Capgemini has increased its 2026 revenue growth target as companies prioritize large-scale technology upgrades to support artificial intelligence. The CEO noted that businesses must first modernize outdated systems to effectively deploy agentic AI tools, driving a multi-year investment cycle for IT service providers.
Capgemini, a global leader in IT services and consulting, has revised its 2026 revenue growth outlook upward following a period of strong bookings. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Aiman Ezzat, attributed this positive momentum to a growing corporate need for comprehensive technology modernization to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence.
Modernizing Legacy Systems for AI
While interest in artificial intelligence remains high, Ezzat highlighted that most organizations are not yet prepared to deploy advanced AI agents. These are automated systems capable of executing complex, multi-step business tasks. The primary barrier is not the lack of AI models, but the existence of fragmented data and legacy technology architectures that have been built up over decades. To successfully integrate AI, companies are increasingly shifting their budgets away from small-scale pilot projects toward large, multi-year transformation programs aimed at repairing this technical debt.
The Shift Toward Large-Scale Transformations
This trend represents a shift in how corporations allocate their technology spending. Instead of experimenting with isolated AI applications, businesses are now focusing on foundational infrastructure. This includes cleaning up scattered data, upgrading core software, and connecting previously incompatible systems. Because these foundational upgrades require significant planning and capital investment, the company expects this modernization cycle to last several years. By addressing these underlying technical limitations, organizations hope to move toward an 'agentic' model where AI can reliably perform business processes without human intervention at every step.
Investor Context and Market Impact
For investors, this news highlights a shift in demand for IT service firms. The emphasis is moving toward complex, large-scale implementation work, which typically involves higher value contracts and longer engagement periods compared to smaller, experimental projects. While the upward revision in revenue guidance signals confidence in current bookings, the ability of IT companies to maintain these growth rates will depend on their success in managing large transformation projects. The main monitorable for shareholders will be the pace at which clients convert these foundational infrastructure needs into sustained, high-value orders as the industry navigates the complexities of AI-ready transformations.