefer the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model.
2. Visionary Leadership:Leaders like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sundar Pichai continuously push their companies beyond boundaries. Indian IT leadership, mostly professional managers, tend to focus on stable quarterly results.
3. Market Dynamics:The U.S. market rewards innovation. Wall Street celebrates companies that burn cash to build future monopolies. In India, conservative shareholders often demand immediate profitability and low-risk strategies.
4. Global Ambition vs. Service Dependence:Amazon aimed for global dominance from day one. Indian IT firms mostly focused on serving international clients rather than building consumer-facing or product-based businesses.
5. Workforce Quality & Training:One major reason behind U.S. companies' success is the sheer level of knowledge, creativity, and specialized training their employees possess. American firms invest heavily in R&D, upskilling, and critical thinking, fostering a culture where innovation is part of the job description. In contrast, Indian IT companies often prioritize quantity over quality — hiring mass batches of engineers trained only for execution rather than innovation. Most Indian IT employees focus on routine coding, support, and maintenance work, rarely involved in cutting-edge product development or original research.
That’s exactly why U.S.-based tech giants are valued at trillions of dollars, while Indian IT companies remain in the billion-dollar club — because American firms continuously innovate, diversify, and expand into new industries beyond their original business models.
For example, as of April 2025:
Amazon’s market cap stands around $1.75 trillion.
Apple is worth over $3 trillion.
Microsoft exceeds $3 trillion.
Alphabet (Google) hovers around $1.9 trillion.
Meta Platforms (Facebook) is valued at about $1.2 trillion.
Meanwhile, top Indian IT companies are much smaller in comparison:
TCS has a market cap of approximately $140 billion.
Infosys is valued at around $70 billion.
Wipro sits at roughly $30 billion.
HCL Technologies around $40 billion.
The difference is crystal clear — innovation and diversification lead to scale, and scale leads to trillion-dollar valuations.
What Indian IT Companies Can Learn
Product Innovation: Shift from being purely service providers to product creators.
Diversification: Move into high-margin, future-proof sectors like cloud platforms, AI tools, fintech, or even industrial automation.
Intrapreneurship: Encourage internal teams to develop new business models, much like Amazon’s AWS emerged from an internal need.
Strategic Acquisitions: Leverage their massive cash reserves to acquire promising startups and emerging tech companies.
While Amazon and other U.S. tech companies prove that evolution is the key to long-term survival and relevance, Indian IT companies like TCS risk becoming obsolete if they don’t diversify soon. The world is changing fast — and companies that fail to innovate are often left behind, regardless of past glory.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this article are for informational and educational purposes only. This post is not meant to criticize any specific company but to spark constructive discussion on business innovation and growth strategy. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and analysis before forming any conclusions.
