stockrowWhat it does
ExlService Holdings, known as EXL, helps companies use data and artificial intelligence in their day-to-day work. It also runs business processes for clients, using software and industry specialists to handle tasks such as insurance claims, healthcare administration and banking operations. Founded in 1999, EXL is headquartered in New York. Rohit Kapoor is its chairman and chief executive officer.
EXL sells to insurers, healthcare and life sciences organizations, banks and capital markets firms, as well as businesses in retail, communications, energy and other industries. Its services range from bringing scattered client data together and modernizing software to building AI tools and putting them into everyday workflows. For example, its insurance-specific language model supports tasks including claims reconciliation, data extraction and underwriting.
Its digital operations business manages client functions using EXL’s own technology or technology owned by the client. In insurance, that can include policy administration and claims management; in healthcare, it can include checking payments and helping providers manage their revenue cycle. EXL also offers software-based services for administering life insurance and annuity policies.
In 2026, EXL acquired iMerit, adding a business that works on AI models. Its iMerit Scholars platform brings together domain experts to fine-tune, evaluate and validate models. EXL uses sales and client management teams, organized by industry, to sell its services to new and existing customers.
How it makes money
EXL earns revenue from two types of service. Data and AI-led work includes data management, analytics, software engineering and AI tools embedded in client workflows. Digital operations consists of managed services that help clients run business functions, using technology and employees with industry and process knowledge.
In FY2025, data and AI-led revenue was $1.2 billion and digital operations revenue was $932.3 million; total revenue in the third quarter of 2026 was $634 million.
EXL organizes its business into insurance, healthcare and life sciences, banking and capital markets and diversified industries, and international growth markets. Each offers data and AI-led services as well as digital operations. Insurance services include claims management, policy servicing and underwriting support. Healthcare services include payment-integrity checks, care management and revenue-cycle management. Banking services include lending, fraud prevention, collections and customer servicing.
Some offerings use software-as-a-service or business-process-as-a-service models. LifePRO and Life Digital Suite support administration of life insurance and annuity policies; Subrosource supports insurance recovery work. EXL says it is compensated entirely on an outcome basis for payment-integrity work. Other digital operations contracts can use long-term and alternative pricing structures rather than annual or hourly rates.
Client contracts typically begin with a master services agreement, supplemented by individually negotiated statements of work. Most digital operations contracts are long term, typically three to five years, while project-based engagements generally last no more than one year and may not produce recurring business. Most contracts can be terminated without cause and do not commit clients to a specific volume of business.
EXL says that as it embeds AI into operations work, some engagements move into its data and AI-led revenue category. In the third quarter of 2026, digital operations revenue declined 1.7% year-over-year, while total operations revenue, including data and AI-led operations, grew 12% year over year.
| Product or service | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data and AI-led | $1.2 billion | 55.3% | 17.9% |
| Digital operations | $932.3 million | 44.7% | 8.58% |
Customers and how it sells
EXL serves insurers, healthcare payers and providers, pharmacy benefit managers, life sciences organizations, banks and a range of other businesses. Its healthcare and life sciences unit primarily serves U.S.-based organizations. The company also works with clients in industries including retail, media, energy and infrastructure.
In 2025, EXL generated revenue from approximately 590 clients with annual revenue exceeding $50,000 per client, and won 65 new clients. Its top ten clients generated 34.0% of revenue; no client accounted for more than 10%. EXL’s client relationships typically develop from a single service or process into multiple integrated processes across business lines.
North America accounted for 82.7% of FY2025 revenue. EXL has a separate international growth markets unit for customers outside North America across industries. Its sales and client management teams operate primarily from the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. EXL also markets through partner relationships, industry forums and marketing programs.
The company delivers services through operations centers in countries including India, the Philippines, the United States, South Africa, Colombia and Romania. EXL has described a 2026 engagement with a U.K. bank to rebuild its analytics environment on Google Cloud, using its data platform alongside a technology partner.
| Region | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | $1.7 billion | 82.7% | 14.0% |
| United Kingdom & Europe | $307.3 million | 14.7% | 12.8% |
| Rest of World | $54.8 million | 2.62% | 5.25% |
Suppliers and costs
EXL is a services business whose most significant costs are salaries and related benefits for operations staff and other employees. Its delivery network includes approximately 43,200 employees in India and 13,400 in the Philippines as of December 31, 2025. The company also had operations centers and teams in several other countries.
EXL uses third-party software, data, cloud services, communications and equipment to deliver its services. Its partnerships include platform and AI providers; EXLData.AI integrates with Databricks, Snowflake and AWS ecosystems. The company also uses technology owned by clients in some digital operations engagements. It depends on rights to use third-party and client data for many offerings.
Employee wages differ by service type: EXL says wages are generally higher for employees performing data and AI-led services than for those performing digital operations. It also says wages in India, the Philippines and South Africa have historically been lower than those for comparably skilled professionals in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
For some long-term contracts, EXL bears the risk of cost overruns, wage inflation, delivery delays and currency movements. Its profitability also depends partly on how efficiently it uses employees and operations centers and on the prices it can charge.
- Revenue$2.1B
- Cost of revenue−$1.3B
- Selling, general and administrative−$428.2M
- Other operating costs−$59.1M
- Operating income$313.8M
Competitive position
EXL competes with several types of provider as customers look for help with data, AI and business operations. Large companies implementing AI in workflows include Cognizant Technology Solutions, Genpact, Infosys, NTT DATA and Tata Consultancy Services. Accenture, Deloitte and Capgemini compete through consulting and AI implementation. Clients can also build their own capabilities rather than use an outside provider.
In industry-specific operations, EXL names Cotiviti and Optum Health as competitors. It also competes with analytics and AI specialists such as Fractal and Latentview Analytics, platform providers such as Guidewire, and AI platform vendors including Salesforce and Gradient AI.
EXL combines industry knowledge, data and analytics capabilities, proprietary technology and client relationships in its offerings. Its intellectual property includes software, data, models, methodologies and patents. It typically retains ownership of pre-existing proprietary assets and seeks rights to reuse newly developed tools and models. EXL says it is not materially dependent on any particular intellectual property other than its brand.
Our reading: Industry expertise and established client relationships provide some protection because EXL works inside complex client processes and can expand from an initial service into other work. That protection is limited by clients’ ability to terminate most contracts without cause and build capabilities internally.
Our reading: Proprietary software and models can support differentiation, but their protection is also limited by competition from other platforms and the company’s reliance on third-party technology. EXL’s broad delivery network adds capacity, though competitors also have access to global delivery resources.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | Data and AI implementation in business workflows | High |
| Genpact Limited | Data and AI implementation in business workflows | High |
| Infosys | Data and AI implementation in business workflows | High |
| Tata Consultancy Services | Data and AI implementation in business workflows | High |
| Accenture | AI advisory and implementation in workflows | High |
| Deloitte | AI advisory and implementation in workflows | High |
| Capgemini | AI advisory and implementation in workflows | High |
| Cotiviti | Industry-specific digital operations | Medium |
Growth opportunities
EXL seeks to grow by selling more services to existing clients, winning new clients and expanding geographically. It aims to use its knowledge of client processes from digital operations to introduce data and AI services, including AI embedded directly into workflows. It also plans to develop industry-specific capabilities through acquisitions and partnerships.
Data and AI-led revenue grew 17.9% in FY2025. In the third quarter of 2026, it grew 36% on a reported basis and 31% organically. EXL says some operations work moves into the data and AI-led category as AI is embedded in the work. The company also reported growth in all four operating segments during the quarter.
The acquisition of iMerit, completed at the end of July 2026, adds AI model-related capabilities. EXL says it has begun bringing those capabilities to enterprise clients. iMerit contributed $15.3 million of revenue in the third quarter of 2026, covering the two months after closing.
EXL is also pursuing international opportunities and exploring potential acquisitions in those markets. In healthcare, it is targeting mid-market and regional health plans and investing in payment integrity. The company says payment-integrity work is shifting from post-payment toward prepayment review and that it can extend the offering from healthcare into insurance.
EXL expects 2026 revenue of $2.43 billion to $2.44 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.34 to $2.36. These are company expectations, not guaranteed results.
- $1.1BFY2021
- $1.4BFY2022
- $1.6BFY2023
- $1.8BFY2024
- $2.1BFY2025
- $2.4BFY2026 guidance
Structural risks
- Technology and demand: EXL must keep its offerings current as AI and other technologies change. New technology can replace existing services or lead clients to delay spending while they evaluate alternatives. New services and pricing models may not make up for that lost work.
- Contracts and client concentration: Most contracts can be terminated without cause and do not promise a specific volume of business. The loss of a significant client could affect results, and AI-related sales can require extended pilots and reviews before a client commits.
- People and costs: EXL depends on recruiting, training and retaining skilled employees. Wage increases, inaccurate project estimates, insufficient employee utilization or adverse currency movements could reduce profitability, particularly on contracts with long-term or alternative pricing.
- Data security and AI: EXL processes sensitive client and employee data. A breach could lead to lost clients, litigation, regulatory action and remediation costs. AI adds risks involving security, privacy, flawed outputs and potential bias.
- Third parties and competition: EXL relies on vendors for software, data, communications and cloud services. Interruptions or restrictions on data-use rights could disrupt delivery. Competitors and clients’ own internal capabilities can also reduce demand for EXL’s services.
Bottom line
Our reading
EXL is a business-services company combining managed operations with data and AI work for clients in regulated and other complex industries. Its relationships and knowledge of client workflows can help it sell additional services, but most contracts do not guarantee volumes. Growth in AI-led work also brings a transition risk: technology can displace existing services before replacement revenue or pricing is established.