TCS reported $3.1 billion in annualised AI revenue. For your next app, ask what AI changes in the quote, testing, delivery and running costs.
When a developer says they use AI, you should be able to ask what that changes in your project: the price, the delivery date, or the amount of work included.
On 8 October 2026, Tata Consultancy Services reported annualised AI revenue of $3.1 billion for the quarter ending 30 September. Annualised means a yearly estimate based on the current pace of revenue. TCS did not earn that whole amount in three months.
The company also reported quarterly revenue of $7.642 billion, up 0.2% from the previous quarter. Its AI business is growing, but those figures do not tell us how much cheaper an individual app should become.
For your next project, ask the developer which tasks they plan to use AI for. Possible examples include drafting routine code, writing initial tests, or preparing documentation. Ask who checks that work before it goes live.
Consider an online store. Creating the product page is one part of the job. Someone still needs to check that a failed payment leaves stock unchanged, a repeated payment message does not create two orders, and one seller cannot access another seller’s records.
A lower quote is only useful when those checks remain part of the work.
Ask for separate details on the build, testing, hosting and support. Agree on what counts as finished before work starts.
For a store, that could mean customers can pay successfully, failed payments show a clear message, stock updates correctly, and the owner can manage orders without calling the developer.
Ask what you will receive at handover, including the source code, access to your accounts and instructions for running the app. Also ask what you will pay each month for hosting and any AI features.
TCS’s results do not establish that charging by the hour is ending. For a business buying software, the useful step is more concrete: get the promised features, checks, running costs and support written into the quote before you pay.
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