Top 10 generative AI service providers driving business impact

This list highlights the top 10 midsize generative AI service providers of 2025, based on insights from the ISG Provider Lens™ study. These providers stand out for their ability to move enterprises from pilot to production with scalable architectures, strong governance, and measurable business impact.

Generative AI (genAI) has graduated from the experimental labs of 2023 to the mission-critical infrastructure of 2025. Organizations are no longer exploring what AI can do. They are focused on how to scale it securely, govern it effectively, and generate measurable business value. This marks the industrialization of AI, where success depends as much on architectural discipline and governance as it does on model performance.

The ISG Provider Lens™ Generative AI Services 2025 report evaluates service providers on their strategy, execution maturity, and ability to take enterprises from pilot to production. Its findings highlight a select group of midsize genAI service providers that excel in lifecycle governance, platform engineering, and secure enterprise deployment.

Below is the list of the top 10 midsize generative AI service providers in 2025, based on ISG’s independent assessment.

1. Virtusa

Virtusa is a Leader in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report because it combines an AI-native philosophy with experience-led consulting and technology-driven delivery. Anchored in Virtusa Helio, its platform-powered suite of advisory and engineering services, Virtusa helps enterprises bridge the critical ‘pilot-to-production’ gap while ensuring solutions deliver measurable business impact and enhanced user experiences.

• Strategy: Virtusa’s Helio Canvas enables structured use case modeling through a desirability–feasibility–viability lens, ensuring initiatives are prioritized for ROI and experience outcomes. Its embedded advisory model, powered by distributed AI Labs within industry verticals, delivers contextual insights that align genAI adoption with business goals and customer experience priorities.
• Execution: Virtusa Helio offers a modular, LLM-neutral architecture that avoids vendor lock-in. Key components include Agent Foundry for multiagent orchestration, Data Studio for dataset preparation, and Helio realize for post-deployment monitoring of agent drift and cost governance. This ‘lifecycle-first’ approach ensures reliability, compliance, and sustained value beyond initial deployment.

Explore Virtusa’s generative AI services for enterprise genAI deployment.

2. Apexon

Apexon is recognized in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report for its focus on contextualized delivery in high-complexity domains. The approach positions Apexon as a trusted partner for enterprises seeking production-grade genAI solutions tailored to industry-specific needs.

• Strategy: Apexon’s advisory services provide a clear entry point for genAI adoption, including forecasted time-to-value and hallucination risk thresholds. The firm incorporates GPU cost modeling into strategic planning, helping enterprises optimize infrastructure investments for scalable AI deployments.
• Execution: Apexon demonstrates strong deployment maturity in multi-modal environments, managing inputs across text, tables, CAD drawings, and conversational UIs. Its delivery stack is fine-tuned for manufacturing and aerospace, enabling enterprise-grade orchestration and performance optimization across complex workflows.

3. Ascendion

Ascendion is recognized in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report for its engineering-led advisory model, which emphasizes “software engineering to the power of AI.” This approach positions Ascendion as a partner for enterprises seeking production-grade generative AI services that integrate deeply with software development lifecycles.

• Strategy: Ascendion’s advisory focuses on agent-driven SDLC transformation, enabling organizations to modernize development processes with AI-native principles. Its modular studio environments support enterprise-grade orchestration and risk-aware adoption, helping clients align GenAI initiatives with business objectives.
• Execution: Ascendion demonstrates deployment maturity through experience design and modernization excellence, reinforced by acquisitions like UX Reactor. The company emphasizes product-centric transformation, ensuring GenAI adoption extends beyond code delivery to deliver measurable business impact and improved user experiences.

4. Birlasoft

Birlasoft is recognized in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report for its Cogito platform, which anchors the company’s approach to accelerating enterprise AI adoption. This positions Birlasoft as a provider of enterprise-ready genAI solutions designed for scalability and domain-specific impact.

• Strategy: Birlasoft’s consulting leverages domain-calibrated small language models (SLMs) and industry-specific playbooks for sectors such as life sciences and energy. This structured approach helps enterprises identify high-value use cases and align genAI initiatives with compliance and operational priorities.
• Execution: The Cogito platform integrates token-level telemetry and multiagent orchestration logic, enabling granular control over agent behavior. Birlasoft supports sandboxed delivery programs to ensure safe experimentation and performance optimization before full-scale deployment, reinforcing governance and lifecycle fidelity.

5. Brillio

Brillio is recognized in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report for its capabilities in genAI adoption, with differentiators including industry-specific playbooks and vendor-agnostic deployment architecture.

• Strategy: Brillio focuses on tailored accelerators for high-impact use cases such as churn prediction in telecommunications and prior authorization in healthcare. These playbooks help enterprises align AI initiatives with business objectives and compliance requirements.
• Execution: Its deployment architecture is designed for interoperability, integrating seamlessly with client-native environments like AWS Bedrock and Snowflake. This flexibility enables organizations to leverage existing technology investments while scaling genAI securely and efficiently.

6. EXL

Featured in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report, EXL leverages its heritage in data to deliver enterprise-ready genAI solutions through its EXLerate.ai platform, designed to address the critical “last mile” of AI adoption.

• Strategy: EXL’s advisory services emphasize governance-based consulting, integrating compliance frameworks and responsible AI principles. Its approach focuses on vertical orchestration and platform-led agent design, enabling clients to operationalize AI with confidence.
• Execution: The EXLerate.ai platform powers platform-based telemetry and an expanded agent orchestration framework, supported by updated prompt augmentation workflows for high accuracy and lifecycle fidelity. This architecture ensures scalability and interoperability across cloud ecosystems.

7. HARMAN

Positioned in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report, HARMAN brings its engineering heritage to enterprise AI with specialized private LLM stacks designed for high-value industry use cases.

• Strategy: HARMAN’s advisory model focuses on operationalizing domain-specific solutions such as HealthGPT and ForecastGPT, embedding governance checkpoints directly within LLMOps for compliance and lifecycle control.
• Execution: Its Genesis framework powers agentic orchestration zones, memory, and traceability, supported by prompt scoring pipelines and hallucination evaluation metrics to ensure accuracy and reliability across deployments.

8. Hexaware

Included in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report, Hexaware operationalizes its AI-first philosophy through the Decode AI and Tensai AgentVerse platforms, enabling scalable enterprise adoption.

• Strategy: Hexaware’s consulting leverages AssessIQ to evaluate client readiness and introduce agentic accelerators across verticals, aligning AI initiatives with business objectives and compliance requirements.
• Execution: Its platform supports telemetry-linked prompt orchestration and custom LLM routing, with an architecture that integrates modular agents and microservice-managed cost tracking to optimize performance and lifecycle fidelity.

9. Persistent Systems

Listed in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report, Persistent has built a robust genAI ecosystem anchored by its SASVA platform and GenAI Hub, enabling enterprises to scale AI adoption with precision.

• Strategy: Persistent embeds agentic blueprinting into its advisory workflows and expands global co-creation studios to accelerate innovation. Its approach maintains a strong focus on private LLM engagement pathways for secure and compliant deployments.
• Execution: The SASVA platform delivers token-aware routing and budget segmentation capabilities, supported by fallback orchestration strategies and private LLM gateways to ensure accuracy, cost control, and lifecycle fidelity.

10. UST

Featured in ISG’s Generative AI Services 2025 report, UST brings its AlphaAI vision to life through pragmatic tools like Smart Genie and CodeCrafter, designed to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.

• Strategy: UST’s advisory services employ modular risk assessment workshops to de-risk AI adoption early and reposition consulting for business-aligned genAI transformation, ensuring governance and compliance throughout the lifecycle.
• Execution: CodeCrafter accelerates software development with AI-driven code generation, while Smart Genie manages agent orchestration. UST’s delivery stack embeds memory-aware workflows to ensure enterprise readiness and operational resilience.

What sets the top genAI providers apart in 2025

The diverse strategies of these 10 leaders underscore a clear reality: the era of generic AI experimentation is over. In 2025, success belongs to providers delivering specialized platforms, rigorous governance, and ROI-driven adoption pathways.

ISG recognizes Virtusa for its ability to deliver production-grade agentic architectures, setting a benchmark for enterprise-scale genAI transformation. By treating generative AI as an engineering discipline—not just a tool—Virtusa ensures sustainable, scalable, and secure outcomes across industries.

Ready to move from pilot to production? Explore Virtusa’s Generative AI Services and discover how the Helio platform accelerates your AI journey with governance, lifecycle fidelity, and intelligent orchestration.