Event Participants
Executives
3 Aditya Krishna (Chairman & Managing Director), Avantika Krishna (Executive Director), Niraj Kumar Ganeriwal (COO & CFO)
Analysts
4 Divya Bhansali (Alpha Capital), Mayank Garg (Ajanta Pharma), Rahul Shah (Eternal Capital), Vikas Shrivastava (RBC Financial Services)
Financials & KPIs
| Metric | Reported | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from Operations | ₹249 crores | Flat YoY; continuation of demand softness first seen in Q3 FY26 |
| Revenue by Geography | Americas 52%, Europe 27%, APAC & Others 21% | Americas remains largest market; Europe contribution with new CGO focus |
| Vertical Mix | BFSI 30%, Emerging Verticals 45%, Transport & Logistics 16%, Digital Commerce 9% | Emerging verticals now 45% of revenue; digital commerce facing maximum headwinds |
| Onsite/Offshore Mix | 43% / 57% | Delivery mix stable during the quarter |
| EBITDA | ₹45 crores | -1% YoY; margin stable at 18.26% |
| PAT | ₹29 crores | PAT margin at 11.78% |
| $1M+ Annual Revenue Clients | 16 | Flat sequentially due to flat revenues |
| Total Employees | 2,434 (2,223 technical) | Headcount declining due to AI-led productivity and process automation |
| Utilization (excl. trainees) | 83% | Healthy despite soft demand environment |
| Top 10 Client Concentration | 56% (down from 58%) | Base diversifying through deliberate tail-account pruning |
Geographic & Segment Commentary
Americas: Contributed 52% of Q1 FY27 revenues. Management targets growing this to at least 65% of total revenue over the next 2-3 years, driven by expanding wallet share and new AI-led deal wins.
Europe: Contributed 27% of revenues. A new Chief Growth Officer for the Europe region was appointed in June 2026, and within one month has already added a significant new logistics/airline client (a large supplier to Amazon).
Emerging Verticals: Largest vertical at 45% of revenue and expected to lead growth in FY27, driven by managed services and outcome-based deals across healthcare, utilities, and other emerging segments.
Banking & Financial Services: 30% of revenue, expected to contribute to growth this year. BFSI revenue held steady in absolute terms between Q4 FY26 and Q1 FY27, which management noted as a positive sign.
Transportation & Logistics: 16% of revenue; expected to see growth during FY27, supported by the newly onboarded airline client in Europe.
Digital Commerce: 9% of revenue; facing the most significant headwinds among all verticals, with no near-term recovery expected.
Company-Specific & Strategic Commentary
AI-Led Delivery Transformation: AI is embedded across all projects (engineering and managed services), delivering 30-50% efficiency gains in product engineering and 20-30% in managed services. AI is also being applied internally via agents for recruitment, invoicing, and payables, reducing support headcount.
Shift to Outcome-Based Models: Management is deliberately moving away from headcount-linked/body-shopping contracts toward larger, outcome-based managed services deals. This transition causes near-term conversion delays but is expected to decouple revenue growth from headcount and improve margin quality over the medium term.
Strategic Leadership Additions: Appointed a Chief Growth Officer for Europe (joined June 2026) and a Business Unit Head for Emerging Verticals, funded by repurposing costs from exited acquired-company founders — no net increase in employee costs expected.
Pipeline and Account Pruning: Total pipeline stands at $28 million, up from $25 million last quarter, with higher-quality deal texture. Management is deliberately letting go of tail accounts with no scale potential, contributing to reduced client concentration (top 10 down from 58% to 56%).
Guidance & Outlook
| Metric | Guidance / Outlook | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| FY27 Revenue | ₹1,200-1,250 crores (vs ₹1,007 crores in FY26) | Guidance maintained as of now; management will restate at end of Q2 FY27 if needed. Implies ~20-25% YoY growth vs flat Q1. |
| Q2 FY27 Growth | Muted, no meaningful improvement expected | Continued demand softness and delayed client decision-making; no near-term normalization seen. |
| H2 FY27 Growth | Improved vs H1 | Management hopeful of growth returning in second half as pipeline converts and clients resume spending. |
| US Revenue Share | Target 65% of total in 2-3 years | Up from current 52%; driven by US-centric growth focus. Longer-term FY30 target of $500 million revenue remains. |
Risks & Constraints
| Risk | Context |
|---|---|
| Prolonged Demand Softness | Q1 FY27 revenue flat YoY with no improvement expected in Q2. Top clients continue to face near-term pressures, and customer decision-making remains cautious. Management expects improvement in H2 but flagged uncertainty. |
| AI-Driven Industry Disruption | Enterprises are re-evaluating cloud-to-on-prem strategies and reallocating budgets; nothing is normalizing in client spending. Management sees AI as both a disruption and an opportunity, claiming medium-term growth is intact. |
| Outcome-Based Deal Transition | The shift from headcount-based to outcome-based/managed services deals takes longer to convert, causing near-term revenue pain. Management acknowledged this transformation will cause "some pain" before delivering growth. |
| Digital Commerce Weakness | The digital commerce vertical is facing the maximum headwinds across all four verticals, with no near-term recovery anticipated. |
| Competitive Pressure | Larger IT players are moving downmarket and competing for smaller deals. Management counters that its smaller size provides better customer attention, and AI has leveled the playing field for RFP invitations. |
Q&A Highlights
Pipeline and Conversion
- Question: How does the pipeline look versus last quarter, and when will conversion improve? (Vikas Shrivastava, RBC)
- Answer: Pipeline has grown to $28 million (from $25 million). Deal quality is better — larger managed services/outcome-based deals rather than headcount contracts — but conversion is slower. Q2 will remain muted; H2 growth expected. (Aditya Krishna)
Revenue Guidance for FY27
- Question: What is the revenue guidance for FY27 given continued softness? (Divya Bhansali, Alpha Capital)
- Answer: Guidance remains ₹1,200-1,250 crores for FY27 (vs ₹1,007 crores FY26), held as of now. Management will restate at end of Q2 if needed. No significant recovery in Q2; growth expected in three of four verticals (emerging, BFSI, logistics) with digital commerce lagging. (Aditya Krishna, Niraj Kumar Ganeriwal)
Employee Costs and Leadership Hires
- Question: What incremental cost will the new CGO and BU head bring, and why is headcount declining? (Rahul Shah, Eternal Capital)
- Answer: No incremental cost — senior costs were repurposed from exited acquired-company founders. Headcount decline driven by three factors: AI-driven engineering productivity, AI agents in support operations (recruitment, invoicing, payables), and decoupling of revenue from headcount in outcome-based deals. Resource cost as a percentage of revenue (currently ~77% including contractors) is expected to decline over time. (Aditya Krishna, Niraj Kumar Ganeriwal)
Pipeline Quantum and Tail Accounts
- Question: Can you quantify the pipeline and the voluntary attrition of tail accounts? (Vikas Shrivastava, RBC)
- Answer: Pipeline is $28 million, up from $25 million. Accounts without scale potential are being deliberately let go. Top 10 client concentration improved from 58% to 56%. BFSI revenue held flat in absolute terms between Q4 and Q1, indicating the pruning is working. Management offered to share details on account exits separately. (Aditya Krishna)
Client Spending and AI Disruption
- Question: Are top 10 clients still cutting discretionary spend, or is spending normalizing? (Hitesh, individual investor)
- Answer: Nothing is normalizing. AI-driven disruption is reshaping tech services — the industry is shifting from on-prem-to-cloud to cloud-to-on-prem. AI delivers 30-50% efficiency in engineering and 20-30% in managed services. Management is confident of medium-to-long-term growth; expects a "couple of quarters of difficulty" before recovery. (Aditya Krishna)
AI Revenue and Deal Sizing
- Question: How much revenue comes from AI projects, and what is the ticket-size trend? (Dhruv, individual investor)
- Answer: AI revenue is not broken out separately because every project now embeds AI — from engineering to managed services to legal work. AI has enabled Saksoft to bid on much larger RFPs previously dominated by larger players, improving pipeline quality. All AI engagements are in production, not pilots. (Aditya Krishna)
Competition from Larger Players and US Growth
- Question: Are larger IT players moving downmarket and increasing competition? (Rohan Joshi, individual investor)
- Answer: Competition has increased, but the reverse dynamic is more relevant — AI has opened doors for Saksoft to bid on deals previously out of reach. Mid-sized companies offer better client attention than Tier 1 players. US revenue contribution (52% currently) is targeted to reach 65% in 2-3 years. (Aditya Krishna)
Key Takeaway
Saksoft reported a flat Q1 FY27 with revenue of ₹249 crores, EBITDA of ₹45 crores (18.26% margin), and PAT of ₹29 crores, reflecting continued industry-wide demand softness since Q3 FY26. The company is holding its FY27 revenue guidance of ₹1,200-1,250 crores, implying ~20-25% annual growth, with pipeline at $28 million (up from $25 million) and improving deal quality as it pivots from headcount-based to outcome-based managed services. AI is embedded across all engagements, delivering 30-50% engineering efficiency and enabling participation in larger RFPs; internal AI agents are reducing support headcount. New Europe CGO secured a major airline/logistics client within a month, and US revenue is targeted to grow from 52% to 65% of total over 2-3 years. Management expects Q2 to remain muted with growth returning in H2, contingent on pipeline conversion and client spending recovery, while digital commerce remains the weakest vertical.