Tech Mahindra & UKG Partner on People-First AI at Work

As AI-driven workforces become the norm, Tech Mahindra and UKG announce a global partnership designed to improve productivity, resilience and workforce agility. 

The collaboration focuses on small and mid-market organisations in North America across IT, retail, manufacturing and services.

Tech Mahindra, which provides technology consulting and digital solutions, will deploy the UKG Workforce Operating Platform for its employees. It will also expand its UKG services practice to implement and support the platform for global enterprises.

The initiative addresses growing demand for AI-driven workforce solutions that streamline complex labour environments. With a presence in more than 90 countries, Tech Mahindra intends to deliver end-to-end solutions that accelerate global workforce efficiency.

Built on a large collection of workforce data, the UKG platform uses people-first AI to optimise frontline operations and drive better business outcomes. The partnership aims to enable more productive and resilient workplaces by helping leaders navigate dynamic conditions.

Scaling AI-driven workforce agility

The collaboration brings together transformation expertise and workforce innovation to meet frontline needs. It is designed to help organisations improve agility, enhance employee experience and achieve measurable results.

Sumit Kumar Popli, President Technology, Media and Entertainment Business at Tech Mahindra, says: “Organisations navigate increasingly dynamic workforce environments, so they need intelligent and scalable solutions that improve agility, enhance employee experience and drive stronger business outcomes. 

“Our partnership with UKG brings together deep transformation expertise and advanced workforce innovation to help enterprises address frontline workforce challenges with greater confidence.”

UKG underpins the platform with people-first AI, which supports data-informed decision-making without losing focus on employee experience. The result is operational consistency with the flexibility to adapt in real time.

The partners frame success around adoption and value, linking workforce optimisation to outcomes on the frontline. That includes aligning schedules, simplifying compliance and improving service delivery.

Leading by example inside Tech Mahindra

By deploying UKG within its own organisation, Tech Mahindra intends to lead by example and drive meaningful workforce transformation at scale. Internal adoption will help validate best practices that customers can replicate.

The company will modernise hire-to-retire processes, improve visibility for leaders and prove return on investment through measurable outcomes. That includes cycle-time reductions and better workforce health indicators.

Tech Mahindra uses its consulting capabilities to tailor the platform to complex environments. Its global delivery footprint supports standardisation with local flexibility.

Jay Dettling, Chief Partner Officer at UKG, says: “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Tech Mahindra, a globally respected technology consultancy with proven enterprise delivery expertise.

“Tech Mahindra’s decision to both grow its UKG services capabilities and deploy our Workforce Operating Platform builds on our global momentum and growth strategy. Together, we will help organisations better support their frontline employees while driving operational excellence.”

Roadmap for frontline operations

The partnership roadmap taps UKG’s AI-led capabilities to accelerate recruiting and enhance onboarding. It also focuses on improving operational accuracy across time, absence and scheduling.

This spans payroll integrity, talent mobility and overall workforce health. The intent is to reduce errors, surface insights faster and guide issue resolution across the employee lifecycle.

Leaders gain support to navigate dynamic environments through actionable analytics. Frontline teams benefit from simpler processes and clearer communication.

People-first AI aligns operational decisions with employee impact. It keeps humans at the centre while automating routine tasks that add little value.

Innovation and strategic growth

The partners build on a decade-long relationship focused on enterprise service and support. Alongside the collaboration, both companies continue to advance independent initiatives that accelerate modernisation.

Tech Mahindra has enhanced its banking, financial services and insurance capabilities through the acquisition of Canada-based Alluri Technologies. The company also becomes the first Indian firm to receive the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta Seal for its environmental efforts.

It partners with Cisco to launch Cyber Resilience Fabric, which helps enterprises strengthen digital resilience through unified visibility and intelligence-led decision-making. The approach links security posture to business operations.

UKG introduces UKG Pro Pay with Workforce AI, which delivers AI-powered payroll capabilities to help organisations detect and resolve potential issues in real time. The solution uses agentic, assistive and gen AI to turn payroll from a back-office process into a system of action.

The outlook of the deal

By uniting global consulting scale with people-first AI, Tech Mahindra and UKG set a blueprint for the future of work. The focus is on outcomes that are intelligent, integrated and resilient.

For small and mid-market organisations in North America, the partnership promises faster time to value and improved employee experience. It aligns workforce planning with day-to-day operations on the frontline.

Global enterprises benefit from an implementation partner that can deliver at scale. Tech Mahindra’s services practice supports adoption across complex labour environments.

The result is a future of work that is not only automated but designed around people, with AI guiding smarter decisions and more sustainable performance.