The Reimagined IT Service Stack: A Strategic Investment Opportunity in AI-Driven Enterprise Transformation

The global enterprise IT modernization market is accelerating toward a $5.43 trillion valuation in 2025, growing at a 7.9% annual rate, driven by AI and generative AI (GenAI) digitization initiatives according to Gartner. This surge reflects a fundamental shift in how enterprises view IT: no longer a cost center but an innovation engine. At the heart of this transformation are AI-driven platforms, low-code workflows, and embedded collaboration tools, which are redefining IT service management (ITSM) and enabling enterprises to automate, scale, and future-proof their operations.

The AI-Driven ITSM Revolution

Salesforce's Agentforce, launched in October 2025, epitomizes this shift. Built on a "conversation-first, agent-first" model, Agentforce replaces traditional ticket-based ITSM with AI agents that act as subject-matter experts. These agents handle tasks like password resets, access requests, and root-cause analysis-functions that previously consumed 15-20% of IT queue time. By integrating with Slack and Microsoft Teams, Agentforce eliminates the need for portals, enabling employees to resolve issues in real-time.

Muddu Sudhakar, SVP & GM of IT and HR Service at Salesforce, has positioned Agentforce as a tipping point in IT modernization. He argues that the legacy ITSM model is "fundamentally broken" due to its fragmented, manual processes according to his analysis. Agentforce's multi-agent architecture contrasts with monolithic systems from competitors like ServiceNow, offering a unified platform with embedded CMDB (Configuration Management Database) and 100+ connectors at launch according to Silicon Angle. This approach aligns with Gartner's prediction that agentic AI will resolve 80% of common IT issues by 2029, making proactive service management a reality.

Financial metrics underscore Agentforce's success. For Q3 2026, Agentforce alone surpassed $500 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a 330% year-over-year increase. Salesforce now generates $1.4 billion in combined ARR from Agentforce and Data 360, with over 9,500 active contracts as of December 2025. These figures validate the platform's role in Salesforce's broader vision to become a full-fledged agentic application platform, extending into IT asset management, compliance, and AIOps.

Strategic Acquisitions and AI-First Partnerships

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is another key player in this transformation. In 2025, TCS acquired ListEngage for $72.8 million, enhancing its Agentic AI capabilities and deepening its Salesforce expertise. This acquisition brought 100+ professionals with 400+ Salesforce certifications into TCS, strengthening its Enterprise Solutions unit. TCS's "Human+AI" doctrine-positioning AI as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement-has driven a 16.3% quarter-over-quarter growth in AI-specific services, now generating $1.5 billion in annualized revenue.

TCS's strategy extends beyond acquisitions. Its DAIS methodology (Discovery, Assessment, Ideation, and Strategy) and Responsible AI framework provide structured, governed approaches for enterprise adoption according to Klover AI analysis. By unifying AI and cloud practices under an "AI.Cloud" unit, TCS addresses scalability, security, and infrastructure readiness-critical pain points for enterprises. Over 85% of TCS clients with contracts exceeding $20 million now use its AI services, reflecting strong demand in sectors like BFSI, life sciences, and manufacturing.

Low-Code Workflows: The New Normal

Low-code platforms are further accelerating IT modernization by democratizing application development. TCS emphasizes these tools as a cornerstone of digital transformation, enabling rapid automation of workflows like incident response, invoice processing, and HR onboarding according to TCS insights. Platforms such as Appsmith, Microsoft Power Apps, and Mendix allow both developers and "citizen developers" to build solutions using drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-built components according to Appsmith's blog.

Agentforce itself integrates low-code principles, leveraging Salesforce's Service Cloud and Data Cloud to automate mundane tasks while embedding AI for proactive resolutions. This synergy between low-code and agentic AI is a game-changer: it reduces development time, lowers costs, and empowers non-technical users to contribute to innovation.

The Investment Case

The convergence of AI, low-code, and strategic partnerships creates a high-velocity growth sector. For investors, the opportunity lies in platforms and partners enabling this shift:
1. Salesforce's Agentforce: With a 330% ARR growth and a $60 billion revenue target by 2030, Agentforce is a cash-flow engine in a $2.8 trillion digital transformation market according to MyHubIntranet.
2. TCS's AI-Cloud Ecosystem: TCS's $1.5 billion annualized AI revenue and 5,500+ AI engagements according to Storyboard18 position it as a critical infrastructure provider for enterprises adopting agentic AI.
3. Low-Code Platforms: Tools like Appsmith and Microsoft Power Apps are essential for scaling AI-driven workflows, with enterprise adoption accelerating in 2025.

The urgency for investment is clear. As Gartner notes, agentic AI will dominate ITSM by 2029, and enterprises that delay modernization risk falling behind. Salesforce and TCS are already capitalizing on this trend, with financial metrics and strategic acquisitions validating their leadership.

Conclusion

Enterprise IT modernization is no longer a "nice-to-have"-it's a necessity. AI-driven platforms like Agentforce, combined with TCS's AI-Cloud ecosystem and low-code workflows, are redefining IT's role as an innovation engine. For investors, the time to act is now: the market is growing at 7.9% annually according to Gartner, and the winners in this space will capture disproportionate value.