In this blog, I examine Genpact’s Client Zero, an initiative in which the company is using itself as a testing ground to prove that AI can reshape enterprise operations for scale, efficiency, and employee experience – rather than simply advising on AI-led transformation. The objective is to identify proof points of outcomes being realized with AI-led transformation so that client conversations are more empathetic and authentic. All clients today are looking for evidence to inspire confidence in AI, as AI-led transformation journeys can be both effort- and cost-intensive.

A Living Lab for AI-Driven Enterprise Reinvention

Genpact’s Client Zero is a company initiative that spans all G&A functions (including HR, finance, IT, and legal) with a goal of improving efficiencies, effectiveness, and experience and building prototypes for ‘functions of the future’. The company has segmented its transformation across four key AI-centric workstreams:

• Simplification: Genpact has learned that applying AI to broken processes does not clean up inefficiencies. The company is instead investing time upfront in redesigning operating models, policies, and workflows to create clean foundations on which AI can deliver sustainable value as the Genpact team believes that there is no artificial intelligence without process intelligence
• AI-led technology implementations: each internal technology project will now have considerations for AI and Agentic solutions
• Workday: Genpact is pursuing the implementation of Workday to replace Oracle as its HCM system in H1 2026. The AI strategy is being future-proofed against this transition, avoiding redundant investments in legacy systems
• AI literacy & culture: AI adoption begins with empowerment. Genpact has trained 95k of its 140k employees on AI fundamentals, building a common vocabulary and encouraging participation in co-creating AI solutions. Initiatives such as ‘chat with data’ through an AI-powered chatbot to access enterprise data and the deployment of its in-house AI assistant, Scout, are streamlining processes, reducing dependence on PowerBI dashboards, building micro-productivity gains, and improving employee engagement.

Scout, Genpact’s Digital Assistant

A cornerstone of Client Zero’s AI stack is Scout, Genpact’s GenAI assistant. Scout is designed to automate, advise, and augment employee productivity through three modes:

• Copilot: supports content creation and management across Microsoft Office tools
• Work mode: offers function-specific assistance (e.g., payroll queries, HR policy guidance, IT support). Users can utilize Scout's work mode to perform actions such as querying the number of vacation days they have remaining and requesting leave. The HR assistant can then respond with details on the user's leave and provide information related to Genpact's policy for leave as it relates to the user's role and region
• Play mode: encourages innovation, such as generating podcasts from documents for easier consumption, or job descriptions.

Scout is continuously improved through user feedback. Initial feedback typically starts at ~35% positive, and through continuous improvement over a period of months, this typically grows to ~65%. To support this continuous improvement, Genpact’s AI team analyzes interaction transcripts, particularly low-rated or abandoned queries, and ensures that the knowledge database has the information to answer these queries. As feedback continues to improve, Genpact aims to decentralize the ownership of these assistants to function leaders.

Measuring the Success of Client Zero

As part of Client Zero, Genpact has defined three outcomes that it is striving towards: efficiency, effectiveness, and experience. Hence, it measures the success of its Client Zero journey through:

• G&A cost reduction as a percentage of revenue: Genpact is measuring the success of the AI programs at this top level, as it has found that the implementation of AI driving an efficiency in one process at the expense of another is not beneficial to the overall organization
• Employee and customer experience: Genpact is measuring employee sentiment using its employee sentiment analysis tool, Amber. Within this, Genpact has recently added questions related to employee sentiment to its AI deployments.

Measuring the success of the Client Zero program from its conception to the present reveals a positive impact on the company’s G&A costs*, as follows:

• In 2023, before the program launched, G&A costs were 15.4% of revenue
• In 2024, the company achieved its G&A percentage targets of 15.3%
• In 2025, the company has a G&A percentage target of 12.9%; they are sure to achieve 13.7% based on progress reported in June 2025
• For 2026, the company will set its target in Q4 ’25 along with an operating plan exercise for 2026, and is committed to driving down costs further while improving effectiveness and experience.

*as per functions in Client Zero program scope

This improvement in G&A has also included headcount reductions, for which Genpact aims to reskill and reapply employees to its new ways of working.

Identifying Client Zero Projects

Ideas for Client Zero projects can be submitted from across the business. Each project requires a solid business case and must align with one of the three target outcomes. Prioritization is done holistically, examining end-to-end processes rather than isolated tasks.

Genpact has identified over 40 AI-aligned transformation projects since March 2024, with 30 in execution, 25 of which leverage AI. It states that the success of these projects has (through its CoE model) been supporting the enablement of ‘chat with data’, and the classification of projects into two categories: functional projects with limited scope and interdependencies; and enterprise projects, high-impact projects with cross-functional implications, requiring stronger oversight. With this distinction, the organization can run functional projects with streamlined governance, requiring the input of fewer functions compared to enterprise projects.

Genpact’s Lessons from Client Zero

The Genpact team, led by its global transformation leader Richa Saini, emphasizes that transformation is not just about digital tools, it’s about aligning people, process, policy, and technology. Key learnings include:

• Starting with a clear ‘north star’ tied to business outcomes
• Ensuring that process, policy, people, and governance are all aligned with the technology
• Ensuring that the scope of the transformation is focused on long-term fixes rather than solving symptoms
• Embracing change management as a core capability, not an afterthought
• Engaging directly with operational teams, not just strategy teams, to gain a better understanding of the needs for AI.

Indeed, across Genpact’s Client Zero journey, the main lesson to take away for organizations wanting to pursue a similar journey is the requirement for buy-in across the organization: employees that can engage with AI programs can provide insights into AI’s application, and can smooth change management by driving the adoption of AI tools as they begin to understand the benefits to them.