Shift Ahead’s AI-Native IT Plan: Beyond the Billable Hour

Shift Ahead unveils its strategy for AI-driven IT services, promising innovation beyond traditional billable hours.

The Indian IT services market that is rated at 264 billion is experiencing an entirely new transformation. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) are providing an opportunity in a lifetime.

Traditionally, the company has operated on volumes, cost arbitrage and time-and-materials contracts. The people-centric model is now proving to be impossible because AI is replacing the number of people who were needed to work. 

It is also not something we find as a threat but as a way of redefining global IT outsourcing at Shift Ahead to the value of 136 billion dollars. By 2030, firms that abandon a labour-based based process in favour of platform-based intelligence may be in a position to occupy a 400 billion dollar market. 

Case Study: Unbundling the Expansion of a Multinational IT Colossus in terms of the number of employees. 

Considering the fact that in a global world environment the company is dealing with fortune 500 companies, and huge workforce, Shift Ahead decided to select a partner that is a firm that provides IT consulting/Services to one of the most highly reputed companies in the world in a global world context.

Situation: Although the client is experiencing decent revenues, their future was already jeopardized due to their miscalculation, in other words, profitability still relied on the employment of additional staff. The internal audit showed that the ratio of revenue to the people employed are not varied and it was approximately 1 million dollar per company which is the same as the industry average. The time and material pricing system is connected to the time spent on the work, thus, could not be matched with the need to automate the work, which will allow the company to keep pace with fast-moving AI-powered companies. The need of the client was obvious since they were interested in leaving old delivery architecture and switching it to an AI-native service platform that can offer them better, faster, and improved outcomes.

Strategic Roadmap of Shift Ahead The 5 Step AI-First Transformation.

The Shift Ahead intervention is gradual and mechanical. We were aiming to outdated and transform an existing decades-old operating model and apply the services made possible by AI to the achievement of direct productivity gains.

Technical Audit and T and M Decoupling.

To conduct the real-time AI preparedness testing, we initially selected the main services of Application Development and Maintenance and Infrastructure Management where the high-volume and routine procedures could be redirected to LLM in a flow of the work. The identified workstreams of T&M contracts were first modified by the professionals to the form of price to deliverables with the result of a financial incentive to automate.

GenAI with Core Process Platformization.

The client requested to alter its delivery system, which is a legacy one, and introduce AI-based framework that is concentrated on not just high-quality but also high-quality results. A fine-tuned domain-specific LLM is another layer of our technology, which is a custom AI service layer over domain-specific LLMs that are focused on either compliance or codebases and is the foundation. 

 The AI agents were able to expedite the tier 1 support process and testing cycle. 

 Over 60 percent of repeat code was automated, and documentation. 

Uplifting R&D Tactical and IP. 

We replaced the industry trend of inadequate research and development that was under 2% with the introduction of innovation pods whose only objective was to concentrate in the area of research and development basing on the Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) model. These pods generated Pure Software property to automate the vertical processes to transform the value to sellable IP, rather than billable hours. 

Upskilling and The Forward-Deployed Engineer 2.0. 

We reallocated the pyramid of workforce, in terms of low-skilled jobs and high-value skills. Over 1 million engineers were re-trained in LLM-Ops, urgent engineering and up to date data stack design. The FDE emerged as a strategy architect and enables AI implementation and platform innovation. 

The Change in Outcome-Based Pricing Model. 

The main idea is to move massive contracts to an outcome based charge wanting repayment based on the value provided (reducing the cost or lessening the frequency of the fraudulent fines or direct market gains). This provides to the client short-term profit interests in furtherance of automation that gives them a long-term competitive advantage. 

Statistical Impact: Velocity to the Goal. 

As the implementation of the strategy began, Shift Ahead saw the visible results only in two quarters, which represents that the client is a technologically advanced company with the focus on AI: 

 Productivity: There was more time and new ideas availed to the technical staff due to the ability to complete a specific number of tasks more productively in the Application Maintenance. 

 Revenue to Employee: RPE has grown by 15 percent in 18 months, which is not correlated to the growth of the headcount. 

Cost & Quality: Analytical problems were reduced by 40 cases, which lowered the operating costs. 

Now it is a new model of business that is based on AI and not a tool. 

Among these causes of change, one would highlight the fact that Shift Ahead has enabled its clients to not only survive disrupted by any means, but also a substantial part of the projected 400 billion IT market by 2030.  The future of Indian IT and Shift Ahead is in the front line as intelligent, platform based and outcome oriented.

As AI reshapes global IT, Shift Ahead is committed to leading the industry toward intelligent, platform-driven, outcome-focused delivery—creating the new blueprint for the future of Indian IT. To explore how Shift Ahead can support your organization’s AI-native transformation, contact us at info@shiftahead.tech