Don't Chase Google, Meta: IBM Chief Scientist Urges Graduates To Examine Sectors Outside Silicon Valley

IBM Chief Scientist Ruchir Puri urged tech graduates to explore avenues beyond chasing after the prestige of Silicon Valley tech giants such as Google, Meta or Microsoft.

He encouraged them to instead look into those sectors and industries where they find potential for innovation, in light of the turbulence in the job market primarily stemming from AI.

"Stop only chasing the tech giants everyone else is pining after," Puri said, indicating that software engineers have niches they can thrive in beyond large tech companies. "Artificial intelligence is transforming every sector — from agriculture to retail — and meaningful work is happening everywhere," he said in an interview with Business Today.

Puri used the example of agricultural manufacturing company John Deere which have used AI and automation to optimise its operations in innovative ways.

The firm has pioneered ecofriendly and economical ways to engage in weeding, such as the 'spot and spray' method, where cameras and AI are used to find and target individual weeds, helping farmer cut costs and reduce damage to crops.

“Graduates often overlook such enterprises while focusing narrowly on Silicon Valley,” Puri said.

He asked freshers to see beyond "a narrow set of tech companies" and to look to the "massive enterprise landscape".

His comments can also be contextualised with the increasing number of lay-offs and lower job demand in tech companies with the advent of AI automation.

Job postings reduced 16% year-over-year, according to an August report from Handshake, at the same time, applications per posting went up 26% showing the gap between demand and supply. Tech conglomerates such as Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and Amazon have announced waves of layoffs in 2025.

IBM also stated earlier in the month that it would get rid of thousands of positions across the globe in the fourth quarter.

However the firm also said that its planning to ramp up hiring young graduates for AI-centred positions, according statements chief executive officer Arvidn Krishna made to CNN in an interview.

“People are talking about layoffs or hiring freezes, but I actually want to say we are the opposite,” Krishna said. “We expect to hire more people out of college over the next 12 months than we have in recent years," he added.