How broad-based is the growth in the financial services vertical, and what are the expectations for the rest of the year?

Financial services grew 36% YoY, but growth was broad across most verticals (except consumer goods). The top client within financial services grew 27%, while other financial services clients grew even faster. AI deployment demand and sales investments are driving this expansion, with financial services expected to remain a strong vertical. “You're right, financial services was the second fastest vertical for us. We grew 36% year-over-year in financial services, but we grew across the board, retail, 11%; tech and telco, 68%; life sciences, 16%.”

What percentage of the 40% pipeline growth is tied to Agentic SDLC, and does it carry higher average deal sizes?

Roughly 35%-40% of demand is articulated as Agentic SDLC, often transforming existing engagements. The company is seeing an increase in deal sizes in the last two quarters, but it's too early to confirm if this is a long-term trend or just momentum. “I think roughly 35%, 40% of our demand, we articulate as Agentic SDLC, especially transforming the current engagements we already have, so old traditional digital engagements now being reshaped as Agentic SDLC engagements with different commercial models and different margin profile, too.”

What is driving the strong 68% growth in tech and telecom, and how should we think about it going forward?

The growth is primarily driven by telco clients, particularly around Agentic SDLC, where CI&T has a competitive advantage. Additionally, there's a new trend of increased spending from big tech companies, correlated with AI deployment demand and new partnerships like Anthropic, creating a new revenue source. “First is telco. I think we have some big telcos as clients, and we are getting a lot of traction with them, especially around Agentic SDLC. And again, it resonates with, I think, the level of differentiation we are being able to showcase in terms of productivity.”

CINT

CI&T (CINT) Q2 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Earnings call· Jun 2026 (Q2 FY26)· Information Technology· Aug 11, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

CI&T Q2 FY26 — Record Revenue and AI Monetization Drive Growth

CI&T delivered robust Q2 FY26 results, driven by strong AI deployment demand and successful monetization through new value-based commercial models. The company is strategically investing in its commercial engine to capitalize on the AI opportunity, accepting near-term margin compression for durable, profitable growth in 2027 and beyond. This approach aims to scale revenue with less headcount and enhance profitability as new models mature.

Highlights

Delivered record revenue of $142.8 million, up 21.9% organically and 14.1% at constant currency, exceeding guidance.
Adjusted gross margin expanded sequentially from 30.6% in Q1 to 32.4% in Q2, driven by new value-based commercial models.
Commercial pipeline is 40% larger year-over-year, indicating strong future demand and higher conversion rates.
Achieved seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth, demonstrating consistent market share gains.

Concerns

Adjusted EBITDA margin compressed to 13.3% in Q2, reflecting FX headwinds and deliberate investments in sales efforts.
Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.07, down from $0.09 in the prior year, due to investment cycle and FX.
Consumer goods vertical experienced softer demand, declining 9% year-over-year, though viewed as temporary.

Guidance & targets

Category	Target	Timeline	Confidence
Q3 FY26 Revenue	at least $145.7 million medium materiality	Q3 · FY26	High
Full-year FY26 Revenue	$566 million to $578 million high materiality	FY26	High
Full-year FY26 Adjusted EBITDA margin	15% to 17% high materiality	FY26	Medium

Segment performance

Segment	Revenue	YoY	QoQ	Margin
Latin America Largest engine of growth.	—	32.1%	—	—
New markets	—	26.3%	—	—
North America Consistent growth on a large mature base, with Q2 seasonality noted.	—	10.2%	—	—
Financial services Largest vertical, continued strong growth. Top client within this vertical grew 27% YoY, while other clients grew even faster.	—	36%	—	—
Technology and telecommunications Robust turnaround from contraction a year ago, driven by telco clients and new tech company spending.	—	68%	—	—
Others (verticals)	—	25%	—	—
Life science	—	16%	—	—
Retail and industrial goods	—	11%	—	—
Consumer goods Softer demand, viewed as a temporary headwind.	—	-9%	—	—

Product announcements

Product	Type	Timeline	Details
Agentic Enterprise Reinvention	launch	gaining fastest traction with clients today

Deals & partnerships

Anthropic Joined Anthropic Claude Partner Network

Certified more than 1,000 AI engineers on Claude and working with Anthropic to help set a new standard for how AI gets deployed inside large organizations. CI&T already runs Claude Code extensively inside CI&T FLOW.

Risks & headwinds

Softer demand in consumer goods vertical Q2 FY26

down 9% year-over-year

Mitigation:Viewed as temporary headwind; company is preparing offerings and teams for powerful use cases across industries.

Appreciation of Brazilian real against U.S. dollar Q2 FY26

2.2 percentage point effect on adjusted EBITDA margin (compared to Q2 FY25)

Mitigation:Productivity gains offset impact of payroll tax resumption; underlying performance is stronger on an FX-neutral basis.

What to watch in Q3 FY26

Adjusted EBITDA margin

second half of FY26

Current 13.3%

Target sequential improvement

Why it matters

Indicates the effectiveness of strategic investments and the recovery of profitability after a period of increased spending.

Looking ahead, we expect our adjusted EBITDA margin to improve sequentially, while these investments position us to fuel growth into 2027 and beyond.

Find out whether CINT delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

Can you break down the 200 bps margin guidance cut between FX and investments, and explain why investments will decrease given the early stage of AI build-out?

The margin impact is due to both FX and deliberate investments in sales, particularly in Q2 for Agentic SDLC. While some specific investments will reduce, a structural expansion of the commercial organization will remain. Gross margin improvements and operating leverage are expected to offset this, leading to sequential EBITDA margin recovery.

“Going forward, we see part of this investment, we are reducing along throughout the quarters, which is the -- specifically the SDLC -- Agentic SDLC deployment. But the other half, I would say, we will continue to see there. So it's more structural.”

asked by Puneet Jain · answered by Stanley Rodrigues

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

AI Deployment and Monetization Strategy

CI&T is focusing its business on AI deployment and monetization, addressing the gap where 95% of AI initiatives show no measurable business return. The company aims to install real AI capability within clients' core operations and capture productivity gains through value-based commercial models. This strategy is reflected in robust revenue growth and increased sales investments, positioning CI&T for durable, profitable growth in 2027 and beyond.

New Commercial Models and Gross Margin Expansion

The company is implementing four new value-based pricing models (fixed price with higher margin, output-based, price per consumption, outcome-based) which yield 3 to 15 percentage points higher margins than traditional time-and-materials. In the first six months of 2026, 30% of new engagements utilized these models, contributing to a sequential adjusted gross margin expansion from 30.6% to 32.4%.

CI&T expects continued gross margin improvement as these models broaden across its business.

Strategic Investments in Sales and Commercial Engine

CI&T made a deliberate choice to invest significantly in its commercial organization in 2026, leading to a 40% larger commercial pipeline year-over-year. This investment, which temporarily compressed adjusted EBITDA margin to 13.3%, is aimed at capturing accelerating demand for AI deployment and supporting new offerings.

Management expects some of these investments to moderate, while structural sales expansion will remain, leading to sequential EBITDA margin improvements in the second half of the year.

Talent Strategy and AI Builders

The company closed Q2 FY26 with approximately 8,100 professionals, achieving a voluntary attrition rate of 10.1%. A key differentiator is its 6,700 AI builders, professionals reskilled to work AI natively, addressing the growing demand for AI deployment talent. This internal capability has resulted in revenue per AI builder reaching over $80,000 on a last 12-month basis, up 7% year-over-year, and contributes to operating leverage and gross margin expansion.

Agentic Enterprise Reinvention and Market Differentiation

CI&T introduced 'Agentic Enterprise Reinvention,' a new service line designed to help enterprises redesign core operations using AI. This offering differentiates itself through small, senior forward deployment teams, lean-based process transformation, and outcome-based fees. The company believes this approach, which aims to bring 60% to 80% of core processes onto an agent journey in months, positions it to capture significant value by moving clients beyond mere efficiency gains to new revenue and margin structures.

Broad-Based Growth Across Geographies and Verticals

The company's growth was broad-based, with Latin America expanding 32.1% year-over-year, new markets growing 26.3%, and North America adding 10.2%. Financial services grew 36%, and technology and telecommunications accelerated to 68% growth. Growth was also strong across client cohorts, with clients outside the top 10 growing 24.1%, outpacing the 19% growth of the top 10, indicating diversified momentum not reliant on any single account.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.