Hitachi to launch digital services arm with GlobalLogic

Hitachi will launch Hitachi Digital as a new global digital services company, combining GlobalLogic and Hitachi Digital Services under a single Hitachi brand.

The new company is due to begin operating on 1 April 2027, bringing the two US subsidiaries into one organisation. It will have about 35,000 professionals across 27 countries and more than 880 active clients.

The move brings together GlobalLogic's digital engineering work with Hitachi Digital Services' enterprise and operational technology services. Hitachi is positioning the business around cloud, data and artificial intelligence services for what it describes as complex, mission-critical industries.

Hitachi Digital will sit within a wider group strategy focused on digital services and social infrastructure. The combined business will span software and product engineering, enterprise systems and operational support.

Combined business

The new unit will focus on several service lines, including Physical AI, Data and Intelligence, Cloud and Site Reliability Engineering, and Enterprise Applications. It will also support adoption of Lumada 3.0, Hitachi's platform and services strategy for client innovation.

Hitachi said the integrated company would use teams it calls Forward Deployed Engineers, who work directly in client operating environments. Those teams include AI specialists, data scientists and engineers working with clients and technology partners in enterprise and operational settings.

The announcement also outlined the industrial sectors where Hitachi expects the combined business to focus: manufacturing, mobility and energy, alongside internal projects across the Hitachi group.

Anand Birje will serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Hitachi Digital. He said the company aimed to offer clients a single provider across strategy, engineering and operations.

"Our clients need one partner who understands how an industry works, maintains deep technology ecosystem relationships, while engineering what's new, modernising what's underneath and keeping it all running across the enterprise," said Anand Birje, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Hitachi Digital.

"Hitachi Digital brings digital engineering and operations together as one company, at global scale, with the industrial depth of Hitachi behind us. We can be our clients' one trusted partner from strategy through operations, engineering what the world depends on," Birje said.

AI focus

A key part of the rationale for the integration is the use of operational technology expertise from the wider Hitachi group in AI deployments. Hitachi said this would support both enterprise AI and Physical AI projects in industrial settings.

It also pointed to momentum in group-related business, saying synergy revenue with the Hitachi group rose 46 per cent year on year in the first half.

According to Hitachi, ISG Research has ranked the two businesses in areas including intelligent robotics and Physical AI services, digital engineering services, and generative AI services. Hitachi also included comments from an ISG analyst describing the combined offer as a blend of industrial heritage and AI-led service delivery.

"Hitachi Digital Services has been recognised for connecting edge intelligence, robotics and AI-driven decision layers into secure, mission-critical environments. GlobalLogic has demonstrated differentiated strength across augmented design, R&D services, intelligent operations and connected experience, and integrated platform and application services by leading with consulting, AI-first engineering and deep domain expertise. These outcomes are the result of what is now Hitachi Digital's differentiation - a fusion of deep industrial heritage with enterprise-grade AI orchestration," said Gowtham Sampath, Assistant Director and Principal Analyst at ISG Research.

For Hitachi, the launch adds another layer to its effort to align software, operational technology and infrastructure expertise under a broader digital strategy. The Japanese industrial and technology group sees the combined company as a vehicle for delivering end-to-end work across enterprise AI and industrial applications.

"With the launch of Hitachi Digital, Hitachi will evolve into a global digital services company capable of providing end-to-end solutions ranging from enterprise AI to Physical AI," said Jun Abe, Executive Vice President and Head of the Digital Systems & Services Sector at Hitachi.

"By uniting GlobalLogic's digital engineering with Hitachi Digital Services' enterprise and operational expertise, and leveraging the FDE team as a driving force, together with Hitachi's OT and domain knowledge in social infrastructure, we will work alongside clients throughout their business transformation and help maximise value creation. Through these efforts, we will strongly advance our clients' digital transformation globally, drive the growth of Lumada 3.0 and contribute to the harmonised society envisioned in Hitachi's management plan, 'Inspire 2027,'" Abe said.