TCS urges employees to use AI even if it cuts revenue

Tata Consultancy Services on Wednesday asked its employees to actively use artificial intelligence tools to deliver work faster and at lower cost, even if it impacts the company’s short-term revenue.

Speaking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum in Mumbai, TCS CEO K Krithivasan said the company is encouraging associates to inform clients if tasks can be done quicker and cheaper using AI, even if that leads to revenue cannibalisation.

He said employees should adopt AI-driven efficiencies rather than resist change. According to him, the company is not worried that AI will take away jobs.

“Instead, the technology is expected to open up more opportunities, and those who embrace it will benefit the most,” he said.

The comments come at a time when investors are concerned that artificial intelligence could disrupt the traditional labour-heavy model of India’s IT services industry. These fears have led to a sharp fall in IT stocks.

The Nifty IT index has declined 21 per cent so far this month, putting it on track for its worst monthly performance in nearly 23 years.

The sector has seen about $68.6 billion in market value wiped out in February amid AI-related worries.

TCS’s position is similar to that of rival Wipro. Wipro’s Chief Strategist and Technology Officer, Hari Shetty, recently said he expects rapid AI adoption to increase demand for software services rather than reduce it.

He added that AI is likely to create more jobs than it eliminates.

In an exclusive interaction with media, Shetty described AI as one of the biggest technological shifts of our time.

He compared the current AI wave to historic breakthroughs such as the invention of electricity, the steam engine and, more recently, the internet revolution.

“AI is one of the biggest technology opportunities that we have got. This is one of the major technology evolutions and a multi-dimensional opportunity,” Shetty told.

“AI represents a major and multi-dimensional technology evolution that will reshape industries and economies worldwide,” he added.