As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes the workplace, a key question remains: Will AI replace human jobs? According to Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the answer is more nuanced than many headlines suggest.
Speaking during TCS' frst quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director, President & COO, said AI is increasingly transforming how enterprises operate, but the focus is on AI working alongside humans rather than replacing them.
"Agentic AI has rapidly dominated customer conversations this year," Subramanian said, adding that AI agents are now collaborating with employees to improve productivity, resilience and speed of execution across businesses.
She highlighted how enterprises are combining agentic AI capabilities with contextual AI agents to streamline operations and accelerate time to market.
"Enterprises are combining Agentic capability from their existing tool investment with contextual agents for improving productivity and resilience while accelerating time to market as well," Subramanian said.
Illustrating the trend, she cited the example of a large retailer where AI agents have significantly transformed IT operations.
ALSO READ: TCS Q1 Concall: AI Dominates Campus Hiring But Deals Are 'Not Long Term'
"For a large retailer, 70 agents are orchestrating IT Ops across more than 60 infrastructure and application workflows integrating with the customer's ITSM tools. Continuous 24x7 monitoring and 24x7 operations has shifted from largely human monitoring to AI-led monitoring. The transformation has resulted in 30% faster remediation and 80% fewer incidents," she said.
The comments underscore how AI is increasingly taking over repetitive monitoring, incident management and operational tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value work.
Beyond client deployments, TCS said AI continues to shape its own hiring and investment strategy.
The management said campus hiring remains heavily focused on AI talent, with the company continuing to invest in building its AI pipeline and upskilling employees to meet rising demand for AI-led projects.
However, TCS also cautioned that AI-related business differs significantly from traditional IT outsourcing contracts.
"AI deals are not like long-term deals. They have to be won every quarter," the management said, highlighting the fast-evolving nature of the AI market.
The company added that revenue from AI services has been steadily increasing as enterprises expand their AI investments. At the same time, AI governance has become a critical requirement, with clients placing greater emphasis on responsible AI deployment, compliance and risk management.
According to the management, organisations are increasingly adopting a "Human + AI" operating model in which AI augments employees, enabling faster execution and improved business outcomes.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
