HCLTech signs seven-year deal with Guardian, to acquire India unit

HCLTech (NSE: HCLTECH, BSE: HCLTECH) announced a seven-year agreement with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America on July 16, expanding an existing partnership to advance AI-driven modernization across technology and operations.

As part of the deal, HCLTech will acquire Guardian India, a global capability center with nearly 2,000 employees supporting technology, operations and shared services. Those employees will integrate into HCLTech under a newly formed Strategic Business Unit dedicated exclusively to supporting Guardian. Karunakaran Azhisur, Country Head of Guardian India, will lead the new unit.

Under the agreement, HCLTech will deploy its AI Service Transformation Platform, AI Force, to build and implement agentic capabilities for Guardian's business operations. The partnership covers technology and talent transformation across data, applications and engineering, as well as operational work spanning group benefits, individual protection, retirement and wealth management.

Steve Rullo, chief digital and technology officer at Guardian, said the partnership is "an important step in advancing our operating model and scaling AI across our enterprise," adding that the collaboration aims to drive "greater consistency and scalability."

Srinivasan Seshadri, chief growth officer and global head of financial services at HCLTech, said the expanded agreement reflects the companies' "shared focus on scaling AI and modernizing operations" and presents an opportunity to co-create products and intellectual property for the insurance sector.

HCLTech reported consolidated revenues of $14.8 billion for the 12 months ending June 2026 and employs more than 223,000 people across 60 countries. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the press release.

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