Building micro LLMs that will work on embedded chips, says L&T Tech CEO Amit Chadha

Amit Chadha, Chief Executive Officer, L&T Tech Services

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) is developing micro Large Language Models (LLMs) for its clients, which will work on embedded chips, Chief Executive Officer Amit Chadha told Moneycontrol.

The mid-tier engineering, research, and development (ER&D) company said that hyperscalers are spending "very well", although, these highly impactful projects are conducted in secrecy.

“We work in stealth mode with a lot of these hyperscalers… but broadly, we are working with them on data engineering, we are working on AI, Gen AI (Generative Artificial Intelligence), we are working in the semiconductor area, we are working on compute advancements,” CEO Chadha told Moneycontrol after declaring the third quarter earnings ending December 31, 2024 (Q3FY25).

Micro LLMs are smaller versions of LLMs, designed to operate within constrained environments, such as embedded systems or edge devices.

On January 15, the Vadodara-headquartered company reported a net profit of Rs 322 crore in Q3, down 4 percent year-on-year. L&T Tech Services saw a 9.55 percent year-on-year rise in its revenue from operations, which stood at Rs 2,653 crore in Q3FY25.

Chadha said profitability took a hit this quarter because it acquired software and AI firm Intelliswift on November 11 for $110 million. The California-based company was acquired to offer software product development, platform engineering, digital integration, data, and AI.

Intelliswift services four of the top five hyperscalers, adding to its expertise in building micro LLMs.

“Intelliswift will give us three, 25 million plus accounts in hyperscalers, next quarter onward… and allow us the ability to get into service-led ER&D, which is fintech, retail, and healthcare,” Chadha added.

L&T Tech Services has been missing in the service-led ER&D, which some peer group companies have been leveraging significantly.

The company believes that the Intelliswift acquisition will become a major factor of growth, going forward.

“I look at FY27, our own models, right up to FY31, we do see that becoming a contributing factor of growth as we move forward and that is an additional channel your company has opened with the Intelliswift acquisition,” Chadha told analysts during the post-earnings conference call.

The acquisition has given the company about 500 employees in the US, who are mostly local citizens.

When asked whether any tightening of H1-B visa rules will impact the company, the chief executive said he is “fairly comfortable” about the ongoing discourse.

The comments assume significance as there’s growing discussion on how the new US administration, led by incoming President Donald Trump, might treat the H-1B visa eligibility issue. Trump will be sworn in on January 20 as President of the country that generates the majority of revenue for IT companies.

“We continue to provide local offers and continue to work on that… we have got recruitment engines that are sitting there, that do that. And I am fairly comfortable at this stage unless something comes along tomorrow that I have not thought of. At this stage, we are fairly comfortable where we are sitting for FY25 and FY26,” he further added.

The comments are in line with what some of its larger industry peers, TCS and HCLTech, have said recently.

Also read: India monitors H-1B backlash in US, in touch with top IT firms for more clarity