Beyond Tomorrow: Do Indian Companies Need To Do More To Upskill Employees For AI?
While the TCS story grabbed all the attention, we have some very interesting pieces this week that presented a far more optimistic take on AI’s impact on India.
Indian IT bellwether TCS’ announcement that it would slash its workforce by 2% in this fiscal has once again brought the spotlight back on job losses as companies adopt AI or get ready for the disruption that AI is expected to bring. And given how TCS is a much-admired employer, conversations on this would have occurred in many Indian middle-class households. It’s one thing to wonder about what kind of jobs our children could be employed in in around a decade, as artificial general intelligence is expected to be real by then, but it’s an altogether scarier conversation when we consider that job losses are happening and could hit any of us.
While companies slashing jobs rarely talk too much about it, one consideration in the tech space is that job losses often impact those who have not been able to update their skills to what is in demand today. Of course, that is just one consideration among many, but nevertheless it is something that cannot be ignored. All of us who imagine we could be replaced by AI need to upskill—it means that middle managers who are focused on managing teams cannot afford to ignore their core tech skills and have to pick up newer ones that are necessary for the AI era even as they manage people. And in case job loss is a real worry, here are some financial tips to prepare.
While the TCS story grabbed all the attention, we have some very interesting pieces this week that presented a far more optimistic take on AI’s impact on India. I guess in a way it’s the glass half empty/half full argument at play.
ServiceNow’s AI Skills Research says that agentic artificial intelligence is expected to redefine 10.35 million roles and create 3 million tech jobs in India by 2030. The report says that AI agents are taking over high-automation roles like payroll clerks, which is about routine coordination. However, organisations are looking for AI configurators, experience designers, and data scientists. What is most interesting is that the research shows that nearly 25% of Indian companies are in the transformation phase, outpacing some more developed markets.
However, the research is also clear that job insecurity as a result of GenAI is a real issue and that compared to all respondents across the world, such concerns were highest in India, despite 64% of respondents saying they have training and support programs to upskill employees—a figure that is unmatched in the APAC region. It's clear that we all need a lot more clarity on the skills needed for the AI era.
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Till next week,
-Ivor Soans
