Tech Professionals Must Upskill Fast To Stay Relevant In The AI Era

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proved to be a transformative technology with a potential to change established methods of doing business. Across sectors, AI is finding fast adoption within enterprises. This is likely to disrupt the business model of technology firms, both in product and services spaces. The world has already seen a slew of layoffs happening in the US and other geographies. These layoffs have mostly been done by American technology giants, which are cutting down redundant job roles due to productivity improvement coming from AI. Though most of these job losses are happening in the US, there is a fear that Indian centres can’t stay insulated long. In an interview with the Bizz Buzz, Supaul Chanda, president (Staffing) of HR staffing firm, Galent said that technology talent has to stay prepared for any changes brought in by AI-led solutions. He said that the adoption of AI will accelerate with time and many job roles may become redundant in the long-term. Therefore, technology professionals should aggressively upskill themselves in order to stay relevant in the market. On hiring trend of Indian IT companies, Chanda said that there are no changes in the Indian market as of now. He added that the next leader may come from any field with maximum innovation in the AI space

What is your opinion with regard to salary hikes and bonus in the current financial year for Indian IT industry? Will things improve in the current fiscal?

As far as salary hikes and bonuses are concerned, this year is likely to be better than last year. However, it is not likely to be as expected by IT sector employees. We have seen companies (like Accenture) announcing promotions and salary hikes. Even some product companies in the product space have also given good hikes despite reports of laying off coming. So, it may not be a pretty good year but there will be hikes.

We have seen laying off being done by global technology firms. Are Indian employees getting affected due to such action by these firms? Are those employees affected by such cost cutting measures able to get new jobs? Can you provide some perspective in this matter?

India has not seen layoffs due to such measures. A lot of these layoffs are happening in the US. As far as new job prospects are concerned, most of these people are able to get new jobs. That’s what our understanding is. We have to understand that adoption of AI (artificial intelligence) is growing fast. This is increasing productivity. That is one of the reasons for such laying off. We have to see how this pans out for Indian centres.

As mentioned by you, adoption of AI is increasing fast. Will such adoption lead to large scale disruption in the technology industry? What IT talents should do to stay relevant in the job market?

AI adoption is definitely growing. Because, such adoption is leading to cost savings for the IT firms and enterprises. So, all companies are likely to adopt AI in order to save cost and improve productivity. To stay relevant in these changing circumstances, employees have to upskill and upskill fast.

How the adoption of AI is going to impact the Indian IT industry, which is mostly focussed on the services part of the business?

AI is increasingly related to cost effectiveness. So, all IT services companies are likely to be fast adopter of AI, which has already started. We have to understand that AI is all about competitiveness. Because if a company offers an AI solution, which is cost effective; then other companies have to follow suit. In a competitive landscape, every company will try to be competitive. That will drive faster adoption of AI as the new technology has a cost savings benefit. That is going to happen in the long-term.

Will AI create more jobs? Will the upskilled people be able to get better profiles as AI adoption increases?

Will AI create jobs? If yes, what will be the number and when? These are the things which remain in grey areas. Because the development with regard to AI is still evolving. Definitely, it will create new jobs. Demand for technology talent in cloud, full stack development and others are going to increase. While AI will make many job roles redundant, it will also create many new jobs in the long run. So, the solution is for the technology talent to upskill. Once you feel that your job role is becoming redundant due to AI, you have to switch and keep upgrading yourself. One has to be competitive what is relevant in the market. Ultimately, AI will penetrate into multiple sectors. Therefore, tech talent should start exploring and upskill themselves.

Have you seen any shift in the hiring trend among Indian IT services companies? How is the overall demand environment for tech talent as of now? Can you provide some perspective in this matter?

There is no change in the hiring pattern in India. We have not seen that. However, overall hiring environment remains tepid. Hiring is being done in certain pockets (for emerging technology skillsets). But IT firms and GCCs (Global Capability Centres) are adopting AI in a fast pace. Hiring in the GCC continues.

We have to understand that cost is everything. Enterprises will look at saving costs. That is the reason that Indian IT industry has grown initially. So, it is better to stay prepared for these kinds of shifts.

Will there be new industry leaders in the AI age? What is your opinion about the rising competition from new age companies in the AI space?

There are many instances where the incumbent leaders had lost out to new players with the advent of new technology. In the AI age, you never know who is going to be your competitor in this market place. This can be an established player or a startup. You never know what kind of R&D (research and development) is being done by companies worldwide. Some new player may come up with completely new solution that nobody has thought about. So, it is very difficult to say how the competition will play out in coming years. Every company today is trying to be an AI-first organisation. Each sector is experimenting with new AI solutions at this point of time.