Uncertainty prompts faster adoption of AI among IT cos
Job recruitments by IT firms show significant decline in April-June quarter, says report
image for illustrative purpose
Bengaluru: Geopolitical uncertainty is prompting companies to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a faster pace.
To reduce dependency on human talent across geographies, enterprises are leveraging AI to automate processes. This is leading to lower outsourcing and less project work in the global outsourcing industry in recent quarters.
“Due to geopolitical uncertainty, companies are adopting AI-powered products and services in order to reduce their dependency on human talent. Even those companies, which are earlier not keen to adopt AI, are changing their decisions to automate processes through AI in order to reduce risks coming from business uncertainties,” SupaulChanda, , President (Staffing) of HR staffing firm, Galent told theBizz Buzz.
“Companies are also opting for technology adoption wherever possible in order to avoid new hiring due to the current environment,” he added. AI adoption is on a rise across sectors including financial services, retail, manufacturing, healthcare and several others. Several enterprises in India are one of the early adopters of AI-powered platforms and services.
According to a NITI Aayog report, accelerated adoption of AI across industries can contribute $500-600 billion to India’s GDP by 2035 on the back of increased productivity and efficiency in the workforce.
“India’s combination of a large STEM workforce, expanding R&D ecosystem, and growing digital and technology capabilities position the country to participate in this transformation, with the potential to capture 10–15 per cent of global AI value,” it said.
The report said, projections show that while AI will create many new roles, it will also displace many existing jobs, particularly in clerical, routine, and low-skill segments.
According to sources in the know, enterprises are not keen to add headcount when they are not sure business growth in the coming quarters.
Meanwhile, Indian IT services firms are shying away from adding headcount on the back of rising AI adoption. Employee additions fell significantly in the April-June quarter for Indian IT firms.
The top six Indian IT services companies- TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra & LTI Mindtree - added just 3,847 positions during Q1 of current financial year, compared to 13,935 people in the previous quarter. As AI adoption increases, while productivity improvement will happen, it may not commensurate with the headcount growth.
“Unless India-US trade deal sees some positive outcome, technology firms and export-driven sectors are not likely to add headcount in a significant way,” an industry source said.
