Capgemini to buy WNS to boost its business process services with AI
IT consulting firm Capgemini wants to beef up its agentic AI expertise with its planned $3.3 billion acquisition of business process management specialist WNS.
The deal is an indicator of the rapid expansion of the business process services (BPS) market driven by the surging demand for automation powered by agentic AI, said Industry experts and analysts.
“Hybrid automation with agentic AI is a key priority for enterprise decision-makers in the next three years,” said Charlie Dai, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
The global business process outsourcing (BPO) market, including BPS, was valued at $300 billion in 2024 according to Grand View Research, which projects the market will surge to $525 billion in 2030, driven by demand for new technologies such as generative AI.
Capgemini has reached a definitive agreement to acquire WNS, and plans to it into its Global Business Services portfolio when the deal closes some time before the end of the year. It expects the deal to help it serve enterprise clients seeking intelligent automation and digital transformation.
Forrester’s Dai said WNS’s domain-specific AI agents and agentic AI platforms, especially the AI.Agentic suite and WNS Expirius, will effectively help Capgemini enhance its agent-driven business process services and offer the same to its existing customers.
For Gartner vice president analyst DD Mishra, WNS’s investments in intelligent automation, analytics, and agentic solutions including its TRAC analytics suite and Malkom knowledge management platform will complement Capgemini’s existing technology and consulting strengths.
Sharath Srinivasamurthy, research vice president at IDC, pointed to the acquisitions WNS has itself made in recent months, including Kipi.ai, Smart Cube, and OptiBuy to enhance its data, analytics, and procurement stack and extend its proficiency in business process operations, said.
*Less about agentic tools and more about process operations expertise?*
However, Rajesh Ranjan, managing partner at Everest Group, views the WNS acquisition as more of a strategic play rather than being focused on garnering more agentic tools or capabilities.
“The key driver behind the acquisition is less to do with the tools or software but rather the access to business process operations expertise that WNS brings to the table, a pre-requisite to develop and deploy real-world AI solutions,” Ranjan said, adding that agentic AI is still in its infancy and are largely locked in pilot stages across enterprises.
WNS’s 600 clients should expect to receive sales calls Capgemini once the deal closes, said IDC’s Srinivasamurthy: “This a huge opportunity for Capgemini to cross-sell technology services to them and position as a true technology driven end-to-end service provider.”
*Changing dynamics for BPS*
The WNS acquisition may trigger similar acquisitions in the BPS market as Capgemini rivals are also eying BPS vendors to increase their footprint and operations, as these vendors undergo operational transformation driven by the demand for AI, said Everest Group’s Ranjan.