Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. said it continues to hire fresh graduates in large numbers, but the profile of those recruits is changing as artificial intelligence reshapes the technology industry.
Speaking during the company's Q1 FY27 earnings call on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director K. Krithivasan said TCS onboarded around 14,000 campus graduates during the April-June quarter and has already begun visiting leading universities to recruit AI-native talent.
The hiring strategy, however, is no longer centred on conventional engineering skills alone.
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Campus recruitment is now supported by a redesigned learning programme with a stronger AI-focused curriculum, while the company is increasingly looking for graduates equipped with next-generation capabilities.
Krithivasan also said more than half of TCS' lateral hires already possess next-generation skills, reflecting the company's effort to align its workforce with the growing adoption of AI across client projects.
Despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence, TCS does not expect AI to shrink overall white-collar employment.
"We don't believe AI will reduce the overall number of white-collar jobs," Krithivasan said during the analyst Q&A, adding that employees will increasingly transition into new roles by acquiring new skills as technology evolves.
The comments come at a time when concerns over AI-driven job losses have intensified across the global technology industry.
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Instead, TCS is betting that the nature of hiring will change rather than the scale of hiring, with graduates and experienced professionals expected to build AI capabilities to remain relevant.
The company's remarks suggest that while campus hiring remains intact, the bar for employability is rising as AI becomes central to software development, consulting and enterprise technology services.
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